Aspen Insurance Holdings’ own catastrophe risk management tool, known as “CATman,” has been judged the best use of information technology in insurance.

That is the opinion of Financial Sector Technology Magazine which has given its 2007 award for the Best Use of Information Technology in Insurance to Aspen in recognition of its innovative tool to manage exposures to catastrophes.

According to the judges Aspen had demonstrated the strategic use of CATman in bringing the company cost benefits, improved internal processes, enhanced customer service and further business opportunities.

The Bermuda-based company’s CATman system is designed as a web-based platform to manage catastrophe exposures and automate processes.

Aspen’s head of IT Lisa Gibbard said: “The catastrophes of 2004 and 2005 highlighted the critical need to thoroughly understand exposure and potential loss for any single catastrophe or a multiple of events. CATman demonstrates how Aspen continues to drive its internal processes forward through technology innovations that underpin the business.”

The system is a proprietary catastrophe risk management tool that can be applied to a reinsurance contract to quickly — in half an hour or so — assess the likely exposure such a contract presents. That information can then be further examined by Aspen’s staff.”

Aspen’s chief risk officer Oliver Peterken said: “What was once a very manual process is now a web-based application, reducing manual steps from 25 to two. The result is that the time to process Aspen’s catastrophe exposure in a reinsurance contract has been reduced nearly 90 percent, to just 30 minutes. This means that our staff spends less time processing data and more time analysing it.”

Chris O’Kane, Aspen’s chief executive officer added: “Aspen’s recognition from FST Magazine for our use of technology as a means of developing ongoing competitive advantages is very gratifying.

“Our award-winning partnership between solutions-based technology and underwriting excellence will remain at the forefront of how Aspen approaches its business.”