Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Incorporated (CatIQ) has announced that Laura Twidle will serve as the company’s new president and chief executive officer, and that Caroline Floyd has been promoted to the role of director.
Both appointments are effective July 01, 2022.
Twidle, who had previously served as managing director at CatIQ since joining in 2019, succeeds founder and former president and CEO Joel Baker, who established the company and led it since 2014. Baker will transition to the role of vice chairman of CatIQ.
Before joining CatIQ, Twidle was a meteorologist with Amec Foster Wheeler; in that role, she forecast for clients in Manitoba, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada, as well as severe weather events across Canada for insurers. She has been a member of the CatIQ Connect steering committee since 2017.
As president and CEO of CatIQ, Twidle will report to PERILS AG CEO Luzi Hitz. CatIQ is a subsidiary of PERILS AG, a Zurich-based organization offering natural catastrophe exposure and event loss data. PERILS had acquired CatIQ in July 2019.
Meanwhile, Caroline Floyd most recently served as assistant director of catastrophic loss analysis. Prior to joining CatIQ in 2020, Floyd served as a news writer and a meteorologist for The Weather Network.
“I am delighted that Laura has been appointed CEO of CatIQ. She has been a leading figure in the company’s growth and brings an incredible level of insight into the Canadian Cat arena to the role,” said Luzi Hitz. “Laura and Caroline are both very dynamic, motivated and committed people who, in an ever-changing risk and technology environment, will help drive CatIQ forward.”
Hitz also expressed gratitude for CatIQ founder Joel Baker staying with CatIQ as vice chairman, which would allow the company to continue to rely on his knowledge of the Canadian insurance market.
“I want to thank Joel for his mentorship and dedication to CatIQ. I am honored to be entrusted with leading an organization that holds such an important role in the catastrophe risk management sector,” stated Twidle. “I believe the loss and exposure metrics CatIQ provides will be of substantial value to the industry as they focus more on climate change and the extreme events taking place in our own backyard.”
