Innovative Insurance

Whether it’s the contents of our freezer, the stone chip on our windscreen or the suitcases we take on holiday, we have come to view unexpected financial loss as something which will be covered by insurance.

Yet for many of us, probably the largest risks in our lives remain uninsured. The effect on our pension, savings, investments or monthly outgoings of the FTSE tumbling, the pound collapsing or interest rates soaring has remained in our minds as something which we can do nothing about. These events are unpredictable, can be financially devastating and have historically been far more common than the last decade may suggest.

Large companies and wealthy individuals have long been able to access products that protect them from financial markets but due to the complexity and high minimum transaction costs a small business or a member of the public cannot.

MarketGuard has been set up to change this. By bringing together a unique blend of actuarial, derivatives, mathematical, IT and risk management skills we are able to offer simple general insurance products that protect ordinary people from financial market risk.

In order to do this MarketGuard is, and has to be, different. There is no actuarial table that can assess the risk and no balance sheet that could withstand claims amid today’s financial turmoil.

MarketGuard offsets the risk of claims using exchange traded products where the London Clearing House is the counterparty. We are using mature, existing, highly complex products that are inaccessible to the ordinary person and passing on the protection in the form of insurance that people know and understand.

As our risk is completely offset, claims do not affect our balance sheet or profits so we are able to calculate and pay all claims automatically, directly to the customer’s bank account, usually monthly and with no action required from the policyholder.

All of our products are purchased online using the MarketGuard online advisor centre or a white labeled web service to ensure there can be no dual pricing and attractive distributor commissions are included.

By keeping things automated and removing the claims process the costs are low so the greater percentage of all premium paid goes on protection not administration.

MarketGuard Insurance Company is authorised by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Services Authority in relation to business conducted in the United Kingdom. Where applicable all policies are covered by the FSCS, the sale is regulated by the FSA, we are licensed by the OFT and members of the ABI and FOS. The policies themselves are simpler than contents insurance and are classified as general insurance so can be sold by any directly authorised firm.

By being honest, upfront and open about our operation we sincerely believe we have done everything possible to ensure that both the distributor and customer can have complete confidence in the concept of financial market insurance, MarketGuard and its products.

The rest of this website presents both the current MarketGuard products and those still under development. We hope you find it informative.