Oasis cat model framework offers risk managers new insight

A new catastrophe modelling framework should help corporate risk managers gain better insight into the risks faced by their companies. Oasis, a modelling framework based on data shared by ten Lloyd's of London managing agents, launched at the start of this year. The framework has taken five years to bring to market. It was developed in collaboration with data centre provider Equinix and should lead to a “democratisation” of catastrophe risk information, according to Oasis CEO Dickie Whitaker. Users of the open-source framework can share data and information to further improve their models, Mr Whitaker explained. Thousands of academics from around the world also will be able to share their knowledge via the framework, he said. Oasis has been developed in close conjunction with Lloyd's of London and the Lloyd's Market Association. The ten managing agents supporting the initiative are: Ascot; Beazley; Barbican; Chub; RenaissanceRe; Tokio Marine Kiln; Scor's Channel syndicate; Starstone; Sompo Canopius and XL Catlin. “I am delighted that Lloyd's and LMA have found a shared services solution for the Lloyd's market in this way – I hope this is the beginning of a vibrant marketplace for models – available through the Oasis platform,” said Trevor Maynard, head of exposure management at Lloyd's and co-chairman of Oasis, in a statement. “We are pleased that our members will now be able to derive tangible benefits from this initiative, including the availability of models for exposure management and catastrophe modelling on a shared services basis,” said Neil Maidment, chairman of the LMA and chief underwriting officer at Beazley. The fact that academics with very specific expertise on risks such as tsunami or flood can contribute to the platform means that supply of catastrophe risk information is opening up, Mr Whitaker said. This could represent a radical change in the way risk managers are able to access information about catastrophe risks, he said. For example, a risk manager with a plant or operation in an area where there are currently no catastrophe risk models may, via the Oasis platform, contact an academic who might have information to better understand the local risk, explained Mr Whitaker. This democratisation of risk knowledge should empower risk managers, Mr Whitaker said. In the coming months Oasis will launch the Oasis hub, a portal for environmental data that will be of real benefit to corporate risk managers, Mr Whitaker continued. The Oasis platform will likely disrupt the catastrophe modelling marketplace, which until now has been dominated by three large players, said James Maudslay, global head of insurance at Equinix. There was, he said, a desire from users for more competition in the market. Oasis will be able to bring users some of the very granular work that some smaller modellers around the world have been carrying out, said Mr Maudslay. Underwriters will be able to use new models alongside those already established, he said. For example, in addition to the three large modellers' offerings, Oasis will give underwriters access to data on risks such as Australian bushfires, he added.

Oasis cat model framework offers risk managers new insight

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