The esteemed winners of InsuranceERM's Americas awards 2024 can be revealed. These awards recognise the best in insurance risk management, the finest actuarial and risk modellers, as well as leading technology vendors, service providers and consultancies.
Manulife's chief risk officer (CRO), Halina von dem Hagen, won the CRO of the year award. After previously serving as the company's global treasurer and head of capital management, von dem Hagen sums up the challenges facing CROs and their teams: "The world is moving. The risk of being left behind is as important as the risk of working and adopting the technology."
The award also recognises her knowledge and service to the insurance risk market, exemplified by her selection to the Insurance Policy Advisory Committee of the US Federal Reserve Board in 2019 where she served for two consecutive terms until 2023.
Aon scooped the risk team of the year award. Impact Forecasting, Aon's cat modelling division, impressed the judging panel with its 135-plus models and ELEMENTS platform that enables modellers to obtain new insights and manage the modelling process from start to finish. Climate risk initiative of the year was also secured by Aon.
This year's risk innovation of the year went to California-based wildfire risk modeller and analytics provider, Xyloplan. Properties located in the wildland-urban interface are most at threat from wildfires, and Xyloplan is helping these communities with an innovative wildfire model that helps identify, quantify and mitigate the risk of losses.
Conduit Re claimed the inaugural Bermuda based re/insurer of the year title after firmly establishing itself within the global reinsurance market and the Bermudian community. The Bermuda-based reinsurer has highlighted how being legacy free from both an underwriting and technology perspective has helped drive its growth.
Moody's secured a treble by winning the awards for best use of artificial intelligence (AI) in risk management; catastrophe risk modelling solution of the year; and stress scenarios software of the year.
InsuranceERM's deputy editor and commercial editor, Ronan McCaughey, thanked the independent panel of judges for their time, effort and expertise in selecting the winners, as well as everyone who submitted entries.
McCaughey said: "Deep innovation is the theme uniting all the winners of this year's Americas awards. Each winner has succeeded in developing and marketing breakthrough risk tools and services that measurably support insurers and their customers in areas ranging from climate risk and cat modelling to AI."
The 2024 winners are below:
Individuals
- Chief risk officer of the year: Halina von dem Hagen, Manulife
- Lifetime achievement award: Rich Coffman, Wellington Management
- Diversity and inclusion excellence: Evelyn Boswell, NAIC
Companies and teams
- Actuarial consultancy of the year: Dynamo Analytics
- Bermuda-based re/insurer of the year: Conduit Re
- Insurance asset manager of the year: Conning
- Risk team of the year: Aon
Innovations
- Best use of artificial intelligence in risk management: Moody's
- Climate risk initiative of the year: Aon
- Risk innovation of the year: Xyloplan
- Pension risk transfer innovation of the year: LGRA and RGA
Technology
- Actuarial modelling solution of the year: Milliman
- ALM solution of the year: Milliman
- Analytics solution of the year: CoreLogic
- Catastrophe risk modelling solution of the year: Moody's
- Cyber risk solution of the year: CyberCube
- Data solution of the year: CoreLogic
- LDTI solution of the year: Conning
- Operational risk solution of the year: Decision Focus
- Stress scenarios software of the year: Moody's
How the awards were judged
An independent panel of judges from North America and Bermuda reviewed the entry material submitted and then voted in a secret ballot. The votes were counted and verified by InsuranceERM's team.
The panel of judges are senior risk, insurance and actuarial industry experts each chosen for their, independence, knowledge and objectivity.
The judges' decision is final and neither InsuranceERM nor the judging panel will enter into any correspondence regarding individual entries and/or the award winners.