Matt Coleman, Chief Risk Officer: The Demex Group: Underwriting weather: reducing uncertainty with claims-driven models (365)

At its best, parametric insurance delivers clarity when volatility strikes. But scaling that promise takes more than models: it takes real claims data, market feedback and the ability to solve for both reinsurers’ confidence and cedents’ earnings risk. In this episode, Matthew Grant speaks with Matt Coleman, Chief Risk Officer at The Demex Group, a reinsurance MGA using a new modelled loss index to reshape how the market covers severe convective storms, one of the fastest-growing sources of weather-driven loss. Our conversation picks up where our previous webinar left off, and explores how Demex has grown distribution, secured broker support and validated its approach in a live risk environment. In this conversation Matt touches on: Why 2025 has already seen above-average tornado, wind and hail activity and how recoveries are already flowing How Demex’s RCR Re cover mimics indemnity but pays out on a modelled index Why omitting sensors and relying on robust weather and claims data reduces basis risk The advantages of training models on cedents’ actual ground-up claims, not diluted industry averages What reinsurers want in secondary peril covers and how Demex packages risk to match that appetite Why broker engagement has been critical to growth, and what their clients are asking for What it means to build in response to a genuine market problem not just to push a technology Along the way, Matthew and Matt talk about why carriers are willing to share granular claims data when the product is strong enough and why early validation matters in parametric. If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matt Coleman or Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development This InsTech Podcast Episode is accredited by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards your CPD scheme. By the end of this podcast, you should be able to meet the following Learning Objectives: Specify the role of brokers in distributing innovative reinsurance solutions and educating cedents Identify the challenges and advantages of building a reinsurance product in direct response to market demand Explain why reinsurers prefer weather-driven indices over indemnity-based uncertainty If your organisation is a member of InsTech and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 365 page of the InsTech website or email [email protected] to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.