23 September 2013 News

GIC Re launches new cat pool with FAIR

Indian reinsurer GIC Re, in collaboration with the Federation of Afro Asian Insurers and Reinsurers (FAIR), has launched a catastrophe reinsurance pool that will help insurers reinsure natural catastrophe exposures in the Afro Asian region.

This is the fourth pool of its kind to be launched by FAIR. Details were unveiled by Hammam Badr, secretary general of FAIR at the 23rd biannual conference of FAIR held in Beijing, China.

He thanked the companies that have pledged capacity to the pool and encouraged FAIR members to join in order to benefit from the returns that FAIR’s various bodies (three pools and a syndicate) offer to members.

Ashok Kumar Roy, chairman and managing director of GIC Re, said that there are serious challenges facing the Afro-Asian insurance and reinsurance industry in dealing with Nat Cat risks and climate change. This includes finding the best means to predict future losses and determining the best pricing mechanism.

He observed that modelling has not been useful in this context especially with the absence of quality data in Asia. Therefore, it is of great importance for members to work together for the benefit of all, said Roy. “Let’s hope for great success,” he concluded.

Nabil Hajjar, managing director of the FAIR Oil & Energy Insurance Syndicate, reflected on the success of FAIR’s two other pools and one syndicate.

The concept of the FAIR Nat Cat Reinsurance pool was launched in 2007 and GIC Re was designated as the manager of the pool. It has agreements with 14 insurers and reinsurers from Asia and Africa region and will function with an initial capacity of over $20 million but this is expected to double within three years. The pool is expected to start underwriting business from January 2014.

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