New Paradigm Underwriters hires Grunewald, formerly of Greenlight Re

New Paradigm Underwriters, LLC, the Florida-headquartered specialist managing general agency focused on parametric insurance, reinsurance and risk transfer products, has announced the hiring of former Greenlight Re Deputy Chief Underwriting Officer Matthew Grunewald.

Grunewald has joined New Paradigm as Executive Vice President, Underwriting and Risk Capital, starting in the role from January 1st 2020.

New Paradigm Underwriters created a number of parametric insurance and reinsurance products that utilise proprietary insurance technology (insurtech) and data recorded by hurricane hardened anemometers to design triggers and coverage offerings.

The company has offered a range of parametric protections, covering risks from hurricane, to flood, earthquake and terrorism risks, as insurance, reinsurance and also retrocession. The products can be backed by traditional capacity as well as alternative sourced from the capital markets and ILS funds.

Having taken an investment from global reinsurance firm TransRe in 2018, to help it grow its proprietary parametric platform, New Paradigm has built out a strong team of experts and originators, with the latest addition being Grunewald.

In his new role at the firm, Grunewald will be tasked with developing and underwriting parametric reinsurance and alternative risk transfer solutions, using his underwriting expertise that extends to traditional and structured solutions.

He will also work to source new capacity for New Paradigm’s fast-growing business needs, while developing and executing on strategic business opportunities.

Grunewald will also assist with the development and execution of New Paradigm’s overall strategy, as a key member of the executive team.

New Paradigm co-founder and CEO Evan Glassman commented on the hire, “We are very pleased that Matt Grunewald has joined our growing team. New Paradigm experienced very significant growth in 2019 and we are forecasting and preparing for another year of significant growth in 2020 and beyond in many different countries and regions as well as across multiple perils. Matt’s addition will give us expanded resources, and he will be focusing much of his efforts on developing additional reinsurance capacity to support our growth.”

Grunewald had worked at Cayman Islands based reinsurance firm Greenlight Re for almost 8 years, becoming the firms Deputy CUO, a role that saw him design and manage the company’s retrocession and third-party capital programs and relationships.

Prior to that, Grunewald worked for reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter for almost two years, prior to which he worked for broker Collins with a focus on the Florida market and property catastrophe solutions.

As well as their more typical use-cases, parametric insurance and reinsurance products can provide coverage that traditional programs exclude and a way to cover difficult to insure risks such as contingent business interruption.

As a result, the parametric risk transfer sector is expected to grow, as increased appreciation is gained for the efficient and responsive coverage these products can offer.

With awareness of parametric solutions growing all the time, New Paradigm’s continued growth bodes well for its ability to capture an increasing share of this market.