Demex Group’s Chief Scientist to lead Industry Advisory Board of Center for the research of convective storms

Stephen Bennett, Demex Group’s Chief Scientist, a risk analytics and intelligence company offering reinsurance solutions for severe convective storms, is to lead the Industry Advisory Board for a new Cooperative Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Convective Storms.

The Center – proposed by Northern Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with key industry players – aims to understand the multifaceted impacts that convective storms impose on society and the economy.

During the first six months of 2024, severe thunderstorms, characterised by strong winds, tornadoes, hail, and heavy rainfall, resulted in a staggering $42 billion in insured losses globally.

In the United States, the financial impact of these severe convective storms has been steadily increasing, with insured losses rising by roughly 8% annually since 2008.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are supporting this initiative to research, and find solutions to the challenges being caused by severe convective storms.

These challenges include extensive property damage, loss of life, community disruption, increasing burdens on taxpayers, and rising insurance premiums driven by the surge in claims.

Center’s Director, Dr. Victor Gensini, said: “The economic importance of severe convective storms is clear. Since record keeping began in 1980, there have been more than 360 distinct billion-dollar weather and climate-related disasters. Of those, more than 50% were the result of severe convective storms.

“The increase of these events in recent decades has had a significant economic impact and has pushed severe convective storms to the forefront of concern in the insurance industry.”

Bennett will lead the Center’s Industry Advisory Board in pursuing its objectives which aim to generate actionable research that empowers societies to minimise the adverse impacts of convective storms, fostering a safer and more resilient world.

At Demex, Bennett plays a key role in creating the models that power their innovative parametric reinsurance solutions, aimed at protecting insurers from the financial impact of an accumulation of severe convective storms.

Commenting on Bennett leading the Industry Advisory Board, Dr. Gensini added: “Steve is a leading figure in understanding the impacts of weather on the economy. He brings his expertise, along with know-how from Demex, who are at the forefront of creating new insurance solutions for severe convective storms.”

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}