I am a Professor of Strategic Management at Cass Business School, City, University of London, and at the University of Queensland Business School. I am an expert on insurance protection gaps in the face of climate change. I am passionate about the need to provide financial protection for people, and for businesses, to help them withstand disasters. I believe that sound and healthy insurance markets are a vital underpinning of the economy, enabling everything from individual mortgages to business credit and lending. At the same time, the growing frequency and severity of disasters mean that traditional insurance models are under threat, and with them, the way we currently consider protection.
My current research examines how governments, reinsurance markets, development banks, donors, and humanitarian organizations around the world can better work together to address the growing gap in financial protection from catastrophic disaster in the face of climate change. I study schemes for closing the protection gap on multiple perils, including bushfire, flood, tropical storm, earthquake and terrorism. In particular, I examine how financial protection can be more closely linked to physical resilience to disaster.
I am a widely-published scientist, who has held several prestigious scientific fellowships and grants that have enabled me to conduct my research around the world and to lead and work with a gifted team of scholars. In addition to some 75 papers and book chapters, I have published three books. My research is also practically relevant. I am Co-Chair of the Expert Advisory Group for the UK Centre for Disaster Protection, and a member of the OECD High-Level Advisory Board for the Financial Management of Catastrophic Risks. I am a sought-after speaker at industry conferences and workshops. My research frequently features in industry and business media and is used to inform policy. I have published a series of industry reports and Masterclasses. My most recent industry reports are ‘Between State and Market: Protection Gap Entities and Catastrophic Risk’ and Insurance for Climate Adaptation: Opportunities and Limitations.
My research has been funded by the Bank of England, the British Academy, the Economic & Social Research Council, the European Commission, the Insurance Intellectual Capital Initiative, the Leverhulme Trust, the Lloyd’s Tercentenary Foundation, and the Swiss Prevention Foundation, as well as various industry sponsorships. You can find out more about my work and download some of my research on this website. Feel free to also follow me on LinkedIn or on Twitter.