PERILS acquires Canadian loss aggregator CatIQ in expansion move

Zurich-based catastrophe insurance data provider PERILS has acquired Canadian loss and exposure aggregation firm Catastrophe Indices & Quantification (CatIQ).

Established in 2014, Toronto-based CatIQ collects data from the majority of the Canadian insurance market and provides an independent industry exposure & loss database for the region.

It is primarily used by re/insurers, ILS funds, intermediaries and modellers for market benchmarking, catastrophe risk model validation, and as triggers in industry-loss-based risk transfer products.

CatIQ also works with The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) and The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR).

Following the acquisition, CatIQ will continue to be managed by its founder and CEO Joel Baker, while managing director Laura Twidle will continue to lead its team.

The firm will also maintain its eleven-member advisory board which includes senior representatives from six major Canadian primary writers and global reinsurers on a rotation basis, as well as permanent representatives from Aon, Guy Carpenter, IBC, ICLR and Canada’s federal agency Environment and Climate Change Canada.

“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, modelers and others as well as the specialised risk transfer market,” said Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS.

Baker added: “In 2017, we entered into a strategic alliance with PERILS. 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.”

Twidle said: “There is an almost seamless fit between PERILS and CatIQ both in terms of the activities that we conduct and the culture that we operate. Our industry mandates are perfectly aligned and by coming together our market proposition becomes even more appealing to the global insurance industry. CatIQ will also continue to play its part in promoting advancements in Cat management strategies through events such as the annual CatIQ Connect Conference, which we conduct in partnership with MSA Research Inc.”

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