Grand Cayman–The 16 member countries of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) will benefit from the first ever catastrophe (cat) bond issued by the World Bank. The US$30 million transaction is the first of the World Bank's newly created Capital-at-Risk Notes Programme and will address earthquake and tropical cyclone risk in CCRIF member countries.
In expressing appreciation for the support provided and the confidence of the World Bank in CCRIF, CEO Isaac Anthony said: "CCRIF has previously been reliant on the traditional reinsurance market for its risk transfer but as the facility seeks to grow and expand we felt it would be beneficial to diversify the sources of risk capital to include the capital markets.
"We are pleased to be part of this ground-breaking initiative of the bank, and this will enable us to continue to offer our tropical cyclone and earthquake policies at the lowest possible price–an important consideration for our members in these times of economic and fiscal challenges." The new cat bond provides three years of annual aggregate protection for hurricanes and earthquakes affecting member countries, using the same triggers and measurements as the facility's underlying parametric insurance model.
Madelyn Antoncic, vice president and treasurer at the World Bank explained: "With this first transaction under the Capital-at-Risk Notes Programme, CCRIF benefits from access to the highly-competitive prices offered by the cat bond market as well as from the efficiency of using this programme. At the same time, cat bond investors benefit from exposure to new perils."
The placement agent for the cat bond was Guy Carpenter (GC Securities) and the co-structuring agents were GC Securities and Munich Re. Swiss Re Capital Markets acted as adviser to the World Bank."This partnership is another example of CCRIF's continuing efforts to explore ways to help the countries in the Caribbean region in building resilience to natural hazards," said CCRIF chairman Milo Pearson.
AP