Hyperion hires David Flandro to lead new analytics business

Hyperion X, a data and technology focused unit of the global Hyperion Insurance Group, has announced the hiring of David Flandro as its new Managing Director, Analytics.

Flandro was most recently the Global Head of Analytics at reinsurance broker JLT Re, but had resigned from his previous role following Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc’s (MMC) acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc.

Now, David Flandro has resurfaced at ambitious and growth oriented Hyperion in a role that will support the analytics need of its stable of companies.

Flandro will be tasked with leading the development of Hyperion’s new analytics business, Hyperion X Analytics, which is a joint venture between Hyperion X and the group’s RKH Reinsurance Brokers unit.

This new analytics operation will service RKH’s treaty, facultative, and specialty reinsurance clients, as well as the wholesale and MGA clients of Howden and DUAL.

Hyperion X Analytics will bring Hyperion’s actuarial, catastrophe modelling, and thought leadership functions, under one umbrella, while the firm aims to “create the sector’s most innovative strategic advisory offering,” leveraging on the developing Hyperion X product set and its proprietary Accelerator data platform, the company said.

Barnaby Rugge-Price, CEO of Hyperion X, commented on the hire, “Creating a top-class analytics capability has been a key goal for us and we are absolutely delighted to have been able to attract someone of David’s calibre to Hyperion X. We believe a combination of our increasingly comprehensive data set and David’s unique talents in this area will allow us build the new, exciting and independent offering that the market is crying out for right now.”

Elliot Richardson, Chairman, RKH Reinsurance Brokers, added, “I am delighted to welcome David to Hyperion and to be part of forming Hyperion Analytics that will bring a fresh and exciting new approach to the industry. Blending technology, data and analytics is the future of the industry and Hyperion Analytics will be able to demonstrate this for clients and colleagues alike.”

Flandro commented on his move, “I joined Hyperion because of its unparalleled commitment to leading the change currently taking place in the insurance sector. Proprietary data and technology are now the differentiating competitive advantages in our industry. Hyperion X has created a truly unique, client and market-consistent financial data set and have the expertise to deploy it on behalf of clients. This will underpin a new breed of analytics with totally new insights around risk selection, capital, and growth.”

RKH has been building out its Reinsurance Brokers unit over the last year or so, with a number of hires that have given it a specialism in the collateralised reinsurance, retrocession and insurance-linked securities (ILS) related space.

Flandro brings a different kind of expertise, with a broad market analysis view and a following gained through his year’s of providing insight and analytics to reinsurance business partners and the wider marketplace, over the course of his career.

The integration of an advanced analytics function, with technology, under the Hyperion X brand, plus the growing reinsurance and ILS related capabilities at RKH Reinsurance Brokers, will provide Hyperion with the necessary skills and people to propel further growth into this space.

Flandro began his career in capital markets, working in equities, fixed income and research, before taking his first role in reinsurance focused on industry analysis at Benfield back in 2006.

He went on to become Global Head of Business Intelligence at Guy Carpenter, spending seven years at the broker, before moving on to JLT Re as the Global Head of Analytics in 2014.