While GP’s efforts to close the disaster protection gap have largely focused where the need is most profound in low- and middle-income economies, vast opportunities also exist to bring some of our lessons learned to vulnerable communities in higher income countries. This is precisely our motivation for supporting the Wharton Risk Center and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate Resilience alongside Guy Carpenter in the project: Promoting the Post-Flood Financial Resiliency of Low and Moderate Income Households.
The project recently received Civic Innovation Challenge award from National Science Foundation (NSF)/ U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The objective is to increase the financial resilience of low and moderate-income households in New York City to escalating flood risk through the use of inclusive insurance and innovative parametric solutions.
Pioneering Innovation
GP has been a pioneer integrating parametric solutions into the financial sector in low- and middle-income countries. In our flagship transaction with VisionFund International, we designed a disaster risk financing programme that blends the use of contingent credit and parametric risk transfer. This solution aims to help VisionFund’s microfinance institutions (MFIs) stabilize their balance sheets and access emergency liquidity after a disaster in order to help their borrowers recover more quickly. When disasters hit, lenders typically pull back liquidity, which makes recovery more challenging for the communities they serve. In contrast, the VisionFund initiative promotes quick, countercyclical financing to MFIs and their borrowers to speed up recovery. Now in its fourth year of operations, this programme includes tailored solutions for four different perils and for MFIs in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
More recently, GP launched the Climate Resilience Enhanced Debt (CRED) product alongside Enabling Qapital, which embeds emergency liquidity and balance sheet support into a traditional wholesale loan product for MFIs. The first CRED transaction provides flood and drought protection to Chamroeun’s portfolio of agriculture loans in Cambodia.
As part of this new effort in New York City, GP will be helping to explore ways to work with local Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to incorporate similar parametric solutions as those deployed alongside VisionFund and Enabling Qapital. CDFIs represent a key lifeline to low and moderate-income households and finding ways to help these institutions promote faster recovery within the communities they serve can go a long towards building resilience and closing the disaster protection gap.
Read more about the programme here: https://riskcenter.wharton.upenn.edu/civicinnovations/
Related news
- News
- September 6, 2023
CelsiusPro Acquires Global Parametrics, Further Strengthening its Climate and NatCat Risk Solutions and Global Presence
· Swiss-based CelsiusPro will contribute its award-winning climate risk products, technology, and consulting services, aimed primarily at developed markets.
· UK-based Global Parametrics will bring the Natural Disaster Fund, a risk capacity pool committed by British and German government agencies, focused on developing countries.
· Offering will benefit clients in sectors including property, agribusiness, re/insurance, microinsurance, nature-based solutions, and international development.
ZURICH/LONDON, 6 September 2023 – CelsiusPro AG announced today the acquisition of Global Parametrics Holding Company Limited, in a transaction that significantly strengthens its global capabilities to offer parametric risk transfer solutions to both private and public sector clients in developed and developing economies.
The combined CelsiusPro and Global Parametrics group creates an even stronger offering along the value chain of climate and Nat Cat risks, opening new possibilities for businesses, governments, NGOs, and communities to build resilience against perils such as hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and drought.
The acquisition complements CelsiusPro’s expertise in climate technology and parametric insurance design, structuring, and underwriting, primarily in developed economies, with Global Parametrics’ experience in delivering disaster risk management response in developing countries. Moreover, both companies will combine their expertise as Managing General Agents (MGAs) to attract and deploy additional risk capacity.
After the merger, the Global Parametrics team will continue to manage the Natural Disaster Fund (NDF), a risk capacity pool backed by commitments from the UK Government’s Foreign, Development and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) and by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development via KfW, Germany’s development bank. The NDF shares risks with global reinsurer Hannover Re, one of Global Parametrics’ longstanding key partners.
Mark Rueegg, CEO of CelsiusPro, said: “The acquisition combines CelsiusPro’s expertise in climate technology and parametric insurance with Global Parametrics’ asset management approach to climate risk through the NDF and its MGA. This is key to our value proposition, as we see an increasing number of NatCat financing facilities, such as the Global Shield initiative launched at COP27, are looking for experts on parametric solutions and risk capital deployment. We are enthusiastic about the strategic fit between CelsiusPro and Global Parametrics, and welcome our new colleagues to our group.”
Angus Kirk, CEO of Global Parametrics, said: “We are grateful to our founder investors, FCDO and KfW (through the InsuResilience Investment Fund, IIF), for their support in the early stages of Global Parametrics’ development. We are very excited about the next chapter with CelsiusPro. This partnership offers numerous opportunities to expand and enhance our offerings, thereby increasing and accelerating our impact on building resilience in underserved communities against the effects of climate change and natural disasters.”
The combined group will serve clients from its offices in Zurich, Sydney, and London.
- News
- July 12, 2023
Expanding protection for smallholder farmers in Africa with One Acre Fund and Howden Broking
Global Parametrics is pleased to announce the expansion of our parametric protection scheme with One Acre Fund for smallholder farmers. We and One Acre Fund have partnered with international insurance group, Howden Broking, to expand the programme this year in Rwanda.
GP has been working with One Acre Fund since 2020 on a parametric solution for excess rain and drought risk, with payments intended to provide financial protection and resources to help farmers mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and improve livelihoods with climate smart investments through One Acre Fund loan protection.
Key highlights of the partnership include:
🔹 2020 One Acre Fund and GP began working in Tanzania on a parametric solution for excess rain and drought risk.
🔹 2022 scaled up to include Tanzania and Malawi, protecting 175,000 smallholder farmers.
🔹 2023 scaled up to include Rwanda, benefiting a further 800,000 people.
🔹 $650,000 expected payout this year following the ongoing East African drought and Cyclone Freddy.
The solution is backed by the Natural Disaster Fund, a public-private partnership managed by Global Parametrics with seed investment from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via KfW, with global reinsurer Hannover Re providing matching capacity.
Read more here: https://www.reinsurancene.ws/global-parametrics-one-acre-fund-partner-with-howden-to-expand-parametric-scheme/