Innovative carbon credit insurance which pays claims in carbon credits, not cash

Coenraad Vrolijk (CEO, founder) spent seven years as regional CEO of Allianz Africa, from 2015 to 2022, following a stint at BlackRock and as partner at McKinsey. He has served on multiple advisory boards for companies and other institutions and holds a PhD in economics from Brown.

Nandini Wilcke (COO, founder) worked for thirteen years in various roles at Allianz in Germany and in Africa, including as special assistant to the group CEO and general counsel and regional head of M&A for Allianz Africa. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees at Columbia and spent the first years of her career practicing commercial real estate law.

Nan is leading client acquisition and strategic cooperation discussions.

Frederic Olbert (CFO, founder) was previously CFO and head of capital markets at investment management start-up LINUS Digital Finance, following work in investment banking for Goldman Sachs and at Allianz, where he set up a life insurance startup in Ghana and worked on strategy and M&A topics. His MBA is from INSEAD.

Beat Krauer (CUO) has spent 20 years in various roles in the re-/insurance market. After completing his degree as a forestry engineer at ETH Zürich and an assignment in the forestry sector, he joined Partner Re’s catastrophe research team and moved on to agriculture underwriting at Allianz Re before being appointed as the global head of agriculture reinsurance to build up a global team and portfolio at AXA XL.

Claudio Braidotti (CIO) began his career at McKinsey & Company in 2000, focusing on the insurance industry.  In 2013 he moved to Allianz as partner in the internal consulting unit, then served in Allianz SE as board member for the Italian subsidiary, Allianz SpA.  In 2017, he moved to Africa as head of regional strategy and business development, and in 2021 Claudio became CFO for Allianz Morocco and board member for Jubilee Allianz Kenya and Jubilee Allianz Mauritius.

Claudio leads CarbonPool’s carbon investment portfolio.

Pedro Fonseca (Principal Capital Modeller) holds a PhD degree in theoretical physics from Rutgers University and has over 20 years of experience in the financial industry, where he has been responsible for areas such as risk management, capital requirement, regulatory reporting, and data modelling.

Kasia Tokarska de los Santos (Principal Climate Modeller) holds a PhD in climate modelling, with post-doctoral experience at ETH Zürich and the University of Edinburgh, focused on carbon budgets. She joins CarbonPool following positions at a risk consultancy and McKinsey.

Kasia leads CarbonPool’s carbon removal project risk assessments.

Oleksandr Kit (Principal Climate Modeller) has been working in the climate and geospatial analytics field for the last 15 years, including as a consultant at the World Bank and as a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, primarily focusing on developing analytical tools for assessing CO₂ emissions and climate risks. Oles received a PhD in Geography from Humboldt University Berlin.

Emmanuel Sanchez (Principal Weather Modeller) has more than 15 years’ experience modelling risk and pricing insurance products, for firms including UBS and Allianz, where he was a senior deal modeller for parametric weather transactions.

Maximilian Kremer (Head of Strategic Projects) is a former Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company where he spent 6 years consulting financial institutions on questions concerning strategy, technology, and operations. Maximilian holds a doctoral degree in financial economics from TU Munich, where he researched and taught classes on growth financing and alternative investments. He also holds an M.Sc. in Financial Economics from the University of Oxford.

Ewoud Vandewal (Investment Associate) holds master’s degrees in chemical engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven and management from INSEAD. His bachelor’s degree is in engineering. Ewoud picked up consulting experience at Emerald Consulting.

Ewoud is shaping and executing the carbon credit investment strategy.

Nikolaus Plochmann (Forestry Expert) holds a M.Sc. in “Forest and Wood Science” from Yale University and the Technical University of Munich, where he focused on sustainable forest management, logistics, and green finance. His B.Sc. is in “Forest Science and Resource Management” from the Technical University of Munich. His prior experiences include working for Europe’s largest forest owner, SCA, the Bavarian State Forestry, and the management consultancy Oliver Wyman. Nikolaus also served in an elite unit of the German Armed Forces.

Nikolaus is shaping CarbonPool’s carbon credit investment strategy and nature-based insurance products.

Brooke Davies brings multiple years of experience in climate law and policy from Akin, a full-service global law firm, where she advised leading corporate and sovereign clients shaping the carbon market. Brooke also has extensive experience in strategic communications from her time at West Wing Writers, a messaging and strategy firm of former presidential speechwriters writing for Fortune 500 CEOs, heads of state, and major foundation presidents. Brooke received her law degree from Harvard Law School.