Howden Re launches Novark, bringing capital markets infrastructure to insurance risk

Howden Re, the global reinsurance, capital markets and strategic advisory arm of Howden, today announces the launch of Novark, a new insurance management and securities administration platform designed to make insurance risk more accessible to capital. Novark is the first platform to enable near real-time data updates on insurance investments, offering investors greater transparency, control and the ability to actively manage their investments.  It also provides institutional capital with a more accessible route into insurance risk, helping create the conditions for greater participation in the market.

The launch addresses a growing disconnect in the alternative capital market. Insurance-linked securities (ILS) and other forms of alternative capital have become an important source of capacity for global reinsurance, and the structures through which institutional investors access insurance risk have become increasingly sophisticated. Yet the infrastructure supporting those investments has not evolved at the same pace, with information, processes and data often fragmented across different participants and systems. 

Novark addresses this by bringing a capital markets-grade experience to insurance risk by creating the first single digital environment where market participants can access clearer, more consistent data in near real time. The platform is designed to give investors greater visibility and control over their investments, while providing insurers and reinsurers with a more connected way to access and manage third-party capital.

Through Novark Management Ltd., a Bermuda incorporated insurance management and securities administration company (currently known as Alternative Risk Management (Bermuda) Limited), the Novark Group will support institutional investors, ILS funds, insurers, reinsurers, brokers and other market participants, combining specialist insurance and securities expertise with Novark’s technology platform and the ability to leverage Howden’s wider reinsurance, analytics, ILS, capital markets and advisory capabilities.  

Razi Naqvi, currently Chief Innovation Officer, Howden Re, is leading the continued development and implementation of the Novark platform. 

“Insurance risk has developed into an increasingly important institutional asset class, but the infrastructure around it has not evolved at the same pace,” commented Razi Naqvi. 

“If we want to attract more capital into the market, investors need the transparency, control and confidence they expect when investing elsewhere.

“Novark brings that capital markets experience to insurance providing the first near real-time data on how their insurance investments are performing. Investors should be able to see what is happening to their investment, understand it and act on it. By bringing participants onto the same digital infrastructure, and providing that unprecedented visibility this makes insurance risk more accessible to institutional capital, while giving insurers and reinsurers a more efficient way to access and manage third-party capital.”

Alex Bridges, CEO Howden Re Bermuda, said:

“Alternative capital is already fundamental to the reinsurance market, but there is a much bigger opportunity if we can make insurance risk easier for institutional investors to access, understand and manage.

Novark offers purpose-built technology and infrastructure to support both established and highly innovative risk transfer structures. It also allows Howden to support clients across the full lifecycle of risk transfer, from advisory and structuring through to ongoing administration, governance and reporting.

“Bermuda is the natural place to build it. This is where reinsurance, ILS and institutional capital already come together, and Novark gives us an opportunity to help take that convergence to the next stage.”

Learn more at Novark.com