Interview: Robert Quinn, Wilmington Trust


The devil is in the details H


aving spent the better part of the past 15 years discussing, educating people on, establishing


and administering reinsurance trusts for all kinds of insurance and insurance-linked securities (ILS) transactions, it has become clear to me that there are a few key points one might consider when deciding on a trustee. These points are often forgotten in favour of a known name or low price. Given my limited space, I will go over the two most important.


Industry knowledge I cannot overstate the importance of your trustee understanding your business. Many banks can (in theory) establish a reinsurance trust. However, do they truly understand what you and your counterparty are trying to accomplish? Do they understand the implications of the trust language and the true meanings of the language included? Often they don’t.


One way to tell is the amount of negotiation


(or added language) the trustee requires to come to terms with the reinsurance trust agreement (RTA). Another is the amount of due diligence or ‘know your customer’ (KYC) information they request. Does it seem like overkill? Indeed, I am not suggesting that KYC is not important. It is essential in this age of banking. However, there is a point where some of the information requested by some banks is simply not relevant to the transaction. Those who understand the business will ask only for what is needed.


Account onboarding We all know that, in the reinsurance and ILS space, timing is everything. Your trustee should be the one that speeds up the process, not delays it. Responses should be swift, not delayed. It should


19.10.15 MONDAY


Robert Quinn of Wilmington Trust explains the importance of understanding the fine details when deciding upon a reinsurance trust.


not take a week or two to establish a reinsurance


trust. Robert Quinn


If it does, you might be with the wrong trustee. My team at Wilmington Trust has been


together for more than 15 years. We know what parties to a trust agreement are trying to accomplish. We have seen just about every variation that we don’t


trust agreements take, meaning engage in pointless legal to-and-


fro. Our KYC and account onboarding are streamlined and efficient and our response times are unequalled. The issue of price? We won’t be beaten. Name recognition? I guess that is the point of this little essay. Enjoy the conference! n Robert Quinn is vice president, Insurance Collateral Solutions at Wilmington Trust. He can be contacted at: rgquinn@wilmingtontrust.com


LOCAL GLOBAL&


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