New reinsurance product addresses over $50 billion annual insured loss due to ‘secondary’ natural perils
WASHINGTON, Aug. 15, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The Demex Group, creators of first-of-its kind reinsurance solutions that address the accumulating losses caused by secondary perils, today, announced it has raised $5 million from a syndicate of existing and new investors, led by Blue Bear Capital. Blue Bear Capital, a venture and growth equity firm focused the world’s climate challenges, has been a major partner for Demex since 2021.
“This additional investment empowers us to deliver new weather risk transfer capabilities to insurance companies that are facing escalating losses due to the increased frequency of non-catastrophic weather events,” said Bill Clark, Demex CEO. “Severe convective storms (SCS) cause accumulated losses in midwestern states that exceed hurricane losses in coastal states. SCS loss accumulation increasingly causes earnings unpredictability, credit rating downgrades, and even insolvency for insurance companies. Our reinsurance broker distribution partners and our risk capacity network are eager to address this risk and DemexRCR Re is the first purpose-built solution designed specifically for severe thunderstorms.” RCR Re is available now and is becoming a key component of insurers’ reinsurance programs as they plan for 2024.
There is a well-documented protection gap for SCS and other ‘secondary’ weather perils that include winter storms, heat waves, cold snaps, droughts, and floods. Secondary perils are driving global insured losses that now accumulate to exceeded losses generated by ‘primary’ catastrophe perils such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
The increased frequency of secondary perils is directly impacting the balance sheets of insurance companies. Secondary peril losses have accumulated to $1.1T since 2000 and surpassed $880B of losses caused by primary perils during the same period. Traditional reinsurance either excludes or drastically limits secondary peril coverage which causes insurers to self-insure multiples of losses than they have historically.
Hank Hattemer, COO of Blue Bear Capital said, “Blue Bear is excited to lead this round for Demex given the unequivocal opportunity for Demex’s team and technology to provide a risk transfer solution that is calibrated to the weather-driven loss experience of insurers. Insured SCS losses are already near $40 Billion this year, underscoring insurers’ need for financial protection immediately. Demex RCR Reinsurance solution is the only mechanism in the market to reinsure SCS and other Secondary Peril losses.”
Founded in 2020, Demex operates at the intersection of climate, insurance, and technology, with a groundbreaking approach to weather risk transfer for secondary weather perils. In 2022, Demex created Retained Climate Risk Reinsurance, which is a unique stop loss risk transfer product that settles based upon Demex’s proprietary Proxy Claims Index. RCR Re enables insurance companies to affordably buy reinsurance for secondary peril risks that aggregate over time. Demex models the accumulation of secondary peril claims caused by weather that traditional modeling technology—originally designed to address primary perils—cannot. Demex solutions present an exciting opportunity to close the growing secondary peril protection gap and increase global economic resilience to climate change.
About The Demex Group
Demex is a technology-enabled Managing General Agent (MGA) offering unique stoploss protection for secondary perils based upon a proprietary Proxy Claims Index. Demex enables insurance companies to transfer attritional climate risk by modeling, structuring, and settling the accumulation of small- and medium-sized claims caused by weather.
Learn more at www.TheDemexGroup.com
About Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear is a venture capital and early growth equity firm driving digital technologies into multibillion-dollar verticals across energy, infrastructure, and climate industries. The team comes together from leading energy private equity firms and features technology expertise from the tech startup world alongside operational leadership from large-scale technology developers and adopters. Blue Bear’s portfolio covers operational AI, IoT, and cybersecurity technologies, all deployed with enterprise customers to drive connectivity and efficiency across the world’s most critical industries. Learn more at www.bluebearcap.com and @BlueBearCap.