While we are waiting for a definition of the regulatory framework shortly, which requires companies to sign a catastrophe insurance policy, the topic of this type of insurance was addressed in a conference, organized by the Faculty of Economics of the University Wisdom of Rome, with the collaboration of the National Association for the Study of Credit Problems.
Catastrophic risks: the voices of academia and institutions
The conference was divided into two parts. The first welcomed academic and institutional voices, confirming the need for an interdisciplinary approach to this topic. In fact, it was underlined in its introduction Dominic Siclari, Professor of Economic and Financial Market Law at the University of Rome. And this was also confirmed by the reports given by Stefano De Polis, Secretary General of Ivass, by Rosella Castellano, full professor of Mathematical Methods of Economics and Actuarial and Financial Sciences at Unitelma – Sapienza University and by Adriana Conti-Puorger, associate professor of Economic Geography at Sapienza University.
On the part of the Supervisory Authority, the reflections ranged, among other things, from the reconsideration of the public-private partnership in Italy, to the role required of intermediaries in light of the new outlined scope of operations and the opportunities for the allocation of European public funds, linking them to the fulfillment of specific prevention profiles. As for the economic-statistical aspects, the observations focused on: the need for a more equitable distribution of risk sharing between the public and private sectors; on the search for new financial solutions, also bringing the examples of Cat Bond developed in some specific situations such as Mexico; on the development of parametric insurance, characterized by the value attributed to some objective parameters; and on the tendency towards a different, more complex modeling of risks.
The importance of the geographical profile, demonstrated by the studies carried out in the environmental-climatic field at national and international level, has highlighted the excellence achieved in this sector in Italy (the reference was to the environmental-climatic platforms developed in Cnr and to Ispra). The two application examples developed so far were also recalled, Bologna and to Ancona, of Climate Mitigation Plans to prevent catastrophic events.
Catastrophic risks: the voice of companies and associations
The Round Table scheduled for the second part of the Conference was animated by: Dario Focarelli, general director of theAnia, Vincenzo Sanasi D'Arpe CEO of Awareness, Chiara Maruccio CFO of Sace, Federico Borio Chief risk officer of Intesa San Paolo Insurance and Vittorio Corsano, Chief property and casualty officer of UnipolSai.
Thus, Ania has carried out an accurate and timely survey of the state of the art of catastrophe risk insurance in Italy, outlining the potential opportunities linked to the introduction of the new legislation and the current critical issues, including the dramatic level of underinsurance in this area compared to other national realities.
The following were then illustrated: the role played by Sace so far and the near future role in the new regulatory framework, both on an operational level and on that of cultural propulsion; the availability of Consap (where foreseen and required by the new regulation) to assume a significant operational role also in this area; the attitude of intermediaries, not only positively proactive, but already concretely productive of an offer of tools dedicated to this specific sector.
Finally, both in the first and second part of the conference, in the absence of an effective sanctioning system for those who do not fulfill the obligation to subscribe, there was unanimous emphasis on the importance of implementing a system of reward incentives, essential to encourage the effective diffusion of catastrophe insurance policies.
