Vantage hires AIR’s Brent Poliquin to lead reinsurance data & analytics

Vantage Risk, one of the insurance and reinsurance start-ups that launched for the start of 2021, has added a new key hire in catastrophe modelling and data analytics for reinsurance, taking Brent Poliquin from AIR Worldwide.

Poliquin is well-known in the insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond market, having been AIR Worldwide’s lead on the ILS market for a number of year’s, becoming AVP of that function.

More recently, Poliquin was Vice President, Strategy at AIR Worldwide since late 2018, as he took a wider role at the catastrophe risk modelling specialist.

Vantage Risk has now hired Poliquin as its Reinsurance Data and Analytics Lead, which will see him leading on catastrophe risk modelling, data, analytics and other capabilities of the growing insurance and reinsurance company.

Poliquin’s expertise in the ILS market will also be invaluable for Vantage Risk, as his knowledge of the catastrophe bond issuance process, as well as how ILS fund managers make use of data to support their operations and performance, will be useful as Vantage builds out its own ILS practice.

Vantage Risk is targeting a Partnership Capital model, leveraging ILS and third-party capital across its business, both for its own protection and by developing investor relations to manage risk for third-party capital as well.

The company sponsored its first $225 million Vista Re Ltd. (Series 2021-1) catastrophe bond earlier this year, which the company saw as a key way to expand its profile with ILS investors.

Data and the use of it to help expand the range of risks and perils that can be ceded to ILS funds and investors, is also an area of focus at Vantage Risk, as Greg Hendrick, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), recently explained.

Poliquin, with his experience gained at one of the main catastrophe risk modelling companies, plus his deep understanding of the ILS market, catastrophe bonds and how data, analytics and models help in the process of transferring reinsurance related risks to the capital markets and in understanding what those risks mean for investor portfolios, will be a key hire for these initiatives at Vantage and more.

Poliquin’s career began as an Actuarial Analyst at Milliman back in 2005, then he spent over two years at asset manager Fidelity Investments between 2006 and 2008.

He joined AIR Worldwide in 2008, working his way up through roles into the ILS side of that business, eventually becoming AVP of Insurance-Linked Securities in 2016 and Vice President, Strategy in 2018.