Page 20 - Insurance Times December 2015 SAMPLE

Asia Reinsurance Pulse offers insights into USD 50 Zurich - The USD 1.3 Tril-

billion reinsurance market lion Disaster Protection

The 1st edition of Asia Reinsurance Pulse lie in its comprehensiveness, di- Gap
Pulse was launched at the 13th versity and diligence.
Singapore International Reinsurance The Governments are uniquely ex-
Conference. Based on in-depth inter- Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company AG, a
views with almost 50 regional and in- Zurich-based advisory firm offering re- posed to risks like floods, earth-
ternational reinsurance executives it search, strategy and communication
offers a unique overview of quakes, hurri-
Asia-Pacific's USD 50 billion support to the global
non-life reinsurance market. (re)insurance industry, has con- canes and
ducted the interviews and ed-
SRA Chairman Thomas Lillelund ited the final report. The com- droughts. Inno-
said, "Through Asia Reinsur- pany was appointed given its
ance Pulse, the SRA demon- experience and insights in the vative insurance
strates its commitment to improving region, its proven record of un-
the transparency of Asia-Pacific rein- dertaking insurance market research tools and solu-
on a global scale and, most impor-
tions can help bridge the gap be-

tween insured and total losses, but

it's crucial to arrange them before

catastrophe strikes, says a new Swiss

Re publication launched at the World

Bank /IMF annual meetings in Lima.

surance markets as well as to facilitat- tantly, its credible independence. In "Disaster risk financing: Smart so-
lutions for the public sector" Swiss Re
ing and encouraging an informed dia- Most interviewees mentioned the rise shows that the economic cost of
logue between market participants. of protectionism in cross-border trade natural catastrophes has grown
as the biggest single trend in APAC re- markedly in the last 40 years.
This is particularly important in light of insurance markets.
intense market competition and grow- "The insurance industry is rising to
ing regulatory challenges, as identified 61% of survey participants consider cur- the challenge of underinsurance in
by Asia Reinsurance Pulse." rent reinsurance terms and conditions both developed and developing coun-
to be loose (52%) or very loose (9%), as tries through innovative risk man-
He added, "The survey is based on in- compared to the average of the past agement measures," said Swiss Re's
depth interviews with 48 senior execu- Group Chief Executive Officer Michel
M. Liès. "The risk landscape is be-
tives of 41 regional and international three years. The same percentage of coming more and more complex as
the world becomes more interde-
reinsurance companies and intermedi- executives polled expect a further loos- pendent. No country can afford to
be left unprotected."
aries operating in the Asia-Pacific re- ening of terms and conditions, among

gion. We believe that the key method- them many of those who believe that
ological strengths of Asia Reinsurance rates have already bottomed out.

Aon launches program to ease international access On average only about 30% of catas-
trophe losses have been covered by
to Lloyd's insurance over the last 10 years.
That means that about 70% of catas-
Aon P.L.C. announced two broking initiatives aimed at in- trophe losses - or USD 1.3 trillion -
creasing retail and wholesale buyers' access to Lloyd's. The have been borne by individuals, firms
London-based brokerage announced plans for a distribu- and governments.
tion channel intended to give buyers easier access to Lloyd's
capacity by connecting syndicates at Lloyd's with Aon's glo- "For risk protection to be effective,
bal retail network. Steve McGill, group president of Aon P.L.C. and chairman and funds need to be quickly available in
CEO of Aon Risk Solutions, said the channel would use data and analytics to "ef- the wake of a natural catastrophe,
fectively export the underwriting appetite of Lloyd's syndicates to clients." meaning that financing arrange-
ments must be in place already be-
Traditionally, international business is placed in Lloyd's through Lloyd's brokers forehand," says Martyn Parker,
based in London who negotiate directly with Lloyd's underwriters. The channel Chairman of Swiss Re's Global Part-
will use new technology to simplify access to Lloyd's and establish direct links nerships, a unit that works with pub-
with Lloyd's capacity, a spokeswoman for Aon said. Aon also announced a new lic sector clients.
treaty-based wholesale approach that it said draws on best practices from port-
folio broking and underwriting common in the reinsurance market'.

16 The Insurance Times, December 2015

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