An Insurance News webinar was held on 26 September, to dispel myths about insurance alternatives – including that discretionary mutual funds are intended to tackle uninsurable or bad risks.

Picnic says that, using property as an example, an organisation could be considered a bad risk or uninsurable if:

• It has a high volume of claims, preventable or otherwise
• Buildings have high natural perils or catastrophe exposure
• There is poor maintenance history
• There is limited COPE (construction, occupancy, protection and exposure) data available
• Valuations are not current or do not reflect market data
• An incumbent insurance provider or reinsurance provider has a change in risk appetite for a specific industry.

Discretionary mutual funds (DMFs) are financial services organisations that issue risk protection as an alternative to insurance. A DMF is collectively owned by its customers, who are referred to as members.

Like all financial services organisations, DMFs require a capital base to operate.

‍

Discretionary mutual funds (DMFs) and discretionary trusts (DTs) are often confused due to the same words being used in different contexts.

Legally, DMFs are different to DTs.

Let's explain the legal, product and operational differences.

‍

Picnic Labs has launched a discretionary mutual that provides building, contents and business interruption risk protection to a large consortium of retailers, covering about $500 million of assets.

The portfolio, Picnic’s sixth discretionary mutual, includes more than 110 locations, mostly across Queensland. Some are eligible for cyclone insurance.

Read the article here.

In a market that picks and chooses, the co-operative approach to risk protection seems to be having a moment

There’s nothing new about mutual risk protection. It dates back centuries, and is built on a principle as old as time: community co-operation.

And according to recent global premium figures, the mutual model has never been stronger, with Australia among the markets leading the surge. In 2021, more than 4400 mutual funds collectively wrote a record $US1.42 trillion in premium, an International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation report from earlier this year states.

By market share, Australia was the 13th-fastest-growing market, with mutuals’ share growing 7.7 percentage points over the 10 years from 2011.

In a hardening market, with insurance affordability and availability a growing problem in some sectors, it is perhaps unsurprising that some insureds are looking for alternatives.

Charles Pollack says his mutual fund start-up lab Picnic has, in its first few years of operation, noted interest in the model from a variety of organisations and businesses.

>> READ THE ARTICLE

Discretionary mutual Our Ark, operated by Picnic Labs, says it has grown to more than 70 members since launching three years ago, is now protecting almost $2 billion of property, and is offering an alternative for brokers.

Often, Discretionary Mutual Funds (DMFs) have been considered an alternative to insurance only in times of hard markets. Yet, Our Ark Mutual demonstrates that a DMF provides a much-needed alternative in key markets.

Launched by innovative Mutual Manager Picnic Labs, Our Ark Mutual was launched in December 2020 protecting $120 million in assets in Queensland. It closed FY23 protecting almost $2 billion in assets across Australia.

‍

Diverse sectors and businesses including carshare, churches and McDonald’s are turning to discretionary mutual funds to find creative ways to manage risks and tailor their protection.

‍

Directors tired of being over an insurance barrel now have some new tactics to tackle risk management.

Successive steep annual premium increases leave no doubt that the world generally, including Australia and the Asia-Pacific, has been in a hardening commercial insurance market for the last few years. How long it will remain so is unclear. Greg Duncan, vice president of Australian operations at commercial property insurer FM Global, thinks the hard market will continue until at least the end of 2022.

‍

A discretionary mutual fund may be a suitable way to address the current insurance crisis facing amusement park, leisure and recreation operators, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) says.

“Any report that backs up the pain being experienced from the current market conditions by businesses with hard data is important for everyone to read,” CEO Charles Pollack told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

A newly launched company has set its sights on providing the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector with an alternative to insurance that not only takes into account the specific characteristics of ECEC but also aims to do so at a reasonable cost relative to others currently active in the sector.

Having members across Australia could also spread the risk, he said. Stay informed. Here are all the ways you can find news from the Townsville ...

Our Ark is receiving great interest from owners, operators and landlords from across the Early Childhood Education & Childc care (ECEC) sector looking for a community focused approach to addressing their needs.

An underwriting agency is testing market interest in a proposed professional indemnity (PI) mutual as soaring premiums and the withdrawal of traditional capacity cause cover availability issues.

When the property insurance renewal for the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland jumped from $500,000 to $2.5 million in a year, despite a long period of time with minimal claims, the archdeacon began to seek alternatives.

The result is Our Ark Mutual, a discretionary mutual designed by insurance experts in collaboration with customers to breathe new life into the proven, customer-owned mutual model. Our Ark launched in December 2020 and now protects $120 million of the Diocese’s assets and is quickly onboarding new customers.

We talked to Charles Pollack of Picnic on how to harness the power and compassion of communities to deliver insurance with heart and this is what he had to say.

When the property insurance renewal for the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland jumped from $500,000 to $2,500,000 in a year despite very low claims over a long period of time, the Archdeacon began to look for alternatives.

The result, launching in December 2020, is Our Ark, a new Discretionary Mutual protects the Diocese’s $120 million in assets.

Picnic Syndicate (2460) is coming in 2021 to provide purpose-built reinsurance support for mutuals, captives & other risk pooling structures world-wide. After Picnic syndicate gains in-principle Lloyd’s approval.

Syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB) Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460 has received in-principle approval from Lloyd’s to begin operations on January 01, 2021, subject to completion of the Lloyd’s application process.

Asta, the leading third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, announces that the Council of Lloyd’s has on 20 October granted in principle approval for the launch of Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460 (Picnic), a syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB) which will commence underwriting on 1 January 2021, subject to completion of the Lloyd’s application process. Picnic will initially provide (re)/insurance support to the innovative mutuals that Picnic’s parent, Picnic Labs, forms and develops in Australia and New Zealand.

Asta, the third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, announced the Council of Lloyd’s granted in-principle approval for the launch of Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460, a syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB).

An Insurance News webinar was held on 26 September, to dispel myths about insurance alternatives – including that discretionary mutual funds are intended to tackle uninsurable or bad risks.

Picnic says that, using property as an example, an organisation could be considered a bad risk or uninsurable if:

• It has a high volume of claims, preventable or otherwise
• Buildings have high natural perils or catastrophe exposure
• There is poor maintenance history
• There is limited COPE (construction, occupancy, protection and exposure) data available
• Valuations are not current or do not reflect market data
• An incumbent insurance provider or reinsurance provider has a change in risk appetite for a specific industry.

Discretionary mutual funds (DMFs) are financial services organisations that issue risk protection as an alternative to insurance. A DMF is collectively owned by its customers, who are referred to as members.

Like all financial services organisations, DMFs require a capital base to operate.

‍

Discretionary mutual funds (DMFs) and discretionary trusts (DTs) are often confused due to the same words being used in different contexts.

Legally, DMFs are different to DTs.

Let's explain the legal, product and operational differences.

‍

Picnic Labs has launched a discretionary mutual that provides building, contents and business interruption risk protection to a large consortium of retailers, covering about $500 million of assets.

The portfolio, Picnic’s sixth discretionary mutual, includes more than 110 locations, mostly across Queensland. Some are eligible for cyclone insurance.

Read the article here.

In a market that picks and chooses, the co-operative approach to risk protection seems to be having a moment

There’s nothing new about mutual risk protection. It dates back centuries, and is built on a principle as old as time: community co-operation.

And according to recent global premium figures, the mutual model has never been stronger, with Australia among the markets leading the surge. In 2021, more than 4400 mutual funds collectively wrote a record $US1.42 trillion in premium, an International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation report from earlier this year states.

By market share, Australia was the 13th-fastest-growing market, with mutuals’ share growing 7.7 percentage points over the 10 years from 2011.

In a hardening market, with insurance affordability and availability a growing problem in some sectors, it is perhaps unsurprising that some insureds are looking for alternatives.

Charles Pollack says his mutual fund start-up lab Picnic has, in its first few years of operation, noted interest in the model from a variety of organisations and businesses.

>> READ THE ARTICLE

Discretionary mutual Our Ark, operated by Picnic Labs, says it has grown to more than 70 members since launching three years ago, is now protecting almost $2 billion of property, and is offering an alternative for brokers.

Often, Discretionary Mutual Funds (DMFs) have been considered an alternative to insurance only in times of hard markets. Yet, Our Ark Mutual demonstrates that a DMF provides a much-needed alternative in key markets.

Launched by innovative Mutual Manager Picnic Labs, Our Ark Mutual was launched in December 2020 protecting $120 million in assets in Queensland. It closed FY23 protecting almost $2 billion in assets across Australia.

‍

Diverse sectors and businesses including carshare, churches and McDonald’s are turning to discretionary mutual funds to find creative ways to manage risks and tailor their protection.

‍

Directors tired of being over an insurance barrel now have some new tactics to tackle risk management.

Successive steep annual premium increases leave no doubt that the world generally, including Australia and the Asia-Pacific, has been in a hardening commercial insurance market for the last few years. How long it will remain so is unclear. Greg Duncan, vice president of Australian operations at commercial property insurer FM Global, thinks the hard market will continue until at least the end of 2022.

‍

A discretionary mutual fund may be a suitable way to address the current insurance crisis facing amusement park, leisure and recreation operators, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) says.

“Any report that backs up the pain being experienced from the current market conditions by businesses with hard data is important for everyone to read,” CEO Charles Pollack told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

A newly launched company has set its sights on providing the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector with an alternative to insurance that not only takes into account the specific characteristics of ECEC but also aims to do so at a reasonable cost relative to others currently active in the sector.

Having members across Australia could also spread the risk, he said. Stay informed. Here are all the ways you can find news from the Townsville ...

Our Ark is receiving great interest from owners, operators and landlords from across the Early Childhood Education & Childc care (ECEC) sector looking for a community focused approach to addressing their needs.

An underwriting agency is testing market interest in a proposed professional indemnity (PI) mutual as soaring premiums and the withdrawal of traditional capacity cause cover availability issues.

When the property insurance renewal for the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland jumped from $500,000 to $2.5 million in a year, despite a long period of time with minimal claims, the archdeacon began to seek alternatives.

The result is Our Ark Mutual, a discretionary mutual designed by insurance experts in collaboration with customers to breathe new life into the proven, customer-owned mutual model. Our Ark launched in December 2020 and now protects $120 million of the Diocese’s assets and is quickly onboarding new customers.

We talked to Charles Pollack of Picnic on how to harness the power and compassion of communities to deliver insurance with heart and this is what he had to say.

When the property insurance renewal for the Anglican Diocese of North Queensland jumped from $500,000 to $2,500,000 in a year despite very low claims over a long period of time, the Archdeacon began to look for alternatives.

The result, launching in December 2020, is Our Ark, a new Discretionary Mutual protects the Diocese’s $120 million in assets.

Picnic Syndicate (2460) is coming in 2021 to provide purpose-built reinsurance support for mutuals, captives & other risk pooling structures world-wide. After Picnic syndicate gains in-principle Lloyd’s approval.

Syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB) Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460 has received in-principle approval from Lloyd’s to begin operations on January 01, 2021, subject to completion of the Lloyd’s application process.

Asta, the leading third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, announces that the Council of Lloyd’s has on 20 October granted in principle approval for the launch of Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460 (Picnic), a syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB) which will commence underwriting on 1 January 2021, subject to completion of the Lloyd’s application process. Picnic will initially provide (re)/insurance support to the innovative mutuals that Picnic’s parent, Picnic Labs, forms and develops in Australia and New Zealand.

Asta, the third-party managing agent at Lloyd’s, announced the Council of Lloyd’s granted in-principle approval for the launch of Picnic Syndicate PIC 2460, a syndicate-in-a-box (SIAB).