New Verisk Unit to Serve Energy Sector Insurance, Risk Management
Verisk Insurance Solutions has launched a new energy insurance unit focused on risk assessment, rating, and risk modeling for the oil and gas, petrochemicals, power generation, and metals and mining industries.
To develop the new unit for use by the property/casualty insurance industry, Verisk is drawing upon expertise and proprietary data from a number of its businesses, including insurance data and analytics provider ISO, catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide, and energy industry information provider Wood Mackenzie.
“Our new global data analytics tools and insights will help insurers underwrite with more precision, improve operational efficiencies, reduce costs, and grow profitably in this challenging market,” said Maroun Mourad, senior vice president, Commercial Lines Domestic and Global, ISO.
Elizabeth Casas, who joined Verisk Insurance Solutions this year as managing director of energy and insurance, will lead the new unit.
“Underwriting energy risks is a highly technical process that can be extremely expensive and time-consuming,” said Casas. “By pulling together Verisk’s global energy and insurance capabilities we aspire to develop innovative solutions to solve some of the challenges insurers may face in this diverse and complex market.”
She said the new unit is designed to offer a “one-stop data and analytics solution that many energy insurers have likely been looking for,” one that promises to deliver energy-specific data, aerial imagery, cat modeling and accumulation management tools, as well as commercial and financial intelligence.
According to the announcement, Casas has experience in energy insurance and reinsurance in New York, Houston, London, Colombia, and Mexico, serving most recently as vice president and senior energy underwriter at Swiss Re Houston. She started her career as an engineer at Ecopetrol in Colombia.
In July, Verisk Analytics announced it is buying Greentech Media Inc., an information services provider for the solar electricity and clean energy sector. The deal is expected to close this quarter. Greentech Media will become part of Wood Mackenzie, an energy industry consultancy that Verisk acquired in 2015 from buyout firm Hellman & Friedman.
Verisk companies also cover weather and climate risk (Atmospheric and Environmental Research); environmental and health safety(3E Company, and employment screening (Intellicorp).
Source: Verisk