“With the Atmos program, UnipolSai will be protected against frequency of retention of non-peak peril natural catastrophic events, reducing the volatility of our financial results.”
That was how UnipolSai Assicurazioni S.p.A.’s reinsurance head Marc Guy Victor Sordoni described the €45 million Atmos Re DAC catastrophe bond, which sees the latter provide fully collateralised protection against atmospheric phenomena, snow pressure, and flood risks in Italy for a three-year period.
Willis Towers Watson Securities, which acted as lead structuring agent, referred to the Atmos Re offering as “pioneering” coverage. It features an indemnity trigger on an annual aggregate basis with an event cap of €24 million and an event deductible of €1 million.
“This trigger is designed to deliver protection against a series of small- and medium-sized events falling below the traditional per occurrence property cat reinsurance programme,” explained the securities arm of Willis Re.
It also noted: “In conjunction with the Atmos Re placement, Willis Re placed a €45 million reinsurance layer sitting immediately below the Atmos Re-backed layer. This placement attracted a diversified panel of traditional reinsurers and the coverage had the exact same characteristics as the Atmos Re-backed layer, but with a risk period of one year.”
In addition to Willis Towers Watson Securities placing the transaction, Munich Re acted as co-manager while Towers Watson (Bermuda) served as independent modelling agent.
“We are pleased to have brought a transaction to the market which optimises the appetite of capital market investors and traditional reinsurers, and extends the range of perils and structures that ILS (insurance-linked securities) investors can offer on our programme,” commented Sordoni.
“This is in line with our long-term strategy to build sustainable relationships with this market as an alternative way to access reinsurance capacity. We thank our trusted advisors Willis Re and Munich Re for their dedication and assistance throughout the course of this transaction.”
