Benfield Group, SG Create New Insurance Vehicle Devoted to Weather Derivatives

Benfield Group and SG, the corporate and investment banking arm of the Societe Generale group, announced the creation of a new insurance vehicle devoted to weather derivatives.

The new company (created in Jersey) is called Celsius Insurance Limited and will cover a number of corporations worldwide wishing to buy a hedge against the vagaries of the weather, such as adverse temperature, rainfall and snowfall.

Managed by SG’s Insurance & Weather Derivatives Group in London, Celsius will initially be able to take up to US$60 million in weather risk. The company is protected by a panel of reinsurers from Europe, the U.S. and Lloyd’s of London. The reinsurance protection for Celsius was structured and arranged by Benfield Greig Paris.

Benfield Greig Group plc was formed in 1997 by the merger of The Benfield Group plc and Greig Fester Group Limited. It is an independent group, privately owned and majority controlled by its management and employees. Also included amongst its shareholders are a number of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers. The Group is headquartered in London and transacts business through 30 locations around the world. SG is the corporate and investment banking business of the Societe Generale Group, present in 50 countries and with expertise in capital markets, advisory and origination services, structured finance and commercial banking. In the insurance derivatives market, SG has developed a special expertise over the past three years and has invested in setting up a specialized team dedicated to the development of a range of insurance derivatives with a specific focus on weather derivatives and catastrophe bonds.

Topics Auto London