About us

Global Parametrics was founded in 2016 by Jerry Skees and Dan Bierenbaum. Their vision was to leverage advances in climate science, data modelling and financial engineering to build the tools needed to understand, manage and mitigate the risks of extreme weather and natural hazards anywhere in the world. Their belief was that resilience to these events is fundamental to sustainable economic growth, poverty reduction and the realisation of human potential. This vision was shared by the British & German Governments to build a unique business, with a singular aim – driving impact through innovation, by being a catalyst for new ideas, a multiplier of existing efforts and a global leader in parametric product design and distribution. In September 2023 Global Parametrics became part of the CelsiusPro Group. The acquisition complements Global Parametrics’ experience and expertise in delivering disaster risk management solutions in developing countries with CelsiusPro’s expertise in climate technology and parametric insurance design, structuring, and underwriting, primarily in developed economies.

To learn more about Global Parametrics’ acquisition by the CelsiusPro Group, read the press release here.

Global Parametrics’ team of experts brings together leaders from the private and public sectors to fulfil its unique mission.

To design, structure and deploy our global solutions we built a world class team of scientists, risk modelers and computer scientists and blended them with experienced practitioners from the world of developmental finance, commercial re/insurance and fund management.

Everyone at GP has a story on why they chose to join us, and each story reinforces their commitment to build resilience for those that need it the most.

Team members

Angus Kirk

Chief Executive Officer

Angus Kirk

Angus has over 20 years’ experience as a professional lawyer, with a breadth of knowledge advising both public and private sector entities on a wide range of legal and regulatory issues, structures and transactions. Angus spent much of his early career working within corporate law at City of London firms Travers Smith and Hogan Lovells, before becoming partner at a niche international development focused law firm, MDY Legal.

Michael Warren

Chief Financial Officer

Michael Warren

Michael is a commercial and strategic finance leader, with over 15 years of experience in financial services spanning M&A and corporate finance. At GP, Michael is responsible for the finance function and funding. He is a Fellow Certified Chartered Accountant (FCCA), trained with Ernst and Young in their highly successful restructuring team and has held roles extensively involving fundraising and growing fintech business. Prior to GP, Michael was Head of Corporate Finance at a private equity house based in London.

Jerry Skees

Founder / Consultant

Jerry Skees

With a career of 35 years as a professor at the University of Kentucky, Jerry and his previous firm, GlobalAgRisk, have been on the forefront of many important innovations in low and middle-income countries relating to weather and seismic risk. He led the development of the first index insurance product for a US crop insurance program in 1991, leading to work on weather index insurance with the World Bank in the mid-1990s. Jerry was instrumental in developing the globally acclaimed Index-Based Livestock Insurance Program in Mongolia and in providing core research in Ethiopia that led to the African Risk Capacity facility. He was key in developing the world’s first regulated insurance product in Peru paying before a disaster, coined forecast insurance and laying the foundation for ongoing global efforts on forecast-based financing.

Toby Behrmann

Head of BD and Partnerships

Toby Behrmann

Toby is a financial services specialist with an interest in bringing together partnerships to drive new business through innovation in products and technology.  With over 15 years’ commercial and developmental experience deploying financial products in emerging economies, he brings his strong relationships and deep understanding of the market to Global Parametrics. Toby began his career at AIG before leaving to build out a boutique agency focused on Asian, African and South American markets. Most recently, he was a founding member of a microinsurance start-up that used mobile technology to bring insurance and other services to the unbanked in Myanmar, Nepal and the Philippines.

Juan Pablo Sainz

Deputy General Counsel

Juan Pablo Sainz

Juan Pablo joined GP as Deputy Legal Counsel, following a successful stint at the law firm Nader, Hayaux & Goebel. Juan Pablo is qualified in Mexican law, and has practised law in the UK for eight years specialising in insurance and reinsurance law. Previously, he worked in the Parliament of Mexico, giving him a rich understanding of governmental public policy. As a native Spanish speaker, Juan Pablo hopes to bring new legal perspectives to international transactions. He is excited to become part of the insurance revolution and help provide parametric insurance to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and climate change.

Wendy Smith

Impact and ESG Manager

Wendy Smith

Wendy has a keen interest in the development of sustainable financing mechanisms to combat natural hazard and extreme weather risk within emerging economies. She has a demonstrated history of working in developmental finance, with a focus on disaster risk financing and management. Prior to joining Global Parametrics, Wendy was employed as an economist for a leading international development consultancy where she was involved in a number of projects within APAC countries. Wendy holds an MSc in Risk, Disaster and Resilience from University College London and an MA in Economics from the University of Glasgow.

Rachel Carrigan

ESG Project Associate

Rachel Carrigan

Rachel joins Global Parametrics with a background in high value fundraising, grant management and external relations. She has experience managing public and private funding for a range of projects across the private start-up, higher education and NGO sectors, most recently for an international development charity focussed on impactful programmes in sub-Saharan Africa related to agriculture and livelihood sustainability. With a passion for international development, disaster reduction and climate action, she will utilise her experience to support the management and development of GP’s high impact programmes. Rachel holds a BA(Hons) in Politics and History from the University of Glasgow and completed her MA in Education, Gender and International Development from University College London in 2022.

Jason Hartell, PhD

Agricultural Economist

Jason Hartell, PhD

Jason is a risk model/product structuring specialist and an agricultural economist with over 15 years of experience within emerging economies. He has participated in a wide array of projects involving natural disaster risk in Asia and Africa. Jason’s primary responsibility involves modelling conditions which create shocks in food production and collaborating with stakeholders to create financial disaster risk management solutions to manage disruptions to livelihoods, the value-chain, and financial institutions lending into agriculture. Jason holds a MSc in agricultural economics from the University of Minnesota and a PhD from the University of Kentucky.

Michael Wagner

Database Architect

Michael Wagner

Michael Wagner is a geospatial software developer and database expert with 15 years experience in implementing and customising geospatial softwares. Michael is a certified PostgreSQL Professional and has extensive experience in designing, figuring and tuning spatial databases. Michael holds an MSc in Geographic Information Science and Systems from University of Salzburg, Postgraduate degree in Engineering, Geoinformatics and Land Surveying from the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences. Michael is the Database Architect at Global Parametrics with responsibility for building ETL pipelines for geospatial data, managing and provisioning the database infrastructure, and designing APIs for index and exposure data access for clients and partners.

Michael Broadwill

Head of Exposure

Michael Broadwill

Michael works as the Head of Exposure for Global Parametrics. He has experience in programming with R (including Shiny), GIS, Javascript, Python and PostgreSQL. Michael has a keen interest in exploring the spatial and non-spatial relationships between the many datasets that contribute to building GP products, as well as the real-world implications of this work. He holds a BSc in Geography from the University of Kentucky.

Justine Crane

Senior Finance Manager

Justine Crane

Justine is a certified financial professional with over 20 years of experience working in the financial services sector. Over an illustrious career within various positions at Lloyds of London, she has demonstrated professional knowledge of financial reporting, VAT preparation, risk management and internal controls. Justine is a certified chartered accountant and holds a degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Northumbria.

Board members

Tim Ingram

Chair of the Board

Tim Ingram

Tim Ingram has a long executive career in international banking and a decade in senior non-executive positions within the insurance sector. Most recently, Tim was Chair of the Board at each of QBE Insurance (UK) Limited, QBE European Operations plc and QBE Underwriting Limited.

Angus Kirk

CEO, Global Parametrics / Member of the Board

Angus Kirk

Mark Rueegg

CEO, CelsiusPro Group / Member of the Board

Mark Rueegg

Mark Rueegg is the CEO of CelsiusPro Group.
Mark founded CelsiusPro in 2008 with the view that climate change is a mega trend and affects the bottom line of companies and therefore new risk transfer products are pivotal. Mark was on the BoD of the Weather Risk Management Association (WRMA) 2012-2016. Mark has held various positions with Swiss Bank Cooperation and UBS in the area of FX, Rates and Collateral Trading as well as FX prime Brokerage Sales and trading platforms. Mark is a CFA Charter holder and has an MBA in Economics from the University of Rochester/Bern.

Prof. Jerry Skees

Founder / Member of the Board

Prof. Jerry Skees

With a career of 35 years as a professor at the University of Kentucky, Jerry and his previous firm, GlobalAgRisk, have been on the forefront of many important innovations in low and middle-income countries relating to weather and seismic risk. He led the development of the first index insurance product for the U.S. crop insurance program in 1991, leading to work on weather index insurance with the World Bank in the mid-1990s. Jerry was instrumental in developing the globally acclaimed Index-Based Livestock Insurance Programme in Mongolia and in providing core research in Ethiopia that led to the African Risk Capacity facility. He was key in developing the world’s first regulated insurance product in Peru paying before a disaster, coined forecast insurance and laying the foundation for ongoing global efforts on forecast-based financing.

Igor Nussbaumer

COO, CelsiusPro Group / Member of the Board

Igor Nussbaumer

Igor Nussbaumer heads operations at CelsiusProGroup. He is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and co-owns responsibility for the planning and implementation of business strategies and the establishment of policies and procedures promoting company vision and culture. His prior roles span finance, tech, biotech as well as platform-driven organisations. Prior work experience includes UBS, Coople Ltd. Yodoba Ltd., Favoris Ltd. As a consultant, he was specialized in turnaround management and re-organisation. He also co-founded two companies and one institution with the purpose of protecting the Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil. Over many years he has supported two institutions: A hospice in Malawi and a school in a township of Cape Town in South Africa. He holds a Master’s of Science Psychology from the Zurich University.

Key Supporters

Global Parametrics is supported by leading institutions in the public and private sector. The first seed investments were provided by KfW’s InsuResilience Investment Fund and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.