Switzerland-based Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd, commonly known as Swiss Re, has entered into a partnership with ICEYE, the largest commercial synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite operator and flood monitoring provider, media reports said. The partnership will allow Swiss Re to react faster to floods around the world.
Pranav Pasricha, global head of P&C solutions for Swiss Re told the media, “We’re very pleased to announce the strategic partnership with ICEYE. By combining Swiss Re’s risk knowledge with ICEYE’s data, we will be able to further expand our capabilities in geo and remote sensing. The partnership will enable us to develop solutions, advance our services to the benefit of our clients, and enable faster claims payouts. We see this as an important commitment for a serious natural catastrophe threat and think it could become a real game-changer.”
According to Swiss Re, the partnership will allow the reinsurer to upgrade its flood risk management capabilities, better assist disaster response and expedite claims payments globally. Also, it is reported that even though the strategic partnership will initially focus on floods, it is expand to other natural disasters, such as wildfires, wind and earthquake damages in the future.
Last month, the Zurich-headquartered reinsurer appointed Andrew Dougall to the role of global head casualty. Andrew Dougall will be responsible for driving the success and profitability of the company’s bespoke casualty portfolio globally.
During the same time, it was also reported that for 2020, Swiss Re posted a net loss of $878 million compared to a profit of $727 million for year-end 2019.