February 6, 2024 - All times Eastern Standard
8:00 am
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7:00 pm
Registration Openss
Say hello and pick up your badge at the registration desk outside of Room 718.
8:00 am
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8:35 am
Breakfast
Fuel up for a day of catastrophe content!
8:35 am
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8:45 am
Welcome Address
Speaker
Valarie King
Knowledge Keeper, Educator, Elder Member
Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation
8:45 am
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9:15 am
Opening Remarks and 2023 CATs in Review
The conference will begin with an overview of the many catastrophes that occurred in 2023. This comprehensive review will include a chronology of events, geographic footprints of impacted areas, related media and insured loss estimates provided by CatIQ.
Speaker
Laura Twidle
President and CEO
Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc.
9:15 am
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10:15 am
Renewals Season Recap
How did the 2024 renewal season compare to the year before? What was the same, and what changed over the course of the year?
Panelists consider how cedants measured success in 2024, what emerged as priorities for reinsurers, and how pressure from the increasing pace of CATs impacts both cedants and reinsurers among other top-of-mind topics.
Moderator
Donna Ince
Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer, Personal Insurance
Definity Financial Corporation
Speaker
Olivier Gay
President & CEO - Chief Underwriting Officer
SCOR Canada
Speaker
Gus Katsuras
Executive Vice President & Head of Property Canada
Gallagher Re Canada
Speaker
Anna McCrindell
SVP & COO, East
Wawanesa Insurance
Morning Concurrent Session A
10:45 am
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11:45 am
Navigating the Rise of Secondary Perils
As more they draw more focus both in the re/insurance industry and the scientific community, so-called “secondary perils” seem to be less ‘secondary’ than ever before.
This panel will discuss the impacts of changing climate on perils, especially Severe Convective Storm, along with trends in population growth and increasing exposure. Flood, drought, and wildfire – and their specific impacts on the Canadian landscape – will also be considered. What kind of data is available, and what are key climate risk management messages to convey to investors, reinsurers, regulators, and the public?
Moderator
Erdem Karaca
SVP, Head Cat Perils, Americas
Swiss Re
Speaker
Barrie Bonsal
Senior Research Scientist - Watershed Hydrology and Ecology Research Division
Environment & Climate Change Canada
Speaker
John Hanesiak
Professor, Department of Environment and Geography
University of Manitoba
Speaker
Kimberly Roberts
Head of Americas Peril Advisory
Guy Carpenter
Speaker
Brad Roeber
Executive Director
California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA)
Morning Concurrent Session B
10:45 am
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11:45 am
Wellness in the Face of Disaster
Panelists consider aspects of mental health in the catastrophe management ecosystem, including impacts to the public and to those working in the field.
Moderator
Evalyna Bogdan
Assistant Professor
York University
Speaker
Erin Dick
Assistant Vice President, Wellbeing Services - Health Solutions Practice (Canada)
Aon
Speaker
Elaine Miller-Karas
Co-founder & Director of Innovation, Vision and Creativity
Trauma Resource Institute
Speaker
Alison Paul
Senior Advisor, Mental Health and Psychosocial Support
Canadian Red Cross
11:45 am
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1:15 pm
Keynote Address
Fireside Chat: Superintendent Peter Routledge and Celyeste Power
President and CEO
Insurance Bureau of Canada
Session Sponsor
1:15 pm
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1:45 pm
ICLR Climate Resilience Centre Demonstration
Afternoon Concurrent Session A
1:45 pm
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2:30 pm
Modelling 101 - Your Questions Answered
Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about CAT models but were afraid to ask! Join us for a fun, interactive session that will expand your knowledge of the whats, whys, and hows of catastrophe modelling.
Speaker
Šárka Černá
Head of Client Solutions
Aon Impact Forecasting
Speaker
Karen Francis
Senior Vice President
Guy Carpenter
Speaker
Ken Mok
Executive Vice President
Gallagher Re
Afternoon Concurrent Session B
1:45 pm
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2:30 pm
Tech Developments
Leaders in the risk management, modelling, and catastrophe tech sector present their latest developments.
Moderator
Nevina Kishun
President
MSA Research
Speaker
Chiranjib Chaudhuri
Vice President Research and Development
Geosapiens
Speaker
Kunal Joarder
Assistant Vice President, Client Relations
Verisk
Speaker
Gioachino Roberti
Head of Product
AISIX Solutions
Speaker
James Swayze
SVP, Insurance Business Development
CoreLogic, Insurance Solutions
Speaker
Sarah Terrelonge
Chief Marketing Officer
Clearspeed
Afternoon Concurrent Session A
2:35 pm
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3:35 pm
Modelling 201 - Deep Dive on Wildfire
Take your catastrophe modelling knowledge to the next level as we zero in on a peril that dominated the headlines this year. Explore how modellers answer questions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability through the lens of wildfire. This panel will expand on the basics covered in Modelling 101 and provide updates on the current state of wildfire modelling in Canada.
Speaker
Eric Robinson
Director
Aon Impact Forecasting
Speaker
Mike Wotton
Research Scientist
Natural Resources Canada
Speaker
Michael Young
Vice President, Model Product Management
RMS
Afternoon Concurrent Session B
2:35 pm
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3:35 pm
Incentive vs Uptake
How can we craft incentives that motivate positive change, and what can we collectively do to improve awareness of these incentives?
What are the potential stumbling blocks and how have some communities overcome them?
This panel considers raising awareness, cost and benefits, and increasing consensus in conversations.
Moderator
Paul Kovacs
Executive Director
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
Speaker
Semere Araya
Senior Product Manager
Aviva Canada
Speaker
Huma Pabani
Director, Environment & National Issues, Environment, Government and Industry Relations
TD Insurance
Speaker
Keith Porter
Chief Engineer
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
4:00 pm
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4:30 pm
In Conversation: View from the Front Lines
Join us for a unique opportunity to hear from Canada’s unlikely ‘Catastrophe Capital’ of the past few years as we chat with Mayor of Halifax Mike Savage.
Moderator
Jim Abraham
Past President and Fellow
CMOS
Speaker
Mike Savage
Mayor
Halifax Regional Municipality
4:30 pm
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5:30 pm
CAT Season 2023 Feature Discussion
2023’s historic catastrophe season brought put disaster preparedness, response, and recovery under the microscope from coast to coast to coast in Canada. Starting with 2022’s Hurricane Fiona and exacerbated by fires and flooding in 2023, Atlantic Canada has been at the forefront of CAT activity for more than a year.
What has that looked like from the front lines? What have we learned so far – and how can we apply that to the future?
Moderator
Jonathan Frost
Vice President
Munich Re
Speaker
Darren Christie
VP Operations - Atlantic Canada/Quebec
WINMAR
Speaker
Charlene Ferris
Manager, National Property Major Events
Co-operators General Insurance Company
Speaker
Rannoch Harley
Director, Loss Adjusting - Atlantic Canada
Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.
5:30 pm
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5:50 pm
Student Delegate Program Presentations
See up-and-coming research from the Canadian CAT community as our 2024 Student Delegate Program winners share short presentations on their work. Also join us for the poster session, taking place immediately following these presentations during the cocktail hour.
Moderator
Caroline Floyd
Director
CatIQ
Speaker
Robert Chlumsky
PhD Candidate
University of Waterloo
Speaker
Mohammad Hadavi
PhD Candidate
McGill University
Speaker
Francis Lavigne-Theriault
Research Associate – Northern Tornadoes Project
Western University
Session Sponsor
5:50 pm
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7:00 pm
Cocktail Reception
Mingle with your peers, view posters and chat with our student delegates, and try out this year’s signature cocktail as we wind down from a full day of catastrophe content.
Session Sponsor