Global reinsurance firm, Swiss Re, on Wednesday announced its acquisition of Fathom, Bristol, UK-based provider of water risk intelligence and flood models, under an arrangement that make the firm retain its own brand and work closely with the firm’s Reinsurance Solutions division to further develop and distribute its innovative flood and climate risk data, maps, and models.
Swiss Re stated that Fathom’s well-established research activities complemented its capabilities in the field of data modelling and risk knowledge to address the protection gap for natural catastrophes, such as floods.
According to the leading reinsurer, through the acquisition, its Reinsurance Solutions arm will gain valuable expertise and a robust set of products, complementing its own data and risk capabilities in the field of flood perils, which is a major driver for constantly rising losses from natural catastrophes around the world.
Swiss Re’s data shows that insurers and reinsurers covered roughly 40% of the economic losses related to natural catastrophes in 2023, highlighting how large the protection gap remains across the world.
The insured nat cat loss total for 2023 has been pegged at more than $100 billion by Swiss Re, and at least $12 billion of this total can be attributed to flood events, which is more than 30% higher than the past ten years’ annual average, according to Swiss Re.
The reinsurer also highlighted the benefits of using advanced data modelling and scientifically robust tools and intelligence, to enable insurance and risk management professionals to better understand the impact of floods on people, buildings, and businesses.
This is even as it maintained that by working closely with Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions, Fathom would gain access to its client franchise and long-standing expertise in the field of natural catastrophes.
Commenting on the deal, CEO of Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions, Russell Higginbotham, said: “We are very pleased to join forces with Fathom in our quest to narrow the protection gap for natural catastrophe risks, such as floods. Fathom’s market-leading research and innovative tools in this area create great synergies with Swiss Re’s risk knowledge and digital capabilities. I’m thrilled to welcome the Fathom team to the Swiss Re organisation and look forward to a successful collaboration.”
In his remarks, the CEO of Fathom, Stuart Whitfield, assured: “We are committed to helping organisations around the world to analyse, understand and respond to flood risk and the changing climate landscape. Thanks to the strong alignment between our ethos and approach, I’m excited to see us work together with Swiss Re Reinsurance Solutions to bring our sophisticated risk insights to even more customers and help deliver greater global resiliency.
“This transaction represents a further key step in helping us achieve our vision of becoming the gold standard in the provision of water risk intelligence”, the industry expert added.
