Germany, Global Parametrics and Hannover Re launch new impact fund

A new impact fund, the Natural Disaster Fund (NDF) Deutschland, has been launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Global Parametrics (GP), the provider of parametric protection against climate risks in developing markets, in partnership with the German Development Bank (KfW) and reinsurer Hannover Re.

The NDF Deutschland, actively managed by GP's team, has secured initial commitments of €25 million ($27.6 million) from BMZ and will target investments in risk-transfer instruments exclusively relating to natural catastrophes and climate risks in developing markets - regions that are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events.

The fund follows on from and will partner with the NDF UK, which was launched in January 2018 with £25 million ($32.9 million) of committed capital from the UK's Department for International Development (DfiD).

In a market first, Hannover Re has committed $50 million of matching capacity to the funds.

The commitment from Hannover Re underlines the opportunity for private sector investors to participate in disaster risk-financing in untapped markets, which mitigate the impact of climate-linked disasters to business and communities, building resilience and expediting recovery alongside delivering commercial returns to investors.

Commenting on the fund launch, Dr Maria Flachsbarth, Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said: "The NDF is an innovative mechanism that brings together public and private insurance players for the benefit of poor and vulnerable people who far too often face a protection gap. While about 50 percent of disaster losses are covered by insurance in high-income countries, the corresponding proportion in poorer countries is less than five percent. The BMZ is committed to help closing this gap through a substantive contribution to the NDF.

“In doing so, the NDF will play a crucial role to achieve the targets of the InsuResilience Global Partnership's new Vision 2025 that was presented at the UN Climate Action Summit in September. Over the next six years, the Vision aims to cover 500 million poor and vulnerable people against disaster and climate shocks through pre-arranged risk finance and insurance mechanisms."

Commenting on the fund launch, Hector Ibarra, CEO of GP said: "Extreme weather and natural disasters are a key cause of an endemic poverty cycle in many developing markets and with the onset of climate change, the situation can only get worse. Global Parametrics, through its Natural Disaster Funds and commercial partnerships, is proud to champion a systemic change by providing both the innovative products and access to risk capital to organisations that directly impact the lives of those on the ground.

“The successful mobilisation of funding for the NDF demonstrates the confidence our deeply experienced investors feel both in our team, our pipeline and in the potential of this approach to deliver measurable impact outcomes alongside commercial returns.

We are delighted that the NDF's investors share our vision for creating sustainable financial solutions for disaster resilience in developing markets and are grateful to them for placing their trust in our proposition."

Henning Ludolphs, managing director retrocession and capital markets at Hannover Re, added: "Hannover Re's commitment to make contributions to close the protection gap is an important element of our sustainability strategy. Our experience has shown that innovative parametric concepts with fast claims payment processes are most effective when it comes to mitigating the impact of natural disasters that are particularly devastating in low-and-middle income countries. At Hannover Re, we are convinced that a wide range of partnerships is paramount in order to reduce the protection gap. Therefore, we are more than happy to support the Natural Disaster Fund, not only with additional risk capacity, but also with our expertise."

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