Veteran space underwriter and former technical director at AXA Space, Richard Parker, has launched a new space insurance company Assure Space.
The underwriter has secured the backing of New York-based private equity firm Auster Capital Partners and…
Veteran space underwriter and former technical director at AXA Space, Richard Parker, has launched a new space insurance company Assure Space.
The underwriter has secured the backing of New York-based private equity firm Auster Capital Partners and Space Florida, the State of Florida’s aerospace economic development agency, to both fund its coverage and provide strategic support. RFK Engineering Solutions is also working with Assure to provide satellite engineering expertise.
According to SatelliteFinance sources, Assure Space has been participating on launch plus one placements for the past month or so and can write lines of up to US$10m for each deal, although has yet to do so.
One insurer claimed that Parker had sought to leverage his considerable experience by offering rates that are ‘against type for a new entrant.’ That is to say, Assure has sought to offer lines at similar rates as the larger more established underwriters, something not traditionally done by a nascent underwriter.
This is likely the result of the fact that placements are marketed on a vertical basis nowadays meaning that underwriters quote different rates rather than the broker setting a rate and splitting the coverage between the insurers. Vertical marketing enables underwriters to push for better rates but also increases their risk of missing out on a placement altogether.
Nonetheless Assure’s presence will to some extent add to the downward pressure on rates as it further increases the capacity of the space insurance market.
As well as participating on launch-plus-one and in-orbit placements, Assure states that it is also developing new insurance products to facilitate such evolving activities as the assembly and maintenance of orbital facilities, transportation of cargo and crew to and from such facilities, spaceport operations, space tourism, and other space-related activities.
