Oka expands green credit offering with Morrell hire

By Rebecca Delaney

Aug 18 - (The Insurer) - Carbon credit insurer Oka has expanded into the green credit insurance market following the appointment of James Morrell as head of credit underwriting to spearhead the extended product suite.

Morrell joined Oka earlier this year, having returned to the market after most recently serving as senior underwriter at HDI Global Specialty. He also previously held credit and political risk underwriting roles at Brit and Beazley.

Oka's expanded offering includes coverage for pre-payments for transition projects, including carbon credit generation, clean power generation and green industry development.

It will also provide insurance for buy-to-hold green and blue bonds, as well as loans benchmarked against sustainability KPIs.

Other areas of expanded coverage include obligors that are facilitating the transition, or else maintain high environmental ratings, or direct and benchmark proceeds to climate-related or sustainability-linked KPIs.

Oka will also underwrite repayment guarantees by either banks or obligors to a financing contract for a transition project.

"In the renewables market as for the carbon market, there’s an urgent need for long-tenor risk cover to mobilise capital for innovative decarbonisation projects and companies. The technologies may be new and the risks complex, with projects often requiring high upfront and long-term capital," explained Chris Slater, Oka founder and CEO.

Oka’s Asta-managed syndicate in a box is currently in its second year of underwriting. Syndicate 1922 began underwriting from January 1, 2024, having received in-principle approval from Lloyd’s in October 2023.

Six Lloyd’s players (Beazley, Ark, Markel, Africa Specialty Risks, Apollo and Hiscox) follow Oka’s lead line via Syndicate 1922 on a lineslip for the compliance markets.

In June last year, Oka launched a corresponding adjustment protect product designed to cover credits traded into compliance markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

It was developed for the first corresponding adjustment tagged credits on Verra under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA). Corresponding adjustments are a prerequisite for voluntary carbon credits used in compliance markets, including CORSIA and other emissions trading schemes.