Swiss Re Corporate Solutions has announced a partnership with Reask, a tropical cyclone risk analytics firm, to expand its parametric windstorm product, STORM. Swiss Re Corporate Solutions will utilize Reask’s advanced wind speed data to provide tropical cyclone coverage to corporate and public entities.
STORM, initially launched in hurricane-prone areas of the US and the Caribbean, uses the highest reported wind speed at defined locations as a trigger. It pays out quickly and is often used to address traditional marketplace limitations or as a standalone risk transfer option, the insurer said. Like other parametric products from Swiss Re Corporate Solutions, STORM typically pays out within days, and the customer is free to use the money for any financial loss associated with the event.
Reask provides natural catastrophe risk models for the insurance industry. Metryc, Reask’s tropical cyclone risk modeling product, is built to address the specific requirements of natural catastrophe parametric insurance products. STORM will use Metryc in areas outside the US and the Caribbean to determine whether a policy is triggered.
“Tropical cyclones continue to pose a major risk,” said Martin Hotz, head of parametric nat cat at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions. “Thanks to our collaboration with Reask, organizations around the world will have access to broader coverage, flexible use of funds and a speedier recovery with STORM.”
“Parametric solutions such as STORM help reduce the insurance protection gap,” said Thomas Loridan, CEO of Reask. “Until now, a lack of reliable observations in many tropical cyclone-affected areas have limited the deployment of such solutions beyond established markets. Our Metryc product provides complete global coverage, augmenting scarcely available observations through predictive modeling.”
STORM will be available globally this month.
