The Eurapco Marine Desk is one of the three Eurapco’s joint business groups. It consists of a network of Marine Managers and Senior Marine Underwriters that exchange knowledge, expertise, business, and best practices to build a book of Joint Marine Business by sharing marine risks on a facultative reinsurance basis.
Joint Business Figures at a GlanceThe following preliminary figures for FY2022 have been recently presented by the Joint Marine Business:
- The Marine Desk shared business reached a Gross written premium of €11.4 Mio.
- Premiums grew overall up to 89% in 2022 driven by new business in the Cargo segment.
- The composition of the joint portfolio is 80 % Cargo, 18% Fine Art & Species and 2% others.
- The Eurapco desk joint business segment in Fine Art increased premiums reaching GWP €2Mio, representing a 33% increase compared to 2021, despite the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine War on the market.
Joint Business Benefits
The benefits for Eurapco Partners to share risk in marine are mainly the following:
-
Improved Risk Management:
Sharing large marine risks through fac reinsurance enables Partners to manage their exposure more effectively. By spreading the risk among multiple partners, they can minimize their overall risk.
-
Increased Capacity:
Allows partners to provide coverage for large and complex marine risks they may not have the capacity or expertise to underwrite independently. This can help the Partners to increase business opportunities, as they can offer coverage to clients with higher limits and broader terms.
-
Diversification:
Sharing risks among multiple Partners allows for geographic and product diversification, which can help mitigate the impact of localized or specific risk events on the overall portfolio, as well as stabilize the insurer’s underwriting results and reduce volatility in their financial performance.
-
Cost Savings:
Partners do not need to hold as much capital to cover their underwriting risks. By sharing the risk with other Partners, they can reduce their exposure to large loss events and minimize the need to maintain a large loss reserve.
-
Expertise Sharing:
Allows to tap into the expertise of other Partners, who may have more experience in specific areas of Marine cargo, commodities, project cargo, or Fine Art & Species underwriting. This can help to make better underwriting decisions.
-
Enhanced Support:
Partners can act as Center of Expertise for a business class such as Fine Art, commodities, and project cargo for knowledge exchange, risk assessment, loss prevention, and claims advice, allowing other Partners to underwrite these specialized risks with greater confidence and with higher limits than they would be able to on their own. By sharing the risk on a fac reinsurance basis, Partners can also reduce their exposure to catastrophic losses and maintain a stable financial position.
Outlook & Market Trends 2023
This is repetition! Could be in the beginning. Currently, the Marine book of business exceeds € 12 Mio with a positive trend and optimistic forecasts for growth in 2023 in Marine Cargo due to the Partners’ joint capabilities and expertise to underwrite large risks in both cargo business and Fine Arts & Species. Furthermore, if you have the capability to join big projects, you are perceived as a big player in the market, which ultimately leads to a stronger reputation.
Most of the business opportunities in 2023 are related to the following areas:
-
Renewable Energy industry development:
Manufacturers wind, solar, electrolyzers, Project Cargo, and Green H2.
-
Fine Art Market Reactivation:
Aviva – Eurapco framework rollout to streamline business generation.
-
Sharing Large Risk due to Eurapco’s capabilities:
Over €150 Mio in cargo and €250 Mio capacity in Fine Art.
The Marine Insurance marketplace will continue facing challenges in 2023 due to the war changing geopolitical map impacting business complexity (Trade Sanctions), inflation, supply chain disruptions, accumulation, climate change, and NatCat exposure.