Mark Tawney

Mark Tawney, head of Swiss Re’s weather desk, admits that more work is needed if the weather risk markets are to reach maturity. By Paul Lyon

Mark Tawney, managing director of weather risk management for Swiss Re Capital Management and Advisory in New York, can arguably be credited with creating the weather derivatives market. In 1997, Tawney moved from his job in energy corporate finance at Chase Manhattan Bank and joined Wichita-based Koch Industries, excited at the prospect of building an entirely new business. In September that year, Enron and Koch transacted the first degree-day swap, based on how cold the 1997-1998 winter