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Executive Team

EQECAT’s executive team brings decades of diverse experience and a history of success. Combining industry expertise with technical savvy, these executives guide EQECAT’s talented employees to develop innovative catastrophe risk models and services based on the latest science and technology.

Rick Clinton, President

Rick Clinton is president of EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Clinton has been with EQECAT since 1993 and has played a pivotal role in developing it into one of the leading catastrophe management modeling and consulting companies. Prior to becoming President, he was responsible for all of EQECAT’s Product Management and Client Support activities, which included setting the strategic direction for all future software development.

Mr. Clinton has 30 years of insurance and catastrophe modeling experience. In addition, he is a Certified Property and Casualty Underwriter, has a B.A. in Mathematics and was an instructor for the Insurance Educational Association. He is based in Oakland, CA.

Dr. Mahmoud Khater, Chief Technology Officer

Dr. Mahmoud Khater is chief science and technology officer of EQECAT, Inc. Dr. Khater joined EQECAT in 1990 and is responsible for technology and model developments worldwide.

Dr. Khater was one of the early innovators in using state-of-the-art probabilistic risk assessment techniques to develop catastrophe models that integrate knowledge from many fields such as engineering, seismology, meteorology, hydrology, mathematics, statistics, probabilities, insurance and economics. These models provide rational engineering, science and technology-based solutions that provide effective risk management and can support innovative mitigation measures and risk-transfer options.

He has more than 20 years of engineering experience in risk quantification, risk management and reliability assessment; in the insurance, power, industrial, and commercial sectors. His experience includes assessing the behavior of structures and lifelines systems under extreme hazard loading due to earthquakes, hurricanes, subtropical storms, flooding, industrial accidents and man-made events.

Dr. Khater holds a Ph.D. in structural engineering with emphases of probabilistic risk assessment from Cornell University and a B.S. in structural engineering from Cairo University. He is based in Oakland, CA.

William M. Keogh, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives

William M. Keogh is senior vice president of EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Keogh joined EQECAT in April 2009 and is responsible for setting and implementing corporate strategy. He has built a reputation for business strategy, client engagement, analytics, financial planning and forecasting, and organizational development.

Mr. Keogh has more than 25 years of experience serving the insurance and reinsurance industry, with a focus on the property and casualty market. In addition to his previous corporate roles, Mr. Keogh is a founding board member of the International Society of Catastrophe Managers (www.catmanagers.org) and a frequent guest speaker at industry events and university programs.

Mr. Keogh earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Boston University. He is based in New Jersey.

Thomas Larsen, Senior Vice President, Product Management Group

Thomas Larsen is senior vice president of EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Larsen has served as an associate at EQECAT and its prior operating companies since 1989. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the product line for EQECAT, including development of new models and maintenance of existing models. He also oversees product marketing and support.

At EQECAT, Mr. Larsen has played critical roles in the development of tools to help insurance and government clients better measure and manage their risk from large scale catastrophes.  Leading a reconnaissance team after the Loma Prieta Earthquake, he helped refine financial models that helped banks estimate post-catastrophe mortgage default risk.  He was part of the team which assessed building and critical infrastructure damage caused by Hurricane Andrew, and led the team implementing the financial risk calculation packages for EQECAT software USWIND®, USQUAKE®, and WORLDCATenterprise TM. He also has co-authored numerous reports and articles related to extreme-risk hazards and related computer modeling.

Mr. Larsen has 20 years’ experience in natural catastrophe modeling for insurers and government. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Stanford University, and a Master of Engineering degree in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is based in Oakland, CA.

Kenneth A. Travers, Senior Vice President, Sales & CRM Group

Kenneth A. Travers is senior vice president for EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Travers joined EQECAT in 1999 and currently manages the Client Development Group and oversees catastrophe model licensing and provision of technical risk management services to the insurance, reinsurance, and financial markets. These offerings include risk assessment, catastrophe modeling and financial analysis of the impact of catastrophe events.

Prior to joining EQECAT, Mr. Travers was responsible for the delivery of loss control engineering and technical services to key Fortune 1000 clients in industry sectors such as manufacturing, industrial, high tech, transportation and logistics, power generation, utilities, chemical and gas, for several major property and casualty insurers.

Mr. Travers has more than 30 years’ experience working in fire protection, risk and catastrophe management in the property and casualty re/insurance industry. Mr. Travers regularly presents at industry and trade group association meetings relative to catastrophe risk issues, and has authored several articles in risk management publications. He received a B.S. from the College of Engineering at University of Maryland in Fire Protection/Urban Studies, and earned an M.B.A. from Goldey Beacom College. He is based in Wilmington, DE.

Ray Kincaid, Senior Vice President

Ray Kincaid is senior vice president of EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Kincaid has been with EQECAT since it was founded in 1994 and is responsible for all Software Development. He has led the development of the WORLDCATenterprise platform from its inception.

Mr. Kincaid has 30 years’ experience in software development, natural catastrophe modeling, and earthquake engineering. He has a master’s degree in structural engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from Pepperdine University. He is based in Irvine, CA.

Dennis E. Kuzak, Senior Vice President, Consulting Group

Dennis Kuzak is senior vice president of EQECAT, Inc. in charge of consulting services. Mr. Kuzak joined EQECAT in 1990 and is responsible for EQECAT’s catastrophe risk management consulting services for the insurance and financial industries and global Fortune 500 corporations. These services include analytical and risk disclosure support for client risk transfer transactions in the capital markets, including cat bonds and swaps.

Prior to joining EQECAT, Mr. Kuzak held treasury management positions in a multinational manufacturing company and was an investment manager for a $25 billion mortgage institution. His responsibilities included asset/liability and interest rate risk management including financial risk products, capital market transactions, and mortgage securities investment management.

Mr. Kuzak has more than 35 years experience in engineering, finance, and risk management. He holds bachelors and masters degrees in engineering from Purdue University and MIT, respectively, and an M.B.A. in finance from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a registered Professional Engineer in California and is based in Oakland, CA.

David F. Smith, Senior Vice President, Model Development Group

David F. Smith is senior vice president of EQECAT, Inc. Mr. Smith joined EQECAT in 1994 and has been a major contributor to the development of EQECAT’s catastrophe risk assessment software. His primary roles have been in the areas of weather peril model design, probabilistic simulation, and software development. He has played a significant role in the development of EQECAT’s U.S. hurricane model since development of the first full commercial release began in 1994, including primary responsibility for the wind hazard portion of the model, and many contributions to the computational and probabilistic aspects of the program. He manages EQECAT’s annual submittal to the Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology, through which EQECAT has been successfully certified every year since the process began in 1997.

Mr. Smith directs the modeling implementation of EQECAT’s flagship catastrophe risk assessment software WORLDCATEnterprise™, which includes nearly 100 hazard models covering the perils of tropical cyclone, earthquake, and windstorm in nearly 90 countries, as well as flood, tornado/hail, winter storm, and wildfire in the United States. He has also contributed to the work performed by EQECAT for many catastrophe bonds and risk swaps, including Parametric Re, SR Wind, Pioneer Re, Arbor Ltd, and the Successor Program, among others. This experience has included designing the relevant risk indices, performing the risk analyses, assessing basis risk, and discussing the modeling with rating agencies and investors.

Mr. Smith has 15 years of professional experience in catastrophe modeling, software development, and project management. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Geophysics from Yale University. Mr. Smith is based in Oakland, CA.