Spotlight on Associates
Spectrum Weather and Specialty Insurance “I didn’t even know such a thing existed” is the typical re-
sponse when Robert Holmes tells others that he provides weather insurance to fairs, festivals, and other weather-sensitive entities across the United States. After further explanation, the usual re- sponse is that with so much riding on good weather, it makes sense to have weather insurance. A common follow up question is, “How did you get into such a business?” Spectrum Weather and Specialty Insurance’s President, Robert
Holmes, developed a passion for weather as a kid growing up north of Minneapolis. Minnesota’s seasonal variability fostered an appreciation of all types of weather, but like most, it was the severe weather that intrigued him the most. “I used to climb onto the roof of our house to watch the thunderstorms roll in,” says Holmes. “Certainly not something I would recommend however, knowing what I know now.” That passion brought him to the University of Wisconsin-
Madison to pursue a degree in Meteorology, which he earned in 1990. At that time, he decided to further his education by imme- diately enrolling in graduate school at UW-Madison. “There was so much more to learn”, states Holmes, “and I even earned cred- its for chasing tornadoes and severe storms in the summer!”
In
graduate school, he was exposed to additional aspects of the Earth’s climate systems, including polar meteorology, oceanogra- phy, and hydrology. Robert Holmes began his professional career as a research me-
teorologist at the Space Science and Engineering Center, Univer- sity of Wisconsin-Madison, studying the weather and climate of Antarctica. During this time he made nine trips to Antarctica for field research, primarily consisting of traveling by air- plane, helicopter and snowmobile, installing and maintaining a network of automatic weather stations scattered around the Antarctic continent. During his tenure, he earned awards from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Navy, and published several research papers.
In 2001, he was honored
with the naming of the Antarctic geographical feature “Holmes Ridge” by the U.S.
Board on Geographic Names. The core concepts of the re- search he began over twenty years ago are still being utilized operationally in the Antarctic today. In 2000, Robert left academia to work in the newly emerg-
ing weather risk management industry, working as a Product Manager at Aquila, Inc., and later as a Vice President at GuaranteedWeather, a company consisting of Mr. Holmes and several of his former Aquila colleagues, to meet the weather risk management needs of clients in a variety of in- dustries. In 2009 he created the Vortex Insurance Agency, as a wholly owned subsidiary of GuaranteedWeather, in order to facilitate the sale of weather-based insurance policies. After more than a decade of providing weather risk solu-
tions to some of this country's largest corporations to provid- ing weather insurance to small town festivals, fairs, concerts, and other outdoor events, Robert decided that he could pro- vide a better customer experience through his own brokerage, and in 2011, Spectrum Weather and Specialty Insurance was born. Spectrum offers a variety of event-related insurance products including multiple types of rain insurance, adverse weather insurance, and event cancellation coverage.
Spec- 56 FAIRCRACKER-SPRING 2016
trum operates as an independent brokerage, locating the best risk mitigation tools available on behalf of its clients. In five short years, Spectrum has grown from a start-up compa-
ny to one that places more weather insurance policies for its cli- ents than any other independent brokerage in the country. This has been achieved by a commitment to customer service and by supporting the fairs and festivals by membership in supporting associations, such as the IAFE, IFEA, and the Florida Federation of Fairs and Livestock Shows. Spectrum also excels at working with insurance carriers to develop new weather insurance prod- ucts that reach beyond the traditional rain insurance that has been offered for decades.
“I am one lucky person” says Holmes, “to
be able to share my passion for weather in a unique fashion, and when clients in such a fun industry. I am blessed to have been able to develop not only a large clientele, but so many friends as well”.
May 18-20, 2017
Florida Federation of Fairs Convention And IAFE Zone II Meeting Buena Vista Palace, Orlando, FL
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