Insurtech Kettle has added to its Bermuda team with the appointment of Kevin Copeland as chief financial officer.

Mr Copeland was most recently with James River Group Holdings Ltd, where he was senior vice-president, finance, and chief investment officer.

Kettle, a reinsurance start-up, uses advanced deep learning to better protect people from the growing risks associated with climate change.

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has licensed Kettle’s Bermuda company as an Innovative Intermediary as it continues to build out its executive team. The company has previously announced William Haddrell as chief underwriting officer.

Andrew Engler, co-founder and chief executive officer, who last week spoke to The Royal Gazette about the company and its ambitions, said: “Kevin’s appointment is at a pivotal moment in the development of Kettle. He brings relationships and expertise that will enable us to develop our financial and capital market strategy with deep knowledge and experience. We are all extremely excited to have him join us.”

Nigel Mortimer, executive chairman, said: “We’ve known and respected Kevin and his work for many years and we’re very pleased he’s joining our mission to help advance the market in data science and its use in pricing complex volatile risk. We believe the immediate future will see an acceleration of the integration of capital markets, modelling and re/insurance and Kevin’s arrival will help us capitalise on our position as an agent of change.”

Kettle is targeting the $400 billion-a-year reinsurance industry, starting with California wildfires. It believes it is a “pivotal moment for data science-driven innovation in the risk assumption industry and by drawing on its close connections to Silicon Valley it believes it can advance predictive science faster”.

Nat Manning, co-founder and chief operating officer, said: “Our investors share our vision that the latest advances in machine learning and data science can change the way society manages risk, making it more predictable and therefore more insurable.”

Mr Copeland, who is said to have held senior executive positions in the reinsurance industry in Bermuda for more than 15 years and has extensive experience in the investment industry, said: “Kettle has an extraordinary opportunity ahead of it to leverage its proprietary technology in the insurance and reinsurance markets. I am delighted to be joining the management team of Kettle at such an exciting point in the company's development.”