Nephila creates new climate division

Nephila Holdings, parent company to Nephila Capital, has expanded its weather and ESG-driven business with the launch of a new specialty division, Nephila Climate (NCx).

NCx will deal specifically with weather risk transfer and climate resilience products. Dr. Richard Oduntan, the head of Nephila's weather risk investment team, has been appointed as chief executive officer of NCx.

According to Nephila the impact on earnings from increasingly volatile weather conditions extends well beyond the energy sector to include retailers, airlines, food and agriculture, and outdoor entertainment.

"NCx stands at the intersection of two trends: steadily increasing interest in weather risk transfer alternatives from companies and intermediaries around the world, and the investment community's collective push to develop products aligned with impact and sustainable investing goals", said Dr. Oduntan. "NCx will also satisfy a growing demand from investors for additional non-correlated returns."

Nephila offers a broad range of investment products including insurance-linked securities, catastrophe bonds, insurance swaps, and private transactions. Barney Schauble, Chairman of Nephila Climate, said, "We are proud to have been early believers in climate-driven investments, developing the initial market for weather risk transfer and creating an opportunity for investors in a way which makes for a more sustainable economy."  

According to the company the launch of NCx is the latest expansion of Nephila's weather and climate-driven investing business in response to the growing demand from both hedgers and investors.  NCx will benefit from the larger relationships of Nephila Holdings, but is also seeking external partners who share the same interests and innovative spirit when exploring climate-related investment initiatives. NCx will continue to scale its existing offerings and offer adjacent products for renewable energy, energy markets, agriculture and other sectors. In addition, it will also seek to develop weather-linked credit products to aid the financing of renewable energy projects and also help commercial and government entities manage climate resilience risks due to weather volatility and extreme weather in sectors including logistics and transportation, construction, mining and minerals, food and agriculture, hospitality and retail.