SIG Re Appoints Arbol Underwriters as its Insurance Agent for its Parametric Reinsurance Business
Arbol Inc. (Arbol), an InsurTech platform for parametric protection products, today announced the launch of Arbol Underwriters Ltd. (AUL), a registered insurance agent based in Bermuda, focused on matching reinsurance capacity with parametric insurance risks.
AUL’s parent company, Arbol, is an InsurTech platform and FinTech company that leverages decentralized climate data, blockchain technology and AI to power its proprietary pricing platform and to offer parametric protection products and SaaS services to help a wide range of customers to transfer and manage climate risks.
“We are excited about setting up a platform in Bermuda to offer parametric solutions in the form of reinsurance” said Hong Guo, CEO of AUL and Chief Insurance Officer of Arbol. “Leveraging Arbol’s massive, cutting-edge data infrastructure and proprietary pricing tools, AUL will be able to provide innovative reinsurance solutions to its clients.”
AUL intends to source original risk through a variety of channels, the first of which being partnerships with fronting insurance carriers. Through both volume program business and bespoke coverage solutions designed by Arbol and written through the fronting carriers, individuals and businesses can purchase parametric insurance to hedge their climate risk. Additionally, AUL will work with (re)insurers and captives in the open market to design their outwards parametric coverage solutions.
To finance the risks sourced by AUL, AUL intends to seek capacity from the reinsurance market. AUL has partnered with SIG Re Ltd., a Bermuda-based reinsurer (SIG Re), to provide keystone committed capacity. SIG Re has appointed AUL as an insurance agent for its parametric reinsurance business. Through new data-driven parametric solutions designed by Arbol and the initial reinsurance capacity provided by SIG Re, the two companies seek to address the sizable protection gap that currently exists in the traditional insurance/reinsurance sector for climate risks.
SIG Re is a technology and analytics-driven reinsurer, incorporated in Bermuda. SIG Re is part of the Susquehanna International Group of Companies (SIG), one of the largest, privately-held, quantitative trading firms in the world. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, USA, SIG has 2,300+ employees worldwide. SIG Re is registered as a Class 3A insurer by the Bermuda Monetary Authority and offers capacity on both parametric and prize indemnity insurance business.
Commenting on the launch, Todd Simkin, CEO of SIG Re, stated: “We are delighted to grow our existing relationship with Arbol through this new underwriting arrangement. AUL’s core emphasis on quantitative risk analytics and technology strongly aligns with our way of thinking at SIG Re.”
Hong Guo, a former managing director at Guy Carpenter and Arbol’s Chief Insurance Officer, will serve as AUL’s CEO. Osho Jha, a co-founder of Arbol who currently serves as its chief data scientist, will be AUL’s Chief Underwriting Officer. AUL is registered as an Insurance Agent by the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
About Arbol Inc:
Arbol is an InsurTech platform for parametric products that pay users quickly and fairly covering external risks such as unexpected weather. Arbol leverages big data and cutting edge technology (AI, machine learning, blockchain) to bring transparency and efficiency to the weather risk market. Arbol’s proprietary pricing platform enables users to customize a coverage program and get live pricing directly through the app. It is powered by an AI underwriter built to keep premiums as low as possible. Arbol’s self-executing smart contracts are triggered by objective, tamper-proof and trusted datasets, which facilitate an automatic payout for the user when the threshold for loss in their contract is met, meaning they never have to file a claim to get paid. Arbol’s products currently serve individuals and businesses in the agriculture, energy, maritime and leisure industries.
