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The InsTech perspective… building partnerships for parametric insurance
The research and development needed to build effective parametric insurance products is often achieved through partnerships. Partnerships can pool expertise and data between companies with customer relationships, those with underwriting expertise and index data providers and modellers.
In our recent interview, Mastercard’s Ruth Polyblank shares her view on partnerships: “Building something which is greater than the sum of its parts requires openness and hard work.” Sharing expertise and data and being willing to learn from the perspectives of others is an important prerequisite to innovation in partnership.
In this issue, three new partnerships are announced – between AXA Climate and broker Bessé, Generali and the United Nations Development Programme, and B3i and RiskStream Collaborative – all to support the development of new parametric insurance products. Descartes Underwriting’s contribution to a recent $10.7 million pay-out from the African Risk Capacity shows the impact of the companies’ collaboration. Two parametric start-ups are joining the Lloyd’s Lab, an innovation programme where companies build connections with insurers in the Lloyd’s market.
Company spotlight: Mastercard
Business interruption • SME • InsTech interview
Ruth Polyblank, Vice President Insurance at Mastercard, shares her perspectives on parametric insurance and business interruption coverage for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). She also explains Mastercard’s payments capabilities and the insights the company can provide from transactional data.
What is parametric insurance’s market growth?
InsTech poll
Parametric insurance is growing in scale, but by how much? We have released a LinkedIn poll to understand what our parametric community thinks the current year-on-year growth in global parametric insurance premiums is. Please choose your answer and see what others think here.
All Sorts – An Evening of Insurtech Treats
InsTech event
At InsTech’s next in-person event in London, we will be joined by established companies with news to share and early-stage businesses we want to spotlight. Among the start-ups, Kita is designing parametric insurance products for carbon markets. For more on why carbon markets need insurance, read the most recent issue of our Climate Risk newsletter. Register now to join us at CodeNode on 27 April at 5:30pm. The event is free to members, who can now sign in to our website to register for events.
In the news…
Two parametric start-ups selected for Lloyd’s Lab
UK • Travel • Carbon
The Lloyd’s Lab innovation accelerator programme has selected Kita and OTONOMI, an MGA underwriting parametric supply chain insurance, for its eighth cohort alongside nine other companies. Parametric companies from previous Lloyd’s Lab cohorts include Parsyl, Skyline Partners and BirdsEyeView Technologies.
Descartes contributes to Cyclone Batsirai pay-out
Madagascar • Cyclone
Parametric insurance MGA Descartes Underwriting has announced that it contributed, with its insurer partner Generali, to the African Risk Capacity’s $10.7 million pay-out to Madagascar in March 2022, triggered by Cyclone Batsirai.
Case study: Swiss Re pays claim after Typhoon Rai
Philippines • Typhoon
Swiss Re Corporate Solutions paid a claim to utility company AboitizPower under its parametric windstorm policy following Typhoon Rai in the Philippines in December 2021. The typhoon damaged the company’s power lines. As Swiss Re explains in its case study, AboitizPower received the pay-out just over one month after Typhoon Rai first made landfall. AboitizPower has used the pay-out to restart its power grid.
AXA Climate partners with broker Bessé
France • Agriculture
AXA Climate, part of the AXA Group specialising in parametric insurance, has announced a partnership with French broker Bessé on the research and development of new parametric agriculture insurance products. The partnership comes after the companies worked together on an index insurance product for rapeseed farmers.
Generali partners with UN Development Programme
Climate
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced a multi-year partnership with insurer Generali on the development of parametric risk transfer solutions for vulnerable families and small businesses globally. Examples of insurance solutions the companies are working on include “smallholder farmers suffering in the face of drought; defending natural capital at risk from climate change in coastal communities; or rolling out financial protection for people displaced by conflict and instability.” The partnership includes Generali committing technical and financial resources to the UNDP’s Insurance and Risk Finance Facility, which you can read about in Parametric Post Issue 11.
Cloud downtime insurance for crypto companies launched
Crypto • Business interruption • Cyber
Parametrix, an MGA providing insurance for IT downtime, has launched a product targeted at crypto companies. The coverage protects crypto exchanges, wallets and decentralised finance platforms from business interruption losses due to outages of public cloud providers.
Market initiatives collaborate on blockchain parametric insurance
Reinsurance • Blockchain
Blockchain-based risk exchange B3i is working with The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative, an insurance industry blockchain consortium, in an open industry-wide ‘Lab series’ which began on 12 April 2022. The organisations are exploring applications for parametric homeowners’ insurance and reinsurance using blockchain technology. If the industry stakeholders who participate in the programme decide the use case has value, the organisations will look to create a prototype.
Australian MGA launches parametric hail insurance
Australia • Hail • Sensors
MGA Mainstay Underwriting has launched a parametric hail insurance product for car dealerships in Australia. The product is being sold through brokers in partnership with AXA Climate. Mainstay will use Hailios’ hail sensors, installed on the roof of dealerships, to trigger pay-outs.
Find out what you’ve missed…
Issue 22 – Experience of loss driving parametric insurance innovation
Issue 21 – Parametric insurance with social impact
Issue 20 – 2022: Already a record year for parametric insurance funding
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