Tokio Marine launches TokioWeather

Japan's Tokio Marine and Fire Insurance has launched TokioWeather, the country's first software program that calculates the premium on weather derivatives, according to an official at the insurer in Tokyo.

The software is designed to simplify the process of determining premiums on weather derivatives by inputting data such as maturity, amount payable and underlying weather conditions, directly into the system. "Typically it can take several days to get a quote," the Tokio Marine official said.

He added that the weather derivatives market in Japan is set to grow significantly due to demand for contracts from the 70% to 80% Japanese corporates seriously impacted by weather changes.

"The weather derivatives market is getting more competitive," he said. "There are many insurers in Japan that are dealing with the derivatives and there are large banks and security companies going into this business."

Tokio Marine is currently marketing the product to regional banks in the country.

Speaking at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association AGM in Berlin, Masahiro Hosomi, senior manager for derivatives and structured products at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, said there had been 500 weather transactions since June 1999, with a notional value of between $60 and $80 million.