CaribRM © 2010 - All Rights Reserved Caribbean Risk Managers Limited Case Study: CCRIF Since June 2007, the small, catastrophe-exposed states of the Caribbean have had access to individual coverage against natural  catastrophe-induced government losses via a unique risk pool. Following the terrible damage to the Caribbean wreaked by the 2004  hurricane season, the World Bank and CARICOM (the Caribbean Community) commissioned development of the Caribbean  Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF). A consortium which evolved into Caribbean Risk Managers Ltd (CaribRM) won a global  tender to develop and implement the financial and operational strategy for the new entity and, from its launch in early 2007, have  been the Facility Supervisor, providing full operational, financial and risk management services. Under the CCRIF, Caribbean nations can select various degrees of protection and insure themselves against hurricane and/or  earthquake losses. Annual premiums vary from US$200,000 to $4.5 million for payouts from US$1 million to $100 million, with a  total aggregate exposure of over US$600 million underwritten. CCRIF, operating as a captive insurer within the Cayman Islands  jurisdiction, retains risk at the bottom and top of the portfolio risk profile (below 5 year and above 1,000 year return periods), with  additional cover of around US$150 million placed into the international reinsurance and capital markets. Unique to CCRIF has been  its ability to garner both traditional and capital market risk transfer of the same underlying policies with no basis risk to the Facility.  CaribRM’s risk assessment team also provides rapid and independent assessments of catastrophe events from both a hazard and loss perspective, and also offers independent advice on the science of natural hazards, including hurricane tracking and impact forecasting. We distribute a quarterly bulletin describing natural hazards events across the broader Caribbean Basin as well as individual post-event bulletins. Client-focussed real-time updates are also provided via secure client login to our servers. The innovative aspect of the CCRIF policies is the parametric formulation. Wind  speed (in the case of hurricanes) or ground acceleration (in the case of  earthquakes) are used as proxies for loss, currently through an indexing  approach but, from 2010, through a modelled loss approach developed by  Kinetic Analysis Corporation (Kinanco) in collaboration with CaribRM.  Once a policy triggers, the affected countries receive immediate payment of a  percentage of the estimated losses sustained (the percentage being decided by  countries and affecting the annual premium they must pay) once the underlying  physical parameters have been independently verified (and subject to a  deductible.) This occurs typically within days and therefore helps overcome the  usual sovereign liquidity crunch that follows a disaster. It allows for expedient  post-disaster repairs and gives governments time to raise funds for  intermediate-and longer-term recovery activities.