Endurance Buys Galileo Weather Risk Management, Forms New Unit

Endurance Specialty Holdings says it has acquired the assets of Galileo Weather Risk Management to form a new unit offering a suite of customized weather risk management products to help clients manage the impact of weather variability on their businesses.

The Endurance Global Weather unit has been formed with the employees of Galileo, a leading provider of weather risk management products and services. Th eunit will be based in New York City, with a operation to be established in London.

Martin Malinow joins Endurance Global Weather as its president and Scott Edwards joins as its managing director and COO, says Endurance, a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, in a statement.

Endurance Global Weather's five-person team will be dedicated to creating solutions for companies in the global energy, construction, transportation, renewable energy and agriculture industries.

Endurance CEO David Cash says Malinow and Edwards' business will complement Endurance's current property catastrophe and agriculture products “while expanding our specialty capabilities into a market which offers considerable potential.”

Malinow has worked in the weather risk management industry since its inception 15 years ago and has more than 20 years of capital markets experience. He co-founded XL Weather & Energy and headed their global weather business before co-founding Galileo with Edwards in 2005 as a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group.

Malinow also served as president of the Weather Risk Management Association from 2008 to 2010 and currently serves on their Board of Directors.

Edwards has 12 years of weather industry experience including co-founding and serving as CFO of XL Weather & Energy as well as Galileo. Prior to that, he served as COO of XL Life & Annuity.