CatIQ Names Laura Twidle President & CEO; Joel Baker to Become Vice Chairman
Toronto (June 28, 2022) – Catastrophe Indices & Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), Canada’s loss and exposure indices provider, today announced that Laura Twidle will assume the role of President & Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Caroline Floyd, currently Assistant Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis, will become Director. Both appointments are effective as of July 1, 2022.
Twidle, who has served as Managing Director for CatIQ since 2019, succeeds Joel Baker, who established the company in 2014 and has served as the President & CEO since its inception. Baker will take on the role of Vice Chairman of CatIQ.
In her new role, Twidle will report to Luzi Hitz, CEO of PERILS A.G. CatIQ was acquired by PERILS in July 2019.
Commenting on the appointments, Hitz said: “I am delighted that Laura has been appointed CEO of CatIQ. She has been a leading figure in the company’s growth and brings an incredible level of insight into the Canadian Cat arena to the role. Laura and Caroline are both very dynamic, motivated and committed people who in an ever-changing risk and technology environment will help drive CatIQ forward. I am also glad that CatIQ founder Joel Baker will be staying on as Vice Chairman and that we will continue to be able to rely upon his exceptional knowledge of the Canadian insurance industry.”
Twidle added: “I want to thank Joel for his mentorship and dedication to CatIQ. I am honored to be entrusted with leading an organization that holds such an important role in the catastrophe risk management sector. I believe the loss and exposure metrics CatIQ provides will be of substantial value to the industry as they focus more on climate change and the extreme events taking place in our own backyard.”
Twidle joined CatIQ in 2017 as Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis and became Managing Director in 2019. Twidle has been a member of the Canadian catastrophe conference, CatIQ Connect steering committee since 2017 and has spoken at various industry events relating to the impact of extreme weather. Twidle holds a Master of Science degree in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from McGill University, and a Bachelor of Science degree in meteorology and mathematics from Central Michigan University. Before joining CatIQ, Twidle was a meteorologist at an engineering firm.
About CatIQ
Toronto-based Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) is a subsidiary of Zurich-based PERILS A.G. and delivers detailed analytical and meteorological information on Canadian natural and man-made catastrophes. Through its online subscription-based platform, CatIQ combines comprehensive insured loss and exposure indices and other related information to better serve the needs of the insurance / reinsurance / ILS industries, public sector and other stakeholders. www.catiq.com. CatIQ was established in 2014 with the support of the overwhelming majority of the Canadian insurance and reinsurance industry and is widely recognized as the most reliable source of catastrophe loss information in Canada. CatIQ also partners with MSA Research to host the Canadian catastrophe conference, CatIQ Connect, connect.catiq.com which will return to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Feb 7-8, 2023.
About PERILS AG
PERILS is an independent Zurich-based organisation providing industry-wide natural catastrophe exposure and event loss data. The PERILS Industry Exposure & Loss Database is available to all interested parties via annual subscription. The database contains industry property sums insured and event loss information on a CRESTA zone level and per property line of business. PERILS industry loss estimates provided via the PERILS Industry Loss Index Service can be used as triggers in insurance risk transactions such as industry loss warranty contracts (ILW) or insurance-linked securities (ILS). The service currently covers the following 18 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. In addition, PERILS industry exposure data are available for Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. The use of PERILS exposure and loss data other than in conjunction with a valid PERILS License and according to its terms, by a Licensee or an Authorized User as defined in the License, is illegal and expressly forbidden.
More information can be found at https://www.catiq.com and https://www.perils.org
Contact:
CatIQ | +1.416.368.1723 | admin@catiq.com