BOSTON, Aug. 12, 2009 - AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) today announced it is the first catastrophe modeling firm to support the new ACORD binding authority exposure data standard (ER3001) in its catastrophe modeling software. ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) is a global, nonprofit standards development organization serving the insurance and related financial services industries. ACORD’s goal is to facilitate the development of open data standards and standard forms.
“AIR Worldwide has been supportive of the ACORD initiative to standardise location level exposure data from the very outset,” said Paul Nunn, Head, Exposure Management, Lloyd’s Franchise. “I'm delighted to see this implementation of the standard into their software and see this as a key tipping point for wider industry adoption.”
Binding authority agreements give firms known as coverholders, usually Managing General Agents, the authority to write business on behalf of Lloyd’s syndicates. Lloyd’s strongly supports and encourages U.S. property underwriters and brokers to use the ACORD standard property reporting template when reporting information regarding the risks that have been bound. By standardizing the reporting format, it will help remove the need to spend time and money cleansing and reformatting information.
“ACORD standards make it easier for coverholders to keep Lloyd’s underwriters up to date with details of the risks they have written,” said Roy Laker, Vice President, ACORD London office. “We commend AIR for their support of this data format as it serves as a common communication method for use by multiple parties, thereby increasing the efficiency of the entire industry.”
Exposure data in the ACORD format can be easily imported in version 11.0 of AIR’s CLASIC/2™ and CATStation® catastrophe modeling applications using AIR ImportExpress™. AIR ImportExpress is a utility that provides an intuitive user-friendly interface and allows users to create and reuse templates for automatic conversion of future imports. A template for the ACORD binding authority exposure data standard is now included in AIR ImportExpress.
“AIR continues to be a strong proponent of open data formats to enable the smooth transfer of catastrophe exposure data for risk analysis,” said Ming Lee, President and CEO of AIR Worldwide. “We look forward to continuing our cooperation with ACORD to drive this emerging data standard and further promote its use industry-wide.”
As new catastrophe exposure data formats are adopted by ACORD, AIR will incorporate them in future releases of its catastrophe modeling systems.
About AIR Worldwide Corporation
AIR Worldwide Corporation (AIR) is the scientific leader and most respected provider of risk modeling software and consulting services. AIR founded the catastrophe modeling industry in 1987 and today models the risk from natural catastrophes and terrorism in more than 50 countries. More than 400 insurance, reinsurance, financial, corporate and government clients rely on AIR software and services for catastrophe risk management, insurance-linked securities, detailed site-specific wind and seismic engineering analyses, agricultural risk management, and property replacement cost valuation. AIR is a member of the ISO family of companies and is headquartered in Boston with additional offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.