What’s on offer?

Omnisure are pleased to announce they are setting up a unique insurance proposition for ESG Impact Investors. Omnisure MD Schalk Van der Merwe said:

“Whilst there are a number of brokers who provide insurance to investment fund managers, there is an emerging focus on ESG style funds which are deploying their investors’ capital directly into real assets, such as within the agricultural space. As this changes, the approach to insurance must also evolve”.

This setting is a distinct variation from more traditional deployment of capital into financial assets, and therefore requires a more considered insurance approach to ensure that risk exposures are correctly addressed, managed, and insured. Specifically, whilst several brokers specialise in insuring fund managers, they may not have extensive experience with the underlying physical asset markets in which their clients invest.

Omnisure’s initial focus will be the Agricultural Investment Fund Market. This is owing to Omnisure’s extensive collective experience in insuring underlying physical assets, having placed a variety of complex ISR policies, including north of the 26th parallel. Most notably, Omnisure has recently been joined by Senior Broker Martin Birch, who will be spearheading this initiative. Martin has more than 15 years’ experience in the agricultural and crop insurance space. He was the Product Lead for Allianz Australia’s farm business for 10 years and was the co-founder of a specialist agricultural underwriting agency, as well as a member based discretionary mutual fund in the farm & crop space, affording him highly specialised expertise and extensive insurer and reinsurer relationships

What’s the value add?

Omnisure recognises that significant value can be added through providing investment fund managers with comprehensive advice about their entire insurance portfolio. Practically, the insurance landscape in this space can be very complex, with overlapping risks and exposures rendering it important that an insurance program be developed cohesively and in a tight partnership with fund and asset managers, insurers and brokers. As insurance brokers and risk advisers, Omnisure will be able to maximise their offering by coordinating this approach and attending to the insurance for both the underlying asset insurance, as well as key operational policies (such as Professional Indemnity and Directors & Officers insurance) – in one place. This forms a relatively unique proposition for investment fund managers, in particular where the various insurance policies have traditionally been split between brokers with one specialising in asset insurances and the other in investment managers insurances.

Many Insurance Companies

Hundreds of Insurance Intermediaries

Why is ESG important to insurance?

In recent years, ESG has rapidly become one of the key priorities for financial services firms within Australia. This is a trend that is unlikely to slow anytime soon, and thus it is imperative that companies be proactive to ensure their continued viability. Our focus will initially rest upon the agricultural space as it has demonstrated a strong need for experienced insurance practitioners with a track record providing both agricultural asset insurance and investment managers insurance. In addition, growth in the ESG space has been bolstered by increased client demand and strong returns, reflecting both a commercial opportunity and social expectation. Further, in this time of market volatility and uncertainty, ESG-focused investments have demonstrated much greater market resilience than their more traditionally focused counterparts.

Climate change is a driving shift that will continue to reshape the global economy and insurance industry in the coming decades – both logistically, with growing natural disaster events, and politically, following the introduction of the Paris Agreement. To our knowledge, despite this overwhelming focus upon ESG initiatives, Omnisure’s offering will be the first dedicated insurance proposition for ESG Impact Fund Managers in Australia.

Regardless of one’s views on Climate Change, what is indisputable is that the Environmental Social & Governance (“ESG”) phenomenon is robust and consequential. To this end the following recent article “Climate risk – the mother of all ESG factors” should ‘join the dots’ between ESG, climate and financial risk¹ .

[1] https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/au/news/environmental/why-is-climate-risk-the-mother-of-all-esg-factors-for-insurers-398899.aspx

Omnisure believes there is an opportunity to add value to investment fund managers with specialist advice. The insurance product landscape in this space can be complex and have overlapping covers. Omnisure can offer this by attending to both the underlying agricultural asset insurance, on an expert basis, as well as looking after the important financial lines’ insurance in one place.

What’s to come?

Over the coming months, Omnisure will be releasing a number of bite-sized technical articles, broadly titled “ESG Discussions – Insurance Considerations for Impact Investors and Agricultural Investment Fund Managers”. These will aim to spark discussion around the growing need for ESG-focused insurance approaches, demonstrate Omnisure’s experience and expertise, and highlight the changing landscape in which businesses are now operating. Most critically, it will discuss transferrable insurance risks for the target market, and how fund managers can best ensure that their assets and expertise are protected, thus fostering the long-term success of their businesses.

After several months of work behind the scenes, it is incredibly exciting to formally announce our intentions to enter this space. We are greatly looking forward to discussions with both new and existing clients as to how Omnisure can assist them in ensuring that they are comprehensively insured in this ever-changing risk landscape.

The topics in Omnisure’s document are arranged for readers according to:

• their level of familiarity with Environmental Social and Governance Issues (“ESG”)
• their interest in ‘general’ ESG orientation versus ‘specific’ aspects of ESG
• the time available to commit to each topic, as per the table below:

Please contact Martin Birch for a copy of the full-text Foundation Document at martin.birch@omnisure.com.au