AmWINS appoints Alex Kaplan as executive VP for alternative risk

AmWINS Group, a global distributor of specialty insurance products and services, has appointed Alex Kaplan as executive vice president for Alternative Risk.

In his new role, Kaplan will lead a new strategy around the development of parametric solutions and other bespoke coverages, on both a stand-alone basis and in conjunction with other traditional and non-traditional solutions for client risk transfer. He will also be responsible for developing new products and capital sources for AmWINS, its retail customers and their clients.

Scott M. Purviance, chief executive of AmWINS, said: “Alex has been at the forefront of understanding emerging risk needs and has an extensive history of creating innovative products, solutions and markets. His work has always focused on affordable ways of closing the gap between insured and uninsured loss, and we’re excited that he will be leveraging that global expertise in support of our retail brokers and their insureds.”

Prior to joining AmWINS, Kaplan spent 11 years at Swiss Re, where he most recently served as Head of North America for the company’s Public Sector Solutions unit. In this role, he supported the needs of governments and international financial institutions in managing their financial risks to help society create effective responses to major challenges, including natural catastrophes and climate change, permanently transforming the industry's approach to these complex and growing risks. These initiatives ranged from helping to establish the US National Flood Insurance Program’s first engagements with the (re)insurance industry to assisting in the creation of the first parametric insurance policy on a natural asset, the Meso-American reef in Mexico. Kaplan co-developed a patented parametric windstorm insurance mechanism.

The industry faces an exciting juncture to help alleviate new challenges in an evolving risk landscape,” said Kaplan. “The confluence of technology, data digitization and computational power today will enable the industry to address the risks of society in new and powerful ways. I’m thrilled to join AmWINS to apply and scale these solutions across their vast network and bring new value to our clients.”

Kaplan has deep expertise in government and public finance. He began his career by serving on the staff of the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives working on tax and economic policy. From 2006 to 2008, he served as the Deputy to the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs for the United States Department of the Treasury under Secretary Henry M. Paulson.