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1922-2022

100 Years of Putting Clients and Colleagues First

1922-2022

Leading with innovation, then and now

Guy Carpenter, the “Father of Modern-Day Reinsurance,” disrupted the cotton trade with a data-based approach to analyzing risk that lowered rates for his clients. In the process, he changed the trajectory of the reinsurance business. That maverick spirit still guides us today, as we continue to build on our culture of leadership and innovation for our clients, colleagues and industry.

1922

1922

Reinsurance Reimagined

Guy Carpenter recognized that reinsurance underwriters were overestimating risk for cotton dealers by analyzing the previous year rather than multi-year spans. By extending his analysis to multiple years, Carpenter convinced reinsurance underwriters to offer lower rates, without adding risk. He believed he could apply these “Carpenter Plan” analytics to other industries, which led to incorporating his namesake company in 1922—and the founding of an industry leader.

1923

1923

A Fateful Crossing

Guy Carpenter was eager to hitch his entrepreneurial operation to a larger firm. His advanced ideas caught the attention of Henry Marsh and Donald McLennan, whom he met on a cross-Atlantic voyage to Europe. The three had all worked for the Cotton Insurance Association. When they returned to the US, Marsh & McLennan acquired Carpenter’s firm and his statistical expertise, marking Marsh & McLennan’s first major acquisition.

  • In the 1930s–with war looming–Guy Carpenter worked closely with Lloyd’s to reassure American clients by creating the $40 million Lloyd’s American Trust Agreement in 1939.
1935

1935

Death and Succession

Guy Carpenter died suddenly (b. 1869), having started in the insurance business at age 15. He was succeeded by George Nichols, who had partnered with Carpenter to set up his firm in New York and worked with him at the Cotton Insurance Association. Nichols led the company until 1963.

Inventing the Solutions

Over the next few decades, Guy Carpenter leaned heavily into quantitative analysis. This competitive edge drove the creation of products that addressed gaps in the reinsurance market and displaced existing methods.

  • 1940s

    Developed a method of reinsuring marine cargo on an excess of loss basis, displacing the customary Marine Cargo Contributing Cession Treaty.

  • 1950s

    Devised a Standard Certificate of Facultative Reinsurance for London market facultative placements, replacing cover notes for closing out individual Lloyd’s policies.

  • 1960s

    Developed Global Slip Catastrophe product, providing a holistic solution to multiple line coverage requirements in a cedent’s portfolio.
1960

1960

Building the Bermuda Marketplace

Anticipating a large liability capacity shortage in the US, we led the establishment of Terra Nova Insurance Company in both Bermuda and London. This milestone foretold the central role Guy Carpenter would play in creating and expanding the Bermuda marketplace in the decades to come.

1962

  • In March 1962, Marsh & McLennan—Guy Carpenter’s parent company—went public by selling stock on the NYSE (ticker symbol: MMC), with revenue of $52 million. Within a decade, Marsh & McLennan’s global footprint expanded to more than 50 countries.
1970s

1970s

Modernizing Contract Wording

In response to bad faith losses in the industry, Guy Carpenter drove the creation of coverage for Extra Contractual Obligations (ECO)/Excess of Policy Limits losses. This work led the way to standard contract wording that is still used today throughout the reinsurance industry. 

1970s

  • Guy Carpenter anticipated the first major wave of asbestos-related claims, establishing an experienced claims group to respond to this complex issue. Starting in the 1930s, asbestos was a common building material. However, the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration began regulating its use in 1971 due pressure from public health groups concerned about the health risks from breathing in asbestos fibers.

New Era, Novel Solutions

In the 1980s, Guy Carpenter developed solutions to expand capacity, allowing us to respond more quickly to our clients’ needs.

  • Centre Re

    Developed Centre Re, a dedicated group to address that addresses disappearing capacity for large US liability businesses by providing alternative risk transfer solutions.

  • Hurricane Hugo Recovery

    Collaborated with the Brokers and Reinsurance Markets Association, creating a catastrophe trust to quickly provide financial help after a catastrophic storm—which proved vital after Hurricane Hugo.
1992

1992

A Tool for Transformation

Launched MetaRisk®, the industry’s first dynamic financial analysis platform designed to support our clients’ process for reinsurance decision-making. MetaRisk earned a US patent in 2013 for creating a unique and easy-to-use predictive model for the analysis of reserve risk.

Catastrophe-Driven Innovation

  • 1992

    Led the formation of Mid Ocean, the first mono-line property market based in Bermuda. Within 9 months, the worldwide capacity for US catastrophe programs increased 50%.

  • 1994

    Joined forces with EQE International (an engineering consulting firm) to create EQECAT Inc., which helps insurers manage natural hazard risks.

  • 1999

    Launched CAT-i reports, electronically delivering clients information on natural catastrophes.
1999

1999

Cyber Reinsurance Pioneer

Guy Carpenter pioneered the first-ever cyber-liability reinsurance product to address the relatively unknown exposures of this segment. Today, we’re the recognized cyber reinsurance leader, currently representing approximately 65% of cyber liability writers globally.

2001

  • With 295 employees and 63 consultants killed in the World Trade Center—23 of whom were Guy Carpenter colleagues —Marsh & McLennan was among the hardest hit by the tragic events of September 11. Through the heroic efforts of Guy Carpenter’s then CEO of the Americas, Britt Newhouse, our employees in the South Tower managed to evacuate.
  • The Guy Carpenter leadership team rallied under then CEO Sal Zaffino to support our clients, colleagues and their families during this unprecedented time. The Marsh & McLennan September 11 memorial and memorial website continue to pay tribute to our lost colleagues, loved ones and friends.
2001

2001

In the Aftermath of Tragedy

As our company recovered from September 11, a combination of state-of-the-art technology and unwavering client commitment allows Guy Carpenter to issue more than $100 million in claims payments within the first 7 days.

  • As the reinsurance industry was still reeling from September 11, Marsh & McLennan founded AXIS Capital in 2001, based in Bermuda. The AXIS Re Ventures unit provides reinsurance risk transfer tools that better protect our clients.
2001

2001

Global Collaboration

We teamed with the World Bank in Mexico, Turkey and the Caribbean to reduce their vulnerability to disasters—just one example in a longstanding track record of building global resilience.

2002

2002

At the Forefront of Internet Security

In 2002, Guy Carpenter developed cutting-edge products to confront complex e-commerce and cyberspace issues. We also led a joint public/private initiative with the US government to encourage a secure internet business environment.  

2004: Never-Before-Seen Tools

  • DACH Flood Models

    Created flood models to help clients assess their exposures in Europe: the DACH Flood model with EQECAT, and the Belgium Flood model, developed with Risk Management Solutions (RMS).

  • LEAD Risk Analysis

    Launched LEAD, the industry’s first frequency and severity model analyzing US publicly traded directors and officers liability risks.

  • REVEAL Rating Model

    Developed the REVEAL model, a refined exposure rating tool that helps identify drivers of costly excess losses within workers compensation portfolios.
2005

2005

Navigating EU Regulatory Changes

Guy Carpenter introduced the Capital Adequacy Projector, a capital benchmarking tool designed to help European clients prepare for anticipated regulatory changes in 2006.  

2006: Rebuilding After Disasters

Since the early 1980s, there was a 3-fold increase in the number of natural catastrophes. Through the development of catastrophe bonds and other reinsurance strategies, Guy Carpenter helped governments prepare for risks and recover after disasters.

  • Mexico’s FONDEN

    Assisted Mexico’s FONDEN, its natural disasters fund, in placing the first catastrophe bond by a sovereign government. As a result, the government recovered nearly $500 million to provide housing to citizens after natural disasters.

  • i-aXs Risk Platform

    Launched i-aXs, a revolutionary online risk management platform. The new technology helps clients leverage vast data repositories for better, faster decision making.

  • World Catastrophe Report

    Published The World Catastrophe Reinsurance Market global report detailing the impact of record losses from catastrophes such as Hurricane Katrina, the costliest natural disaster in US history.
2008

2008

Partnering in Asia

We established the Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre at City University of Hong Kong—helping countries in the region understand climate-related threats, assess cat risk, and provide predictions on climate-related events.

2009

  • The Microinsurance Innovation Facility (a partnership between the International Labour Organization and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) awarded Guy Carpenter a grant to create a reinsurance facility for microinsurance and microfinance, promoting insurance coverage in low-income areas where access to overage would otherwise not be possible.
2011

2011

Insurance Hall of Fame Honors

Our founder, Guy Carpenter, was posthumously elected to the Insurance Hall of Fame for his indelible impact on reinsurance, after disrupting the industry through his data-based approach.

2011

  • “Mr. Carpenter laid the foundation for reinsurance brokerage as we know it today, which is an outstanding contribution to our industry, and Guy Carpenter is now a global reinsurance intermediary giant.”

    Bernhard Fink, (International Insurance Society, Honors Committee Chairman)

2012

2012

Predicting the Unpredictable

In 2012, Guy Carpenter patented GC Realcat, a web-based tool leveraging real-time weather and earthquake event tracking. The tool anticipates how events affect an insurer’s portfolio and catastrophe response deployment.

2012

  • Superstorm Sandy caused almost $70B in damage from the Caribbean to Canada. Guy Carpenter collected and settled 13,000+ claims transactions totaling more than $956M.
2013

2013

A First in Flood Modeling

We released the first flood modeling capability for China, based on detailed hazard maps covering 10 urban areas and the Taihu Lake region.

2014

2014

Growing Our Cyber Specialty

Our Cyber Solutions Specialty Practice, formed in 2014, addresses urgent cyber security risks. Guy Carpenter is now the recognized leader in this space.

2014-2015: Platforms for Change

  • 2014

    Received a patent for County-Weighted Index Loss (CWIL), an index-based trigger that uses independent industry claims data to hedge hurricane and earthquake risks.

  • 2015

    Developed GC QuakeCube®, a parametric, high-resolution catastrophe product that employs state-of-the-art optimization algorithms developed in cooperation with leading research institutions. This advanced risk transfer solution minimizes basis risk providing fast payments, transparency between buyer and seller, as well as the ability to customize a range of offerings to support complex policy triggers.

  • 2015

    Launched GC AdvantagePoint®, a pioneering portfolio and risk management platform. Its extensive database features insights from the industry’s broadest library of hazard data, helping our clients improve underwriting profitability, understand risk concentration and set their strategic goals.

2015: Prioritizing Social Impact

Guy Carpenter and Marsh & McLennan companies marked significant milestones in helping to make a difference. This mindset is part of our culture of giving back to our communities and being responsible stewards of the environment. Since 2015, we have seen:

  • 1 million hours donated

  • $6 million dollars donated

  • 10,000 organizations supported

2017

2017

Protecting Taxpayers

With Guy Carpenter’s help, FEMA became the first US federal agency to purchase private reinsurance—a partnership that unburdens taxpayers by spreading risk to private investors. Just months later, Hurricane Harvey struck and a full payout of $1 billion was triggered and paid within weeks. 

2017

  • GC Securities partnered with the World Bank and other organizations to launch the first-ever catastrophe bonds/swaps—combating infectious disease through the Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility. The Facility provides surge funding to developing countries facing possible pandemic outbreaks.
2019

2019

Capital Solutions

In 2019, Marsh & McLennan acquired Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT), which resulted in the formation of Guy Carpenter’s new Global Risk Solutions Group—comprising Global Capital Solutions and GC Securities. This joining of forces from Guy Carpenter and JLT Re resulted in a new level of client services and solutions.

2019

2019

Mitigating Wildfire Risk

Following the devastating California wildfires in 2017 and 2018, Guy Carpenter is appointed the sole reinsurance intermediary for the California Wildfire Fund. This public-private partnership helps to support the financial capability of the state’s largest utilities, mandate investments in mitigating wildfire risk and provide post-disaster relief.

2020

2020

A COVID-19 Lifeline

The coronavirus pandemic attacked people and economics across the world. The Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility is triggered—a collaboration between GC Securities, the World Bank and others—which has paid out nearly $200 million in surge funding to 64 low-income countries.

2020

  • Real-time Customization

    In 2020, we launched GC StormGrid ®, which provides customized coverage based on storm tracking information published in real time by global meteorological agencies using a high-resolution parametric model. GC StormGrid ® helps to streamline claims payments while avoiding disputes in the recovery process.

  • An Engine for Change

    BenchmaRQ® capital modeling service is the engine behind stress-testing analyses for US property/casualty insurance companies. BenchmaRQ® was part of Guy Carpenter’s award-winning COVID-19 stress-testing research, where we modeled potential future events to better understand how well positioned the industry is to withstand future global challenges.
2021

2021

Outsmarting Thunderstorms

SToRMi, our Severe Thunderstorm Risk Magnitude index launched in 2021, enables clients to have greater visibility in fully owning their view of severe thunderstorm risk. GC Mosaic, a complementary spatial analytics product, is a web-based central platform that enables pricing and product management teams to pull market and competitor information relative to each product. Clients can perform multi-faceted analyses on market, distribution and macroeconomic factors to evaluate opportunities, and develop and execute growth strategies.

2021

2021

Kickstarting Start-ups

We introduced the InsurTech Center of Excellence (COE) to provide comprehensive -services to reinsurance carriers and Managing General Agents (MGAs). The COE helps tech-centric start-ups evolve by using Guy Carpenter Strategic Advisory resources to support and bolster their business plans, while developing and executing reinsurance risk-transfer solutions.

2021

  • Marsh & McLennan Companies changed its name to Marsh McLennan, with the intent of carrying forward our heritage while representing our strength as one enterprise. Guy Carpenter, Marsh, Mercer and Oliver Wyman are all part of the Marsh McLennan family.
2021

2021

Forging a Path for Women

Vicky Carter—Chairman of Global Capital Solutions, International at Guy Carpenter–became the first woman to be named Deputy Chair of Lloyd’s of London. She was also the first woman to establish an intermediary at Lloyd's in 1996 and has earned recognition as a role model to all women in the industry.

2022

  • Guy Carpenter offers the most comprehensive statistical picture of the US insurance industry, with data spanning back to the 1930s from thousands of companies. These data insights help insurers understand how their business and industry are evolving.
2022

2022

100 Years of Global Leadership

In 2022, Guy Carpenter marked 100 years of charting the course for the global reinsurance industry. Today, we are more than 60 offices and 3,400 colleagues worldwide. Our founder would be proud to learn that his namesake company continues to let data insights lead the way—never settling for the status quo, but redefining it at every opportunity.

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