1. OECD 2nd International Cat Risks Conference Bangkok, Sept 25th 2009
'How installing and running a high quality hazard instrumentation network can facilitate the creation of parametric triggers' Robert Muir-Wood
OECD 2nd International Cat Risks Conference
Bangkok, Sept 25th 2009

2. Agenda 1st and 2nd generation parametric risk transfer structures
Instrumentation requirements
Role of governments/multilateral agencies to enable parametric risk transfer

3. Investor/Issuer Mismatch - Developed World
Issuers
Investors
Prefer indemnity
Dislike basis risk
Settling for industry loss or modeled loss
Prefer parametric
Dislike indemnity
Bias for simplicity
“When they were designing the Cat bond market, they forgot to invite the investors”

4. Investor/Issuer Mismatch - Developing World
Issuers
Investors
No insurance institutions to process claims
No reliable historic claims
Proportional recovery better than nothing
Only parametric is tenable
For the developing world – it has to be parametric

5. First & Second Generation Parametric
1st generation parametric is based on the parameters of the event
ie. earthquake magnitude and location (in a geographic ‘box’)
Hurricane intensity and track (and distance from the site)
2nd generation parametric is based on measurements of the hazard at multiple locations
Eg. peak ground acceleration measurements or peak gust windspeed recordings
Weighted by the exposure values and vulnerability in the vicinity of each recorder, a formula is developed and tuned to create an index that closely matches loss
Parametric structures require pre-existing Cat model to design correlation with expected loss and risk analysis for the Bond
Higher basis risk (mismatch with actual losses) likely for 1st generation than second generation structures

6. Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility – 1st Generation parametric trigger
Launched Feb 2007 to provide participating governments with immediate liquidity if hit by a hurricane or earthquake.
  For hurricane - trigger based on ‘calculated’ windspeeds at key exposure concentrations
Derived using predefined Rmax of a hurricane
However real radius can vary by factor of 10
For earthquake based on magnitude in a box not ground motion on an island
For a small island – there is the potential for no payout when significant loss as well as payout when there is no loss
2nd generation parametric not used in the Caribbean (in 2007) because of lack of suitable pre-existing windspeed and ground motion instrumentation networks.  

7. Caribbean Insurance Pool Not Affected by Hurricane Dean
INSURANCE JOURNAL
By David McFadden August 24, 2007
Hurricane Dean will not trigger an insurance pool set up this year by Caribbean countries and the World Bank that provides emergency cash to islands in case of natural disaster, officials said this week.
The hurricane, which killed at least 20 people across the region and did extensive damage to bananas and other crops, failed to surpass wind speeds and other thresholds to prompt payments from the disaster pool established in February, according to fund supervisor Simon Young.
Jamaica, which sustained the brunt of Dean's destructive path in the Caribbean, came close to being hit hard enough to receive payouts from the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.
"Had the storm been 30 miles to the north that would have triggered immediate payment in Jamaica,'' Young said from the Washington office of Caribbean Risk Managers Ltd., which oversees the insurance program.

8. Requirements for hazard instrumentation networks
System must have multiple stations
To ensure regional coverage (average station spacing 20-30km?)
To provide redundancy if a station fails
Instruments must be robust and have their own power supplies
Demonstrably able to withstand impacts and/or loss of power from a catastrophic event
Maintenance
Must be maintained by an agency that can demonstrate consistent standards of battery replacement and regular testing
Independence/Integrity
Must be run by an agency seen to be completely independent of potential interference from parties to a financial transaction.
(Can be a problem for some government organisations.)

9. 2nd generation Parametric Windstorm Index for Europe (based on c 300 windspeed measurements)
Lower Basis Risk:
Industry loss estimates can be customised by Line of Business and Province/City
Increased Granularity:
RMS Industry Exposure Database (IED) is at postal code resolution, enhancing the accuracy of industry loss estimates.
Better Execution:
Increased transparency, simplicity and liquidity for investors translates into better execution.

10. Eurowind Index Look-up Table
The relationship between insured industry losses and peak-gust wind speeds are probabilistically estimated by application of the Europe Windstorm Model to the Industry Exposure Database
The Index Look-up Table relates an estimated industry loss per 2 figure postcode to a given wind speed in that postcode for each line of business; in effect representing a set of weighted average vulnerability curves.

11. Eurowind Index - Historic Performance
Date
Windstorm Name
Region Impacted
Paradex Europe Windstorm 8.0 Index Value
Annual Occurrence Exceedance Probability of Index Value
25th Jan 1990
Daria
Southern England, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
€12,208bn
1.82%
15th Oct 1987
1987J
Southeast England and southeast Norway
€5,180bn
6.37%
25th Dec 1999
Lothar
France, Germany, Switzerland
€6,732bn
4.52%
25th Feb 1990
Vivian
Northern Scotland, Scandinavia, Belgium
€5,164bn
6.40%
18th Jan 2007
Kyrill
Northern Europe
€3,298bn
10.86%
Daria was the most severe of a series of events that moved into Europe in early The storm caused a trail of destruction across southern England (where the highest peak gust wind speeds approached 44 m/s, or 100 mph), the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany and caused significant insured losses in Denmark, France and Luxembourg
The index value of this event equates to an annual attachment probability around a “1 in 50 year” event
There have been no examples in recent years of a “1 in 100 year” or “1 in 250 year” event in the European Region

12. But existing stations fail during hurricanes
Remember to mention accounting issues
Hurricane Charley, 2004
Notice the period 8/14 to midday 8/15 – station was inactivated, either by power outage or a planned shutdown
Very common problem – of the 44 stations in the Charley footprint, only 4 appeared to record for the duration of the storm.
The lack of continuous, high frequency, moving average wind recordings is also an inhibitor to a USHU parametric index
Existing stations are often deactivated during hurricanes
There is “survival bias” – stations that survive are the ones that experienced weaker winds

13. Weatherflow Hurricane Network
Ten-meter concrete poles
Overall station rated to 140mph
Anemometers rated to 220mph
Cellular link with 1Gb flash backup
Solar powered battery backup
Secure data transfer and storage
Talk about Weatherflow and their involvement in the site choice / station design and construction plans

14. Designing a privately financed windspeed recording network for Florida

15. Earthquake recording in Japan

16. Second Generation Paradex earthquake
Advanced National Seismic System
& partner networks
ShakeMap
zip centroid SA values
zip
SA0.3sec, SA1.0sec, SA3.0sec    
(interpolate)
Paradex-EQ Event Bulletin
zip
Initial set-up / update
Industry Loss ELT by zip & LoB ?
Res
C&I
Residential
Comml & Ind
f( 0.3sec, 1.0sec, 3.0sec )
f( 0.3sec, 1.0sec, 3.0sec )
parametric
industry loss index values
index value
index value
zone     
pre-compiled index value lookup tables
(zip < zone < state)

17. New instrumentation
How did they know I dropped my phone in the bathtub?
How can we know that the flood was 12 feet deep?
Discolored activated indicators provide depth reading
Cap
Technology in use for hydrological applications (and cellphones)
Require routine servicing
Low cost (<$500/unit)

18. Low tech solutions have also been employed for 2nd generation parametric triggers
Flood heights can leave a mark on buildings
At pre-surveyed locations
Heights measured within a few days after ‘event’
Audited by a highly reputable survey organisation

19. What can Governments and MLF Agencies do to foster parametric risk transfer?
2nd generation parametric triggers provide viable low basis risk alternatives to insurance - in particular for developing countries
Requires installation of networks of hazard recorders around concentrations of exposure
Hazard recorders need to be highly robust and able to record without external power
Supported by an agency that can ensure the maintenance of the equipment and guarantee the objectivity of the observations
All organisations/institutions linked with the risk transfer mechanism need to have demonstrable long term integrity
Underpinned by models to structure and define index risk analysis
However smart instrumentation can promote risk transfer !