TWIA LOOKS TO ACHIEVE $4.2BN IN CAT FUNDING FOR 2020

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association will reach its goal of procuring $4.2bn in catastrophe funding for the 2020 hurricane season that commences June 1, chief financial officer Jerry Fadden said at the group’s May board meeting. Half the funding will come from a combination of TWIA’s income, contributions from its Catastrophe Reserve Trust Fund and “alternating layers of debt and member assessments as provided by statute,” Fadden said. The balance of the funding will come from $1.2bn in traditional reinsurance, $600m in cover from two cat bonds issued in 2018 and 2019 and a newly issued $200m cat bond. Fadden outlined the financing before it was reported that the latest cat bond, not yet completed, is upsizing to between $300m and $400m owing to investor demand. TWIA is Texas’ coastal wind and hail insurer of last resort.