RMS hires Sandler from QBE for underwriting transformation focus

Catastrophe risk modelling specialist RMS has announced the hiring of Adam Sandler, previously from QBE North America, to the role of Head of Underwriting, Cyber & Model Solutions, a position that will see him leading a focus on digital risks and underwriting transformation.

With the insurance and reinsurance industry undergoing rapid change and evolution, not least due to the influence of alternative capital and digitalisation, two forces that push re/insurers towards transformation and efficiency, a focus on this area at a major risk modelling player makes a lot of sense.

Insurance and reinsurance firms need the tools to help them to ride the wave of disruption that has been running through the industry, providing them with the insights necessary to make the right decisions, and the tools that can help them to adapt their underwriting processes to make best use of available capacity sources and new opportunities.

Sandler is a specialist in business transformation and RMS wants his employment to help the firm deliver high-value solutions to its clients.

In his role at RMS, which is new to the firm, Sandler will take on responsibility for expanding the business in cyber, data, underwriting and model solutions, by creating additional value in the RMS offering for its clients by bundling together existing and new capabilities, especially those focused on digital risk and underwriting transformation.

In his time at QBE North America, Sandler most recently held the role of Senior Vice President and Business Transformation Officer, responsible for driving change across processes, analytics and technology.

At RMS, Sandler will report to Mohsen Rahnama, RMS Chief Risk Modeling Officer and General Manager of Models and Data Solutions.

Rahnama commented on the hire, “Adam brings fresh thinking to our team, with a clear sense from the client perspective about how we can best adapt our models and data to fulfill industry needs. We have a rich pipeline of new products coming to market this Spring, including the RMS® U.S. HD Inland Flood Model, RMS® North America HD Wildfire Model and our full Cyber Suite including a new version of the RMS® Cyber Accumulation Management System. Adam’s expertise will help us to maximize the value of these solutions to our clients.”

Sandler added, “For over 25 years, whether with industry primaries or brokers, I have pushed for innovation by leveraging information and technology to drive better business decisions. In that time, the speed at which digitization has taken hold has risen dramatically and offers a tremendous opportunity and challenge for the industry. The heritage of RMS in advanced insurance data and analytics puts us at the center of this industry opportunity. I’m excited to help drive that mission at RMS, enabling clients to embrace and exploit our capabilities to drive consistent profitable growth.”

Prior to his time at QBE North America, Sandler worked across the insurance and reinsurance sector in a diverse range of roles, including at Genpact (a professional services firm focused on digital transformation), Ironshore (as Group CIO), Riskclick (as CEO), Marsh & McLennan and AIG.

The leading risk modelling firms tools are so embedded in the insurance and reinsurance business that they need to lead the transformation trend, in order to provide maximum value to their clients. This hire shows RMS is keen to do that.