Demystifying Alternative Risk Transfer (ART)
Introduction:
In today's dynamic business landscape, traditional insurance methods may fall short in adequately addressing the evolving risks faced by organisations. Enter Alternative Risk Transfer (ART), a shift in risk management strategy that offers several innovative solutions to navigate uncertainties. Our article delves into the primary pillars of ART, exploring its practical applications, and highlighting the benefits.
But why consider ART?
There are several triggers that are driving increased interest in ART from insurance market appetite and availability and increasing premiums to managing new, troublesome or complex risks or retaining the cost of claims that are predictable in frequency and/or severity. As businesses become more sophisticated, the benefit of traditional insurance is being replaced or augmented by ART.
Understanding ART:
At its core, ART is a departure from the conventional concept of transferring insurable risk to the insurance market. ART uses risk retention, diversification, and strategic risk financing, management and transfer to improve overall outcomes. Unlike traditional insurance, ART encourages organisations to retain a sizeable portion of their risks, up to defined thresholds. This retention strategy fosters a sense of accountability and aligns the interests of insurers and insured parties. In effect, ART creates real “skin in the game” for the organisation, who can directly benefit from the upside of improving their risk profile.
Often, ART mechanisms are entwined within Captive Insurance structures, wherein the organisation itself owns the regulated and independently managed insurance vehicle, linking with insurers and reinsurers for the provision of regulated documents and the protection needed beyond the width and height of the retained risk exposures.
Key Components of ART:
Retention: The cornerstone of ART lies in retaining more risk, albeit within manageable limits. By assuming a greater share of risk, organisations can exert greater control over their risk exposures and potentially reap higher rewards. Retentions are usually capped so that the more catastrophic risks are transferred to the insurance market.
Diversification: ART enables the sharing or diversification of risks across various dimensions, including insurance class, business entities and geographical regions. This approach safeguards against concentrated exposures and enhances resilience in the face of unforeseen events.
Volatility Smoothing: ART enables the transfer of funding before the actual transfer of risk, enabling organisations to mitigate volatility and stabilise their financial positions. This proactive approach to risk management helps organisations to navigate turbulent insurance market conditions, with confidence and lower exposure to financial shock to the balance sheet.
Sideways Protection: Sideways protection mechanisms, such as stop-loss provisions, offer a safety net against adverse outcomes. These provisions act as a buffer, shielding organisations from catastrophic losses and providing peace of mind when exposed to external macro risks in changing or uncertain times.
Alignment: Central to ART is the concept of alignment, wherein insurers and insured parties share in the risks and rewards of the insurance structure. Profit-sharing arrangements foster partnership and collaboration, driving mutual success and prosperity. ART enables mutual objectives to be agreed and delivered.
Practical Applications of ART:
ART can deliver value across various applications when tackling different risk management scenarios. From budget management to addressing emerging risks, ART offers tailored solutions to meet the evolving needs of organisations. Whether it's managing premium increases, navigating P&L volatility, or optimising self-retentions, ART provides a versatile toolkit for risk and finance managers to tackle complex challenges.
Benefits of ART Solutions:
ART solutions can unlock a plethora of benefits for organisations seeking to enhance their risk management capabilities.
These often include:
Long-term relationship building with insurers through strategic risk sharing
Strategic management of profit/loss volatility and balance sheet consistency
Improved budgeting process with improved cost certainty
Sustainable increase in retentions leading to higher profit margin
Tailored coverage with enhanced control on loss management
Improved capital and cashflow control
Access to reputable re/insurance paper and risk consulting expertise
Developing a strong risk culture and demonstrating risk maturity to external stakeholders
Conclusion:
In a world fraught with uncertainty, ART provides a tangible opportunity in risk management. Whilst the concepts of ART are established and proven, use off ART requires commitment, creativity, and a desire to innovate.
Whilst ART may not be for all, many larger companies are embracing ART to fortify their resilience, optimize their risk profiles, and chart a course towards financial certainty, sustainable growth and success. As the insurance landscape continues to evolve, ART is well placed to develop the way organisations manage risk, which will trigger a new wave in risk sharing and collaboration.
Strategic and flexible by nature, ART should be part of the general discussion around an organisation’s risk appetite, tolerance and overarching finance strategy.
To facilitate the ART deep-dive, specialist risk and insurance advisers are often engaged to enrich and challenge the thinking ensuring, that the journey is well governed and ultimately fruitful.