ISO Purchases AIR to Help P/C Industry Manage Extreme-Event Losses

May 15, 2002

New Jersey-based Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) has acquired Boston-based Applied Insurance Research (AIR), a leading provider of risk-assessment and management technology for all major natural hazards in the U.S. and 40 countries worldwide. The deal will allow ISO and AIR to step up their commitment to help the property/casualty industry and other industries manage extreme-event losses that are occurring with increased frequency and intensity.

As a wholly-owned subsidiary of ISO, AIR will continue to operate as an independent, stand-alone entity, and will maintain its offices in Boston, London, San Francisco and Hyderabad, India. Company founder Karen Clark will continue to head AIR as president and CEO.

“I cannot overstate the value this acquisition brings to the property/casualty industry and many other businesses that need to anticipate and prepare for natural hazards and man-made catastrophes,” Frank J. Coyne, president and chief executive officer of ISO, commented.

The ISO chief executive noted AIR’s “outstanding leadership and proven management team” as major reasons for ISO’s decision to buy the 15-year-old firm. “AIR stands out because its topflight people make it extremely successful in a business of growing complexity and importance,” Coyne remarked. “Together ISO and AIR will develop analytical tools our customers need to make sound decisions about pricing, underwriting, risk transfer, loss mitigation, portfolio growth and future strategies in light of increasing extreme-event risk.”

AIR’s Clark commented that she “looks forward to working with ISO to develop new integrated pricing and rating solutions incorporating catastrophe modeling. ISO’s unparalleled expertise in the property/casualty industry and massive databases will also enable us to leverage our technology to other lines of business and perils much faster and better than we could on our own.”

Topics Profit Loss Market Property Casualty

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