NEWS
Perils forays into US cyber insurance market
The data aggregator has unveiled a US cyber industry loss index.
Perils, founded to provide industry-wide natural catastrophe exposure and loss data, has strategically ventured into the cyber insurance market, launching a new industry loss index that, it claims, will improve capital flow and accelerate the growth of the cyber insurance-linked securities (ILS) and industry loss warranties (ILW) sectors.
The Swiss-based data aggregator, in collaboration with cyber data firm CyberAcuView, has rolled out a US cyber industry loss index. The tool is tailored to track affirmative US primary cyber market losses, especially from systemic cyber incidents that affect multiple insurers and policyholders, with industry-wide losses surpassing $500 million.
Speaking to Monte Carlo Today, chief executive officer Luzi Hitz shed light on the motivation behind this initiative. “We have been listening to the feedback on what should we cover next and which other products we should develop,” he said.
Hitz’s passion for the industry and its untapped potential is evident. Reflecting on his three-decade-long experience in the industry, he observed: “Cyber is a rapidly growing market and a new line of business. I’ve never seen a new line of business develop so quickly.”
Hitz believes that the cyber space, much like the property cat market, can benefit from risk transfer as means to manage peak exposures.
“This should help manage cyber risks better.”
Luzi Hitz, Perils
“On one hand, it’s an opportunity for the insurance industry to grow,” he said. “On the other, there is the issue of systemic events affecting many cyber policies at the same time. And that is something the industry is still struggling to get a good grip of.”
Hitz think that the loss database will support the further development of cyber risk models over time.
“Current cyber models haven’t reached the maturity of property-cat models, which have been developed over the past 30 years,” he said.
“With our new service in place, we aim to facilitate the same level of insights to the cyber risk market. This should help manage cyber risks better and grow the sector by sharing risks with capital markets, ultimately making the market more resilient and robust,” he added.
Earlier this year, the company announced that Christoph Oehy will take the reins as CEO from November 1, succeeding Hitz. However, Hitz isn’t bidding adieu—he will transition to the role of a senior adviser at Perils after serving as its CEO since 2009.
Main image: Shutterstock / solarseven
