Descartes Underwriting is planning to engage with more brokers in Australia to support its growing operations, a year after the Paris-based parametric insurance specialist entered the market here. 

The business held a formal launch party this month in Sydney at the Museum of Contemporary Art, with co-founder and CEO Tanguy Touffut flying in to celebrate the occasion with Descartes’ network of brokers and other partners. 

Head of Australia and North Asia Ben Qin and Business Developer Director Trang Ha told guests Descartes has achieved significant growth since opening the Sydney office in August last year. 

They say the team plans to increase further awareness among brokers about parametric insurance, which is gaining traction in Australia as potentially an effective insurance solution for extreme weather events. 

Unlike traditional insurance products, parametric offerings pay out a pre-agreed indemnity when a predefined event occurs. 

The specialised product is increasingly seen as more effective in providing coverage for climate-linked weather events since loss is usually extensive and difficult to measure with traditional methods. 

Descartes says it collaborates with brokers around the world to protect corporate and public sector clients with parametric solutions.