Breakout Session A2 (formerly B2)

NatCat risk modelling:

David N. Bresch, Director, Head Sustainability & Emerging Risk Management, Swiss Re
David Bresch joined Swiss Re in 2000 and has been heading the Atmospheric Perils Group since 2002. As Swiss Re's chief natural catastrophe modeller, he has been responsible for risk analysis and risk management of atmospheric perils, in particular tropical cyclones and European winter storms, both of which number among the most important major claims scenarios in the insurance industry. He holds a Masters in physics and a PhD from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich (ETHZ). He is serving as Swiss Re's senior climate advisor to the board.

Risk modelling in the investment banking sector:

Alexander Lipton, Managing Director and Co-Head of the Global Quantitative Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Visiting Professor of Mathematics at Imperial College London
Prior to his current role, Alex Lipton was a Managing Director and Head of Capital Structure Quantitative Research at Citadel Investment Group; he has also worked at Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust. Previously, Alex was a Full Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois and a Consultant at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He received his graduate degree from Lomonosov Moscow State University. His current interests include credit correlation and related topics, quantitative aspects of securitization, as well as technical trading strategies. In 2000 Alex was awarded the first Quant of the Year Award by Risk Magazine. Alex is the author of two books (Magnetohydrodynamics and Spectral Theory and Mathematical Methods for Foreign Exchange) and the editor of three more. He has published numerous research papers on hydrodynamics, magnetohydrodynamics, astrophysics, and financial engineering.

Modelling of systemic risks:

Paolo Vanini, Head of Structured Products and Cross Assets, Zurich Cantonal Bank
Vice-President, SSPA Swiss Structured Products Association
Paolo Vanini is Professor in Finance at the University of Zurich, Knowledge Transfer Director of the Swiss Finance Institute and Head of Structured Products and Cross Assets at Zurich Cantonal Bank. His research focuses on financial economics, risk management and banking topics. He has conducted extensive research on operational risk, credit risk and general equilibrium. He received his graduate degrees from the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. Prior to his current role, Paolo was deputy Head of Risk Control and as Chief Financial Engineer he was responsible to build the Financial Engineering Group at Zurich Cantonal Bank. The group was responsible for several innovations which led to awards by the Swiss Derivative Group, Euromoney, the European Finance Association and Risk Europe.