Gallagher Re has appointed Antoine Bavandi to the newly-created role of global head of public sector, parametric and climate resilience solutions. Based in London, he will report to Printhan Sothinathan, CEO of global analytics and advisory at Gallagher Re. In his new role, Bavandi will lead the reinsurance broker’s new public sector and climate resilience solutions global practice, collaborating with existing public and private solutions teams and regional specialists around the world. The new practice will also work closely with the firm’s global climate and ESG analytics and advisory function, led by Ed Messer, to enhance Gallagher Re’s climate risk resilience and adaptation offering. The primary focus of the practice is to help manage and reduce the financial impact of climate and disaster risks for governments, insurers, reinsurers, banks and businesses globally. This will be executed through the promotion of financial preparedness and de-risking strategies, as well as leveraging innovative risk management solutions, such as parametric products. Bavandi most recently served as senior climate and disaster risk finance specialist at The World Bank, where he was responsible for advising governments, insurance and banking sector clients on the financial risk management of climate and catastrophe events through risk transfer strategies and derivative products. Before this, Bavandi held the position of catastrophe risk portfolio manager and class underwriter at ArgoGlobal, and risk engineer and underwriter at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. Commenting on the appointment, Sothinathan says: “The addition of Antoine to our growing and talented team is an exciting strategic development for Gallagher Re. His complementary expertise, client focus and analytical, forward-thinking approach will be a huge asset to our business. “Antoine’s extensive experience in working across both the public and private sector spheres will be invaluable in helping our clients navigate complex challenges, including climate and other systemic risks, in an increasingly interconnected world. Antoine is the ideal person to lead our newly established practice and we are delighted to welcome him into our expanding team.”
