Verisk Analytics

Verisk Analytics, Inc.

Company type	Public
Industry	Data analytics, Risk evaluation
Founded	1971
Headquarters	Jersey City, New Jersey , United States
Area served	Global
Products	Predictive analytics, decision-making tools for insurance, natural resources, financial services, government, and risk management

Verisk Analytics, Inc. is a global American enterprise specializing in data analytics and risk evaluation, with its main office located in Jersey City, New Jersey. It caters to clients across insurance, natural resources, financial services, governmental bodies, and risk management industries. Utilizing exclusive data assets and sector-specific knowledge, Verisk delivers predictive analytics and decision-making tools aimed at combating fraud, advancing actuarial science, optimizing insurance underwriting, enhancing fire safety, assessing catastrophe and weather risks, and managing data efficiently.

Before going public on October 6, 2009, Verisk operated as a privately owned company. Its initial public offering generated $1.9 billion for major insurance investors, representing the largest IPO in the United States that year. The share sale consisted of 85.25 million shares priced at $22 each, predominantly held by firms such as American International Group, The Hartford, and Travelers. Importantly, Berkshire Hathaway maintained its full ownership stake, underscoring robust investor trust. This IPO established a market valuation without the company itself raising new capital.

History & acquisitions

The firm's subsidiary, Insurance Services Office (ISO), was created in 1971 through the merger of several rating bureaus focused on property/casualty insurance. ISO provides insurers with essential support in product innovation, underwriting processes, and rating systems. In 2008, Verisk Analytics was formed as ISO’s parent holding company and subsequently completed its public listing in 2009.

Since the turn of the millennium, Verisk has expanded by acquiring nearly 40 companies to diversify its offerings. Notable purchases include AIR Worldwide (2002), a firm specializing in catastrophe modeling that enhances decision-making analytics; healthcare analytics companies acquired in 2004; Xactware (2006), which supplies estimating software for insurance claims; and 3E Company (2010), known for environmental health and safety compliance solutions.

In 2012, Verisk entered the financial services arena by acquiring Argus & Advisory Services, which provides benchmarking and analytics throughout the Americas and Europe. That same year featured acquisitions of Aspect Loss Prevention, delivering loss prevention software for retail and food sectors, as well as MediConnect Global, a provider of medical records aggregation technology.

Verisk continued to expand its international risk analytics capabilities by purchasing Maplecroft in 2014 alongside Dart, a firm offering financial benchmarking services in the Asia-Pacific area. In 2015, it made a landmark $2.8 billion acquisition of Wood Mackenzie, a data analytics company serving energy, chemicals, metals, and mining markets. This was followed by the 2017 acquisition of PowerAdvocate, which supplies analytics solutions for utilities and oil & gas industries.

The company also owns Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts; AER conducts weather and climate research supporting risk assessments for clients such as NOAA, NASA, and the U.S. military.

In October 2022, Verisk divested Wood Mackenzie to Veritas Capital for $3.1 billion to sharpen its focus on insurance-related analytics. Later that year, it agreed to acquire Mavera, an insurtech company based in Sweden that specializes in personal injury claims management platforms.

These acquisitions demonstrate Verisk’s strategic approach to growing market presence by broadening its data analytics portfolio across sectors including insurance, financial services, environmental compliance, and energy industries.