Willis renews earthquake partnership
The Willis Research Network, a collaborative enterprise between academic and the financial and insurance industries founded and run by global advisory, broking and solutions firm Willis Towers Watson, has announced the renewal of its partnership with the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation. The announcement represents a re-statement of the two entities’ commitment to working together to develop and raise awareness of earthquake risk.
The GEM Foundation was founded a decade ago and has since focused its efforts on the development of open source tools to help both public and private institutions assess, quantify and proof themselves against the financial risks posed by earthquakes. This December, the Foundation will release its Global Earthquake Model 2018 report, featuring ‘a mosaic of earthquake hazard and risk models covering the entire globe’, according to the company.
“The truly global nature and depth of the work undertaken by GEM enables us to access some of the best and most consistent data to inform our view of risk and help our clients understand theirs,” commented Karl Jones, Head of Catastrophe Analytics at Willis Re International. “Willis Towers Watson was one of the original founding members of this ground-breaking initiative and the renewal of this partnership highlights the continued importance of their global work.”
GEM Secretary General John Schneider, meanwhile, said that GEM was ‘very pleased’ to renew the partnership: “[Our organisations] share a common commitment to the development and application of science to understand and managing earthquake risk on a global scale.”