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.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.
Our team
Angus Kirk
General Counsel / Interim Chief Executive OfficerAngus 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.
Prof. Jerry Skees
Founder / Chief Strategy OfficerProf. 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.
Dan Bierenbaum
Co-founder/ AdvisorDan Bierenbaum
Dan is co-founder and external advisor to GP. He brings over 10 years of experience working in financial services in low and middle-income countries to catalyse economic growth through foreign investment and the development of local financial market infrastructure. Dan has extensive experience with start-ups through his own ventures in Haiti, Mongolia and Burkina Faso as well as his previous role at the University of Virginia's entrepreneurship centre. He holds a MSc from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BSc in Physics from Duke University.
Michael Warren
Chief Financial OfficerMichael 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.
Juan Pablo Sainz
Deputy General CounselJuan 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.
Toby Behrmann
Head of BD and PartnershipsToby 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.
Wendy Smith
Impact and ESG ManagerWendy 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
Impact and ESG AssociateRachel 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 will complete her MA in Education, Gender and International Development from University College London in 2022.
Obbe Tuinenburg, PhD
Senior Weather ScientistObbe Tuinenburg, PhD
Obbe is an expert in atmospheric and weather-related processes for risk modelling. He previously served as assistant professor teaching atmospheric processes during droughts at the University of Utrecht, following postdoctoral research into land-surface processes, atmospheric dynamics and moisture transport with the goal of improving forecasts. Obbe holds a PhD in Land Atmosphere Interactions and Earth Systems Sciences from Wageningen University and a MSc in Environmental Science from the University of Utrecht.
Jason Hartell, PhD
Agricultural EconomistJason 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 Williams
Head of ExposureMichael Williams
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.
Michael Wagner
Database ArchitectMichael Wagner
Michael is a geospatial software developer and database expert. For the last fifteen years he has implemented and customised geospatial software and provided consultation and training on geospatial information and the relating standards and technology in numerous projects and countries. Michael is a certified PostgreSQL Professional and has extensive experience in designing, configuring and tuning spatial databases. At Global Parametrics he is taking care of optimising data workflows and keeping database performance in peak condition. Michael holds an MSc in Geographic Information Science and Systems and is a postgraduate engineer in geoinformatics and land surveying.
Michael McPherson
Systems AdministratorMichael McPherson
Michael has over 20 years' experience in IT development and administration, including installing, using and maintaining Linux Operating systems. During his career, he gained valuable knowledge of networking, system administration and learning to work with numerous programming languages. He has obtained the Comptia A+ Certification and is studying for Red Hat Certified System Administrator Certification.
Sharon Arnold
Finance and Office AdministratorSharon Arnold
Sharon is the Financial and Office Administrator at Global Parametrics and serves as the Human Resources coordinator. She has over 15 years of experience keeping books using QuickBooks software. Previously, Sharon held various roles at an administrative capacity, including at the University of Kentucky and within the garment industry.
Justine Crane
Senior Finance ManagerJustine 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.
Nathan Bentliff
Finance ManagerNathan Bentliff
Nathan Bentliff is a finance professional currently studying for his ACCA exams, with 5 years of financial management experience. Working with a focus on management accounts and reporting, Nathan has a finance and economics degree from Bournemouth University.Board members
Alexander Vleming
Non-Executive DirectorAlexander Vleming
Alexander is a Financial Consultant and Director, with an established career encompassing financial strategy and insurance. He is passionate about financial solutions for international development, and an investment committee member of InsuResilience investment fund. Alexander is founder and CEO of Rushmere Capital, providing independent financial and strategic advisory services in insurance, FinTech and InsurTech. Previously, Alexander held the role of Managing Director and Regional Head of Principal Investments for Swiss Re, identifying, transacting and managing a portfolio of direct equity investments internationally. For Rothschild & Co, he developed and managed investment banking opportunities in Europe and Asia. As VP of Investment Banking at HSBC, he focussed on developing and delivering investment banking solutions for global insurance clients.
Tim Ingram
Board ChairTim 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. Prof. Jerry Skees
Executive DirectorProf. 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.
Dan Wilcox
Non-Executive DirectorDan Wilcox
Dan is a Private Sector Development Advisor for the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC), with an established career in financial development across the private, public and NGO sector.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.
