Aon hires Harper from Descartes for parametric, ART and Innovation role

Insurance and reinsurance broking giant Aon has hired Colin Harper as Managing Director, Alternative Risk Transfer and Innovation, a position that will see him having a parametric insurance and risk transfer focus.

Harper joins Aon’s Strategic Solutions & Innovation Practice and will be based in Houston, Texas for the broker.

His most recent role was with parametric insurance and risk transfer specialist Descartes Underwriting, where he had worked since April 2021.

At Descartes, Harper worked as a Senior Business Development Manager, North America, focused on developing client opportunities for the firms parametric insurance and risk transfer products.

Prior to that, Harper worked at Swiss Re Corporate Solutions for four years, the commercial risk arm of the global reinsurance firm.

He held business development roles at Swiss Re CorSo, again with alternative risk transfer solutions, such as parametric risk transfer, for large corporates a focus.

Before that, Harper worked at large insurer Chubb, where he spent almost six years as an underwriter and business developer, working on high-net worth personal lines business.

Harper commented on his move to Aon that, “As a Managing Director in the Strategic Solutions & Innovation Practice, I’ll be engaging with clients, colleagues, and markets to design and innovate alternative risk transfer mechanisms which more effectively match capital to natural catastrophe and climate risks.”