Willis Re launches $400 million global facility for catastrophic casualty loss
London-based insurer Willis Re has announced the launch of a unique syndicated reinsurance facility providing the broadest protection available for insurers against catastrophic and systemic loss accumulations arising from liability portfolios. The facility, named PRIMO, is designed to respond across all casualty and professional lines and is an industry-first for casualty cover in providing over $400 million of reinsurance capacity worldwide on the basis of pre-agreed contract wording. It is supported initially by 20 of the world’s leading reinsurers.
Capital standards, regulation are top issues for insurance CRO’s
Chief risk officers in the insurance industry are most concerned about capital standards and other regulations that they concede are on the way. An annual survey by EY found that 40 per cent of respondents view these are the biggest risks with the next highest, cybersecurity, a top concern of 14 per cent. Interest rates and economic conditions are the biggest concern of 13 per cent.
Tech assets are 39 per cent more exposed than property assets
A new cyber report from research firm the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by global risk firm AON has found that IT assets are 39 per cent more exposed than property assets on a value to insurance protection basis. The 2015 Global Cyber Impact Report surveyed more than 2,200 companies across nearly 40 countries and found that despite the value of cyber assets companies are only protecting 12 per cent of them compared to 51 per cent of their tangible property. Thirty-seven per cent of respondents said that they had suffered a material loss or significant disruption due to some kind of cyber-attack at least once in the past two years with the average economic impact of $2.1 million. Despite that just 19 per cent of those surveyed has cyber insurance.
Insurers in New Zealand facing larger costs from 2010/11 earthquakes
The Canterbury earthquakes that hit New Zealand in 2010 and 2011 are likely to result in higher than expected costs for insurers. The country’s Reserve Bank estimates that the cost of the quakes will be in the $33-38 billion range but as of the end of March insurers had paid out $24 million. In its financial stability report the central bank noted: "The substantial claim amounts still outstanding suggest it will be challenging for insurers to meet their announced target for completing the settlement of all Canterbury earthquake claims within the next year or so." While reinsurance costs have generally fallen, Asia-Pacific is still one of the more expensive regions.
