Opportunities and Challenges of Insurance-Linked Securities in Iranian Economic Context
Monday, 14 August 2017 15:59 ILS IAIF Iran economy 491
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The IAIF held the 15th specialized session on the Opportunities and Challenges of ILS in the Iranian Economic Context plan on 15 Aug. 2017.

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Salehabadi, Chairman of the Iranian Association of Islamic finance, referred to the capacities of the insurance market in Iran and the world and the possibility of creating a link between this market and the capital market, stating the capacity of the capital market can be used to develop the insurance industry.

Then Dr. Sehat, Associate Professor of Allameh Tabatabai University and Chairman of the Islamic Insurance Committee of the Iranian Association of Islamic finance, said we should be able to rely on risk coverage and as in other countries the capital market is used to cover insurance risks, we should use this instrument to cover insurance risk.

Then Tajdar, CEO of Alborz Insurance Company, said capital market, insurance and banking are the three wings of the economy. About 70 to 80% of economic activities are related to banks and the insurance industry has a small share in GDP.

The main role that insurance companies in the world have played is in the field of life insurance. Because this type of insurance increases the capital of insurance companies. 56% of the portfolio of insurance companies in the world is related to life insurance. In Iran, it has reached about 12% in recent years, which has grown well compared to recent years.

He pointed to insurance-linked securities that the total risks are transferred abroad in the form of catastrophes (cat bonds), including floods and earthquakes is about $ 700 billion.

Regarding the motivation of investors in this type of securities, Tajdar said creating a new class of assets in the structure of financial statements, higher returns from other markets, low volatility and less compliance with systematic and non-systematic capital market risks could be tempting measures. Strong collateral structure is one of the reasons why investors are motivated to this type of bond. The volume of participation among international investors in this risk is between one hundred and one billion dollars.

After that Dr. Seyed Mohammad Javad Mirtaher, a member of the Islamic Insurance Committee of the Iranian Association of Islamic Finance, pointed out the reasons and benefits of securities, mentioning there are six main reasons for using this type of securities which are:

1- Potential reduction of financing costs

2- The possibility of diversifying the principles of financing

3- The possibility of company risk management

4- In case of special capital requirements, management of capital requirements (banks and insurances ...)

5- An opportunity to obtain capital and financing outside the balance sheet

6- Earning money from the place of commission

Currently, different types of insurance securities are being issued and the diversity of these types of securities in the capital market has increased significantly. These papers can be categorized in two ways:

1- Traditional classification of insurance securities

2- Classification based on the function and purpose of insurance securities

According to the traditional classification of the insurance industry, two types of securitization can be enumerated in the insurance industry:

1- Turning into life insurance-linked securities

2- Converting non-life insurance-linked securities

In addition to the above traditional classification, the conversion of assets into securities in the insurance industry is done with two main purposes:

A) The purpose of financing

B) The purpose of insurance (risk transfer)

There are three general categories of life insurance securities, the first two of which are done for financing purposes to take advantage of capital and tax benefits, and the third category is done for the purpose of risk transfer and insurance (reinsurance) which are:

1- Converting securities into legal reserves

2- Converting securities into a package of insurance disciplines

3. Catastrophic mortality bonds

The main non-life insurance securities include the following:

1. Cat Bonds

2. Catastrophic event exchanges

3- Industry loss warranties (ILW)

4- Sidecars bonds

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