Zurich-based analytics firm PERILS has announced its acquisition of Toronto-based Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ).
Established in 2014, CatIQ collects event loss and exposure data from most of the Canadian insurance market and provides an independent industry exposure and loss database for the region. The firm also maintains strategic relationships with several industry organisations, including the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR).
In a statement, Zurich said that CatIQ will continue to be managed day-to-day by founder and chief executive officer Joel Baker. The firm will also maintain its advisory board, which includes senior representatives from six major Canadian primary writers and global re/insurers on a rotation basis – as well as permanent representatives from Aon, Guy Carpenter, IBC, ICLR, and federal agency Environment and Climate Change Canada.
“In 2017, we entered into a strategic alliance with PERILS,” said Baker. “That close collaboration was central to our ability to launch the FSA (CRESTA) level industry exposure database for Canada in 2018. Today’s announcement means that we can build upon this partnership to deliver CatIQ’s analytical platform and loss indices to the wider risk transfer market and offer additional innovative solutions to the Canadian and global markets. This is truly a win-win-win situation for all parties involved – CatIQ, PERILS, and, most importantly, our clients.”
“We are delighted to be announcing our agreement with CatIQ,” said Luzi Hitz, chief executive officer at PERILS AG. “The firm’s excellent market reputation and steadfast commitment to enhancing the industry’s understanding of cat risk has enabled it to secure the support of the majority of the Canadian general insurance market. Acquiring CatIQ is in line with our mission to increase data availability and strengthens our ability to provide state-of-the-art cat intelligence and industry loss triggers, helping boost the efficiency of re/insurers, modellers, and others as well as the specialized risk transfer market.”
