ICMR launches re/insurance specialty equity index

Insurance Capital Markets Research (ICMR), the specialist analytics and consulting firm founded by two former heads of analysis and research at Lloyd’s, has launched an equity index, the ICMR (Re)Insurance Specialty Equity Index. It has appointed Moorgate Benchmarks, the index company driving change, as its calculator and administrator.

The RISX Index focuses exclusively on the publicly listed global insurance and reinsurance companies that control syndicates at Lloyd’s. It aims to provide an equity benchmark better suited to specialty re/insurance underwriting than other, more generalist insurance equity indices. It will also provide investors with an equity proxy to compare against the reported pro-forma aggregate results of Lloyd’s. The index seeks to provide a truly global benchmark of the specialty re/insurance industry and will enable the creation of investment products targeting the specialty re/insurance arena.

The RISX Index uses ICMR’s transparent weighting algorithm based on reported premiums written, which gives a more appropriate mix of underlying risk than a traditional market capitalisation weighting, while ensuring sufficient liquidity in the underlying index components. As a result the aggregated weighted underwriting return profile of the index has mimicked that of Lloyd’s.

Quentin Moore, co-founder of ICMR, said: “We are extremely excited to launch the RISX Index, given the difficulty investors have traditionally encountered in benchmarking specialty insurance risk investment. We are delighted to be working with Moorgate Benchmarks as our regulated benchmark administrator and index partner. Their experience and regulated status allow all stakeholders to have full confidence in both the calculation quality and the governance of the index, as well as to develop investment products.”

Markus Gesmann, co-founder of ICMR, added: “This index is a first in our industry, opening up the potential for new research in relation to more liquid Lloyd’s-related investments, as well as providing alternative metrics to measure and benchmark performance. I would like to thank the team at Moorgate Benchmarks, who have been instrumental in bringing our idea to market.”

Gareth Parker, chairman and chief indexing officer of Moorgate Benchmarks, said: “We are delighted to be the administrator of ICMR’s innovative index. ICMR’s insurance markets expertise and our index design input has resulted in a hugely interesting, important and tradable proxy for returns made from specialty re/insurance business.”

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