David Delaney Featured in Insurance Nerds on Verisk's 2026 Tropical Cyclone Model Update

President & CEO David Delaney breaks down what Verisk's structural overhaul of its U.S. Hurricane model means for carriers, reinsurers, and ILS managers heading into the 2026–2027 renewal cycles.

MEDIA FEATURE · INSURANCE NERDS · AUG 10, 2026

David Delaney, President & CEO of Insight Analytics, authored an in-depth analysis for Insurance Nerds on Verisk's newly released U.S. Tropical Cyclone Model — a structural overhaul rather than the incremental update the market has come to expect. Because U.S. hurricane risk drives the large majority of tail losses on outstanding catastrophe bonds, Delaney argues the model's new physics will reshape the market's capital math.

Highlights from the Analysis

A structural overhaul, not an incremental update
The new model rebuilds storm track and intensity simulation, wind-field asymmetry, hydrodynamic storm surge, secondary-characteristic vulnerability, and demand surge — incorporating lessons from recent storms like Ian, Milton, and Helene.
Portfolio impacts will be uneven, not market-wide
Delaney cautions that firms treating this as a uniform shift risk mispricing in either direction. He recommends location-level change analysis rather than relying on portfolio-level average annual loss comparisons alone.
Exposure data quality now carries more weight
Verified secondary characteristics, such as roof age and construction details, can meaningfully reduce modeled vulnerability. Portfolios with thin or unverified data will default to more conservative — and costlier — assumptions.
Different implications across the market
Delaney breaks down what the update means for catastrophe modelers, ILS investors and cat bond sponsors, and property underwriters — each facing a different mix of opportunity and risk through the 2026–2027 renewal cycles.

Insight Analytics helps carriers, MGAs, and reinsurers automate catastrophe modeling and portfolio reporting workflows — including navigating exactly this kind of model version transition.

Read the Full Analysis on Insurance Nerds →
Tags: Hurricane · CAT Modeling · Verisk