Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide announced that John Rollins will lead a new consulting group–Public Risk Services—supporting the needs of public sector institutions and stakeholders charged with managing catastrophe risk.

In a statement, Rollins, an AIR Worldwide vice president, explained that the services support insurance commissioners, wind and earthquake pools, model evaluation commissions, federal insurance programs, prudential and solvency regulators, and quasi organizations, which he says are increasingly concerned with the micro and macro impact of disasters.

“Some are increasingly bearing the risk on behalf of taxpayers. By offering a dedicated service to these important organizations, we’re fully committed to better serving the public sector as it manages catastrophe risk,” Rollins said.

AIR is establishing Public Risk Services to serve three distinct roles:

  • Ambassadorial—a dedicated liaison to stakeholders in the public sector, keeping them abreast of AIR’s research, software, and consulting activities
  • Educational—providing education to public institutions on the role and value of catastrophe models, including AIR products and services
  • Center of Excellence—focusing on the role, structure, and risk-sharing frameworks of public risk pools

Rollins, a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society, brings more than 20 years of experience as a property/casualty actuary in a variety of environments, including personal and commercial lines insurance companies and global and regional consulting firms. In a previous tenure, he developed and led significant wind loss analysis and mitigation projects for the Mississippi Insurance Commissioner and the Florida Division of Emergency Management.

Rollins has also provided leadership during the process for the acceptance of AIR’s new models by the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology and testified before several state legislatures regarding catastrophe modeling issues of interest to the public.

He serves on the Board of Governors of the world’s largest public insurance pool, Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, appointed by Florida Governor Rick Scott.

Ming Lee, president and CEO at AIR Worldwide, said the Public Risk Services group is an integral part of the modeling firm’s “overall mission to help society better understand and manage catastrophe risk.”

AIR is a member of the Verisk Insurance Solutions group at Verisk Analytics and is headquartered in Boston with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Source: AIR Worldwide