First ever probabilistic flood model for Canada
New York, NY (Apr. 20, 2015) – Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC, a leading global risk and reinsurance specialist and a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, has launched its new G-CAT® Canada Flood Model. In creating the first ever probabilistic flood model for Canada, Guy Carpenter has enabled insurers to assess their exposure to flood, Canada’s most frequently occurring natural hazard.
Large areas of Canada experience flooding, with a number of such damaging events occurring in recent years. The June 2013 Alberta floods, among the worst in Canadian history, incurred insured losses estimated at CAD 1.8 billion, with the economic loss estimated at CAD 6.2 billion.
“By launching the G-CAT Canada Flood Model, Guy Carpenter addresses the concern of extreme losses from natural hazards in Canada, such as flooding,” said Donald Callahan, President and CEO of Guy Carpenter Canada. “To produce this state-of-the-art flood model for the Canadian insurance market, Guy Carpenter collaborated with experts in hydrological and hydraulic modeling to produce simulations for hurricane, rainfall and river flow flooding catastrophes.”
“The G-CAT Canada Flood Model is the latest in an array of country-specific flood models already developed by Guy Carpenter,” said Mark Weatherhead, Head of Model Development at Guy Carpenter. “As part of Guy Carpenter’s multi-year global flood initiative, the G-CAT Canada Flood Model provides clients with best-in-class flood hazard management capabilities and includes the ability to carry out exposure management, scenario testing and probabilistic flood assessment.”
The model enables clients to evaluate both exposure to flood and the financial cost of a range of possible flood events. Historic flood events such as the Alberta floods from two years ago are incorporated as well. Flood maps are created using two hydraulic modeling techniques that take into account Canada’s large geographic area and the diversity of its landscapes as well as the population density of the area being modeled. Also included is a comprehensive view of river flood defenses throughout the country.
Event losses are based on probability distributions representing the vulnerability of insured exposures derived from a number of sources. Those sources include detailed claims data from a variety of Canadian insurers based on recent flood events, specialized knowledge of the Canadian insurance market, and insight gained during the development of flood models in other territories. The flood model not only produces losses within the flooded area of a simulated event, but also near the margins of an event’s footprint. It uses Guy Carpenter’s proprietary software to keep track of a number of metrics for each simulated loss from the event set and gives the uncertainty associated with the mean losses.
Guy Carpenter has long been a pioneer in flood modeling in Europe, Latin America and Asia. The G-CAT Canada Flood Model is another example of Guy Carpenter’s innovative approach to creating a solution that allows clients to successfully assess and manage flood risk – one of the most destructive but least modeled perils in the world today.
About Guy Carpenter
Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC is a global leader in providing risk and reinsurance intermediary services. With over 50 offices worldwide, Guy Carpenter creates and executes reinsurance solutions and delivers capital market solutions* for clients across the globe. The firm’s full breadth of services includes line-of-business expertise in agriculture; aviation; casualty clash; construction and engineering; cyber solutions; excess and umbrella; excess and surplus lines; healthcare & life; marine and energy; mutual insurance companies; political risk and trade credit; professional liability; property; retrocessional reinsurance; surety; terrorism and workers compensation. GC Fac® is Guy Carpenter’s dedicated global facultative reinsurance unit that provides placement strategies, timely market access and centralized management of facultative reinsurance solutions. In addition, GC Analytics®** utilizes industry-leading quantitative skills and modelling tools that optimize the reinsurance decision-making process and help make the firm’s clients more successful. For more information, visit www.guycarp.com.
Guy Carpenter is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (NYSE: MMC), a global professional services firm offering clients advice and solutions in the areas of risk, strategy and people. With annual revenue exceeding $13 billion, Marsh & McLennan Companies’ 57,000 colleagues worldwide provide analysis, advice, and transactional capabilities to clients in more than 130 countries. through: Marsh, a leader in insurance broking and risk management; Mercer, a leader in talent, health, retirement, and investment consulting; and Oliver Wyman, a leader in management consulting. Marsh & McLennan is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and making a positive impact in the communities in which it operates. Visit www.mmc.com for more information.
*Securities or investments, as applicable, are offered in the United States through GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities Corp., a US registered broker-dealer and member FINRA/NFA/SIPC. Main Office: 1166 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10036. Phone: (212) 345-5000. Securities or investments, as applicable, are offered in the European Union by GC Securities, a division of MMC Securities (Europe) Ltd. (MMCSEL), which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, main office 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS. Reinsurance products are placed through qualified affiliates of Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC. MMC Securities Corp., MMC Securities (Europe) Ltd. and Guy Carpenter & Company, LLC are affiliates owned by Marsh & McLennan Companies. This communication is not intended as an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy any security, financial instrument, reinsurance or insurance product.
**GC Analytics is a registered mark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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