InsurTech Magazine - November 2021

November 2021 | insurtechdigital.com

Top 10: Biggest funding rounds Amwins: Moving industry forward

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY Alistair Fraser-Hawkins CEO of UK Corporate at Marsh, discusses digital transformation built on 150 years of history

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Raiffeisen Bank: Smarter Contracts, Better Banking with SirionLabs Founded in 1886, Raiffeisen became a pioneering financial force in Austria before expanding its horizons beyond the country’s borders a century later into Central and Eastern Europe. Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) today has 45,000 employees servicing 17.7 million customers. By partnering with SirionLabs, the bank has rolled out a 36,000-contract system across 14 countries in 18 months.

Better Banking: SirionLabs will allow the bank to refocus on more complex, forward-looking challenges. “Now, we have all the documents we need in that system,” Janssen explains. “We have a single source of truth for all of our contractual information. We have all relevant metadata including the complete relevant regulatory information stored in the system and we have the flexibility to add metadata if it is required.”

Smarter Contracts with SirionLabs: As Edzard Janssen, RBI’s Chief Procurement Officer, explains it, regulation in banking is ever strengthening and bringing more complexity also in the areas relevant to outsourcing risk management. This meant RBI needed a way to store its contracts and prove to Austrian and European regulators that it met the irrequirements by a) having complete visibility of contractual landscape, b) identifying and managing outsourcing relationship, c) ensuring ease of reporting. This may seem straightforward, but it’s slightly more difficult than it sounds. European regulators, after all, don’t differentiate between internal and external suppliers when checking for banking risks and compliance.

In this regard, SirionLabs enabled RBI to track more than 1,000 internal suppliers in addition to its 36,000 external contracts. “In other words, SirionLabs provided RBI with a fully-fledged contract management system,” says Janssen.

“With their Smarter Contracting Platform, we can report to all authorities in real-time – on whichever dimensions they decide to track. SirionLabs’ system is compliant by default.”

So far, Janssen has been highly pleased with how the contract management platform has unfolded.

After all, SirionLabs excels at what it does. The company was named a Leader in the Forrester Wave for CLM, Q1 2021, a Visionary in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant, and a Value Leader in the Spend Matters CLM Solution Map. But RBI and SirionLabs are good partners not only because they lead their respective industries but also because they’re aligned on final outcomes.

“There are many contract management systems out there. The technology itself is not a differentiator. What is important to us is how much flexibility we have to adapt to changes in our banking environment. And here, SirionLabs helps us to solve specific banking challenges, specially in regard to compliance,” says Janssen.

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The InsurTech Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

JOANNA ENGLAND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SCOTT BIRCH

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANICKOVÁ PRODUCTION MANAGERS

OWEN MARTIN PHILLINE VICENTE JACK THOMPSON JANE ARNETA PRODUCTION EDITOR

JANET BRICE

CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH REBEKAH BIRLESON DUKE WEATHERILL JORDAN WOOD

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

EVELYN HUANG HABBIE AMOS JACK NICHOLLS MARTA EUGENIO ERNEST DE NEVE MARKETING MANAGER

EVELYN HOWAT PROJECT DIRECTORS

VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

KIERAN WAITE SAM KEMP

JAKE MEGEARY MICHAEL BANYARD JOE PALLISER

MOTION DESIGNER

MEDIA SALES DIRECTOR

TYLER LIVINGSTONE

RICHARD TURNER

SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

JOE MARRITT

MANAGING DIRECTOR

LEWIS VAUGHAN

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

STACY NORMAN CEO

GLEN WHITE

FOREWORD

BEAM ME UP SCOTTY As billionaires blast themselves into space, we can enjoy watching the advancement of technology without having to pay for it

“The eye in the sky observes, assesses and predicts outcomes, saving lives and aiding solutions in the process” INSURTECH MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

Last month, as William Shatner was travelling where no 90-year-old has gone before, the debate was hotting up down on earth.

George Takei, himself a wispy octogenarian, described his former Star Trek co-star as 'unfit' for space travel.

Even Prince William took potshots. What were all those billionaires doing blasting themselves into zero gravity, when there’s a hole in the ozone layer and disposable face masks are piling up and killing black rhinos in Africa? he whinged.

However, whether you think these vanity projects of the uber-rich are a waste of time or not, nobody can deny the importance of space exploration.

Currently, satellite technology in the earth’s orbit is tracking, observing and predicting all things climaterelated. From devastating floods and forest fires in Australia to volcanic disruption on the island of Palma, the eye in the sky observes, assesses and predicts outcomes, saving lives and aiding solutions in the process.

Earth observation technology is responsible for guiding insurers in their risk modelling. This, in turn, helps the most vulnerable of their customers (farmers in developing countries, for example) to take out cover that protects their interests.

And while satellites are a long way from civilian daytrips to the stratosphere, innovation can’t happen when it lacks inspiration.

If the first forays into space by NASA had been cancelled because they were deemed a waste of money, we might never have developed the incredible technology circling the earth today. I say go for it, boys. At least this bill isn’t on the taxpayer.

JOANNA ENGLAND

joanna.england@bizclikmedia.com

© 2021 | ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 8

Big Picture

10 The Brief 12 Timeline:

Quantemplate 14 Trailblazer:

Douw Steyn 18 Five Minutes With:

Phil Zeidler

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Marsh

Digital transformation of the insurance industry

38

MGA/TPA

Facts of life: Seismic shifts in the life insurance space

46

Tokio Marine Highland

Driving an audacious plan for change

70

Green Shield Canada

Becoming Canada's first integrated health organisation

62

Technology

Risky buisness: Cybersecurity in the insurtech space

84

Strategy

Digital revolution: Insurtech in the new normal

92

AMWINS Group

Insurance by design: Amwins innovation moves industry forward

106

Event Review

The ultimate Fintech & InsurTech live event

THE FUTURE OF

FINTECH

DEMOCRATISING TRADING THROUGH AGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGY

FIND OUT MORE AT SAPHYRE.COM

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Digital Transformation Home run: Insurtech and the remote workforce

126

Hannover Re

From insurance to resilience

140 Top 10

Biggest funding rounds

152 Ringler

Winning IT formula for the future

BIG PICTURE

Volcanic cover La Palma, Spain

Damage to property and agriculture from the recent Spanish volcano eruption on the island of La Palma looks set to cost insurers an estimated $209mn. Around 300 locals in the coastal areas of San Borondon, Marina Alta and Baja and La Condesa were confined to their homes as the moment of contact between the lava and the sea triggered explosions and emitted clouds of chlorine gas.

News agency drone footage showed a river of red hot lava flowing down the slopes of the crater, passing over homes, and swathes of land. Buildings were also engulfed by a black mass of slower-moving, older lava.

An estimated 15% of the island's banana crop was put at risk by the eruption, thus jeopardising thousands of jobs.

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THE BRIEF “RISK DRIVEN SECURITY ASSESSMENT IS CRITICAL TO ENSURE ORGANISATIONS REMAIN SECURE DURING THIS PERIOD OF DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION” Alex Bransome

BY THE NUMBERS WE ASKED: Should insurers provide ransomware reimbursement coverage as part of their cybersecurity policies? YOU SAID:

No 29%

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Doherty Associates  READ MORE

“WHEN IT COMES TO LIFE INSURANCE, MANY OF THE TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS ARE STILL EXTREMELY COMPLEX” David Vanek

CEO and Co-Founder, Anorak  READ MORE

“WE BELIEVE THAT BEING OFFICE-CENTRIC SUPPORTS OUR VALUE OF ‘KEEP GETTING BETTER’, BY LEARNING FAST FROM EACH OTHER IN REALTIME FEEDBACK” Helen Hodges

Chief of Staff and Operations Urban Jungle  READ MORE

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November 2021

Yes 71% GONE PHISHING The Aston-Lark owned DNA Insurance Brokers was the victim of a cyber attack last month following a number of phishing emails being sent to staff accounts. According to the latest data, a third of all cyber attacks involve phishing.

DID YOU KNOW Prudential Financial is the largest insurance company in the US in terms of assets. It’s current asset valuation amounts to $896.55bn.

TOP DOLLAR Centene CEO Michael Neidorff was the highest earning insurance executive globally in 2020. Data shows Neidorff earned nearly $25mn in total compensation.

AFRICAN EMERGING MARKETS

The Australian insurtech just completed a $100mn Series C funding round and has achieved unicorn status as a result.

 BOXX

Africa looks set to become one of the most sought-after emerging markets for insurtech startups globally. The region has already gained ground through embracing fintech, and Africa’s thriving, young population is actively engaged in mobile services.

Nigeria

Nigeria is a prime example of this, and is well known for its active and emerging fintech scene. However, according to a recent report by Deloitte, the country’s insurance penetration is just 0.4%. This is attributed to several factors ranging from customers on a low income to the large unbanked sector resulting in relatively low insurance levels.

Continent-wide opportunities

A recent report by McKinsey has revealed that the African continent has a potential market value of $68bn of gross written premiums making it the eighth largest emerging market in the world. However, experts are quick to point out that the data is not significantly reflective of all the countries in Africa and is instead heavily drawn on information from the South African population.

The cyber insurtech BOXX has expanded its footprint by launching services in the US. The move follows BOXX raising $10mn in its latest Series - a funding round.

 HIPPO Hippo recently reported a 210% net loss ratio alongside a 101% rise in total generated premiums, as it demonstrated the tension between growth and profitability in its first set of public company results.

 THE HANOVER INSURANCE GROUP The Hanover Insurance Group has announced that its preliminary estimate for Q3 catastrophe losses is in the range of $150mn to $165mn before taxes and $119mn to $130mn after taxes.

GOOD TIMES BAD TIMES

 COVER GENIUS

NOV21

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TIMELINE Optimising data management is one of the biggest challenges insurtechs face. Cutting-edge data analytics insurtech Quantemplate, is one of the UK’s leading SaaS solutions for scaling companies, offering automation on data for Bordereaux Management, MGA Reporting, Exposure Management, Fleet Auto, Aggregation and Clash. We track the company’s rise to success.

2013

2016

2018

Lift off With the goal of creating ‘Insights for All’ Quantemplate, founded by former Lloyds of London executive Adrian Rands and Marek Nelken, launches its dedicated insurance analytics tools. Insurtech was founded in response to demand from carriers for granular underwriting insights across their whole portfolio, delivered through an intuitive zero-code platform.

Distribution is King As insurance distribution digitises, more businesses turn to MGA’s for underwriting services.

Quantemplate’s answer to the demand is to launch a bordereau management platform which integrates and harmonises all inbound risk data.

The future is automation The risk flowing through Quantemplate reaches $bn’s of annual GWP. The insurtech company turns to innovative solutions.

To ensure customers can handle the workload, a suite of AI and ML tools are released to automate the schema and value mappings.

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2019

2019

2021

Funding drive Quantemplate raises US12mn in a funding drive to enhance its technologies in machine learning and AI. The round is led by Route 66 Ventures and Transamerica Ventures, with participation from Anthemis Group, Allianz X, and Insight Catastrophe Group.

Strategic partnerships SageSure insurance managers, the largest independent residential property managing general underwriter in the United States, selects the Quantemplate platform for its growing data preparation and organisation demands, expanding the insurtech’s global presence.

Quantifying exposure The Quantemplate integration tools are utilised by a number of actuarial departments to establish global physical exposures and corporate aggregation limits, using Geocoding from Google and company ownership data from S&P.

TRAILBLASER

Douw

Steyn JOB TITLE: CEO AND FOUNDER COMPANY: BGL AND COMPARETHEMARKET NET WORTH: £2+ BILLION

L

iving an envied billionaires lifestyle at his palatial residence in rural South Africa, Douw Steyn is the insurance mogul behind the UK’s BGL Group and Comparethemarket.

Notoriously private, despite the outward shows of opulence, Steyn, was recently featured in the Sunday Times Rich List and has an estimated net worth of US$2.6bn. An investor in property as well as the insurance industry, Steyn is also the proprietor of the exclusive Shambala Game Reserve in South Africa’s Limpopo province.

Reports suggest that an incredible 50% of his wealth was accumulated following a highly successful marketing campaign featuring the fictional chief meerkat, Aleksandr Orlov, who coined the phrase, ‘Simples’ and propelled Comparethemarket to the top of the global watch lists.

Early life Not much has been made public about Steyn’s early life, but details suggest he was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in December 1952, and he attended schools in Linden. Records show that in 1978 he earned his bachelor's degree from Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education.

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TRAILBLASER

By 1990, Steyn had left Africa and set up home in Peterborough in the UK. He launched BGL in 1992 – better known as the Budget Insurance Company that provided financial services and insurance products.

By 2004, business was booming and several strategic acquisitions and partnerships were formed. Comparethemarket was registered as a subsidiary company of BGL – although nothing official was released about the entity’s future purpose.

The following year, BGL reached the one million policies milestone –making it one of the most successful insurance companies in the UK.

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Personal strife While business success seems years working to have come easily to Steyn, happiness at home was hard in the industry won. In 2003, Douw met Carolyn Barhuizen –a young, South African actress keen to make her mark in Hollywood. The couple were married for just five months before difficulties in the relationship drove them apart and Barhuizen moved to LA to work.

Shortly afterwards, Steyn began dating Donne Botha, a South African socialite with whom he had a very public and tumultuous partnership. In 2008, Botha allegedly walked in on Steyn while he was with another woman –a beautician called Bianca Ferranti. Some reports claim Botha had to be restrained from attacking Ferranti with a champagne bottle.

In 2009, Botha and Steyn purportedly got married at a ceremony held in his fivestar luxury Johannesburg hotel, called The Saxon. However, despite Botha believing the marriage to be genuine, and then later opening divorce proceedings and filing for 50% of Steyn’s wealth, the marriage turned out to be a sham –with no official paperwork to prove its legality.

The legal wranglings continued for several years until the Durban High Court ruled that the couple were never married, and that a punitive cost order against Botha was warranted.

During this time, Steyn reconnected with his first love Carolyn, and the couple re-married in 2013.

Meerkat Manor From 2010 to present day, Steyn’s business interests have skyrocketed. A keen political

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donor, Steyn reportedly generously supported the ANC, and even hosted former South African President Nelson Mandela in his home.

In 2020, Steyn also donated an estimated SAR300mn (US$20mn) to ease the coronavirus crisis for the people of South Africa.

His main residence is the recently built Italian Renaissance-style palatial property he calls Palazzo Steyn. The mansion, which is

surrounded by a ruined viaduct water feature, is set in the heart of his luxury private estate.

Called Steyn City, the 900hectare area features a golf course, a private hospital, several hundred luxury villas and is located between Fourways and Lanseria near Johannesburg.

Steyn reportedly has one son, called Tjaart Steyn.

Donated to charity

£1m

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FIVE MINUTES WITH...

l i h P r e l d i e Z FOUNDER OF

e rupting th is d is , y p ap er DeadH process id p v u o r n p ig e s c n te life insura ree-minu g h e. t in e w l o p r g im s st insuranc e d t e n s a if a l f k o ’s ic g K u q ou The U pay-as-y ket with a r p a u m t e e s c n a s to life insur question r u o f t s g of ju consistin Q. WHO WAS YOUR CHILDHOOD HERO, AND WHY?

» Ian Botham – because he made the

impossible possible. Or so it seemed...

Q. WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED?

» In any conversation, dialogue, negotiation or sale, imagine you’re wearing the other person’s shoes – perspective is everything and is far more important than facts.

Q. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ – AND HOW LONG AGO DID YOU READ IT?

» I’m currently reading ‘Paris Echo’ by Sebastian Faulks and I’ve just finished ‘A Month in Sienna’ by Hisham Matar.

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November 2021

Q. NAME ONE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY YOU COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT AND TELL US WHY (EXCLUDING YOUR MOBILE PHONE)

» This is tricky. Assuming the laptop is

also out of bounds then possibly the sonos system with Spotify attached. Our household is often full of music and any room in the house that is quiet is quite extraordinary.

Q. WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO IN TERMS OF LEADERSHIP AND MENTORSHIP?

» I had a great tutor in Peter Winslow,

ex CEO and Chair of the BGL Group.

He taught me many things, but most importantly about how to treat people.

I’m thankful I was able to learn from him.

Q. WHICH ACTIVITY ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING WHEN THE PANDEMIC IS OVER?

» Going on a proper night out with the

whole DeadHappy team. It’s been far too long and let’s just say it will likely get a tad raucous!

Q. IS THERE A PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT FROM THE PAST 12 MONTHS OF WHICH YOU ARE PARTICULARLY PROUD?

» Despite all the macro-economic

challenges, delivering over 100% yearon-year growth feels pretty special. When you’ve got your head down and the weeks roll by, it’s easy for time to whizz by and not stop to take stock of what’s been achieved.

Q. WHAT INSPIRES YOU IN INSURTECH TODAY?

» I see Insurtech as the great enabling

revolution, giving simple access to important products to many that found it hard to navigate previously. It’s the human face of finance.

Women in FinTech FinTech Magazine is proud to launch a celebration of women in Global FinTech.

With a foreword by our very own COO, Stacy Norman, FinTech Magazine brings you the Top 100 Women in FinTech as nominated by you!

Brought to you in association with:

A BizClik Media Group Brand

READ NOW

Creating Digital Communities in FinTech

MARSH

Digital transformation of the insurance industry WRITTEN BY: SCOTT BIRCH

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November 2021

PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE

MARSH

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MARSH

Alistair Fraser-Hawkins (Left) Adam Kemmis Betty (Right)

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November 2021

MARSH

UK Corporate CEO Alistair Fraser-Hawkins and Digital Leader Adam Kemmis Betty of Marsh insurance brokers discuss a digital transformation built on 150 years of history

P

ossibility. A word you hear a lot in insurance circles when it comes to managing risk, but at Marsh it is far more than an empty mantra – it’s something the world’s leading insurance broker and risk advisor has lived and breathed for more than 150 years. Now, the possibility is also the digital opportunity, which means serving commercial and individual clients better and connecting Marsh’s 40,000 colleagues across 130 countries in a new hybrid workplace.

Marsh is renowned for leveraging data, technology, and analytics to help reduce clients’ total cost of risk and that move to a digital mindset has only been accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alistair Fraser-Hawkins is the Chief Executive Officer of the UK Corporate business at Marsh, which helps Middle Market clients with their risk and insurance needs.

“Marsh is the world's leading risk and insurance advisor and we work with clients across all segments of industry, all sizes of clients from the very smallest to the very largest, working with them to identify risk, understand what risk is involved in their business, and helping to design a risk management and insurance programme that satisfies their needs and allows them to transact their business,” says Fraser-Hawkins.

The company has been in business for 150 years and continues to respond to the

world’s most pressing challenges. The recent pandemic was no exception.

“2020 was a year like no other,” admits Fraser-Hawkins. “For us it brought risk to the forefront of conversations with clients at boardroom level.

“Many companies now look at not just the risks they can see but at those intangible risks that perhaps historically we would have thought are very rare and would have limited impact. We’ve also seen that risk isn't just a local issue – it could be a global issue and organisations can be affected by risks across the world.”

Fraser-Hawkins believes the global lockdowns also helped further solidify Marsh as a “global family”.

He witnessed increased interaction across the globe in terms of how Marsh helped clients through the pandemic and equally a real shift in terms of their own ability to transact in a digital and virtual sense without dropping the level of service delivered to clients.

“Interestingly, I think it actually brought us closer together as a global business,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “The collaboration we see across geographies, across business units, was accelerated despite the fact that it was challenging for all of our colleagues across all the countries we operate in. It was a very challenging but pivotal year that sets us up for the next 150 years.” insurtechdigital.com

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MARSH

Marsh: Digital transformation of the insurance industry

Putting people first Fraser-Hawkins talks at length about the people within the business. Marsh is, he says, a people business, which clients appoint for the insight and intellectual capital they bring.

He believes that they are now able to benefit from combining the best of both worlds; both video conferencing and faceto-face engagement will enable Marsh to get in front of clients in a more efficient manner.

A true hybrid solution, whereby colleagues from Marsh engage with clients face-to-face but also with the ability to bring in expertise from around the globe at a moment’s notice.

The pandemic put a strain on everyone, but Fraser-Hawkins says he is proud of how his colleagues adapted to the situation.

“Our colleagues have been phenomenal throughout the pandemic,” he says. “Seeing them work from home anduggle challenges such as homeschooling, while continuing 28

November 2021

to look after our clients was inspiring. I think the hybrid model that we're adapting going forward means we have the ability to make better work-life choices and support all our colleagues in creating powerful working environments.

“We talk about work-life choices rather than work-life balance because at times you have to make one choice over another, but the flexibility that we've embraced as part of working virtually at times means that it's a great opportunity for us to connect.

I think we've demonstrated how we continue to focus on an approach of leading with kindness. We appreciated that colleagues were dealing with challenges but we moved almost seamlessly to virtual working. I think a number of us were pleasantly surprised to hear how quickly we were operating as ‘normal’ for being in an abnormal environment.”

MARSH

Fraser-Hawkins says that Marsh’s digital transformation journey was already advanced but wouldn't have accelerated further quite as quickly as it did were it not for COVID-19 – a familiar message we hear from many large organisations who had the foresight to implement digital.

Marsh is a global business that had crisis plans in place should teams need to move to working from home. Most Marsh employees had the technology at hand already to do just that, as well as the processes and procedures for a seamless transition.

“I think it was a very positive experience,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “We've learned some brilliant things. That being said, the office is still very important to us, so the hybrid solution sets us up for a great future.”

ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS TITLE: CEO OF UK CORPORATE AT MARSH INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Alistair is Chief Executive Officer for Marsh’s UK Corporate business. In this role he is responsible for over 520 colleagues across the UK driving strategy, execution and overall growth of Marsh’s Corporate business. He is also a member of the UK Executive Committee and is a main Board Director of Marsh Limited.

He has 25 years of experience in the Insurance industry. He began his career in 1995 in the London Market with an underwriter and has spent the last 20 years in Broking.

“ New normal isn't just how you operate your business, it’s also how you lead your business” ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS CEO OF UK CORPORATE, MARSH

EXECUTIVE BIO

Moving the insurance industry to digital From an industry perspective, insurance is probably, it’s fair to say, one that needs to do the most catching up when it comes to digital transformation. Fraser-Hawkins says this is imperative for servicing clients while also being better for business.

“The ability to get information to our clients quickly, in an easily digestible format, is imperative if we're going to be an agile business going forward,” says Fraser-Hawkins.

MARSH

ADAM KEMMIS BETTY TITLE: DIGITAL LEADER INDUSTRY: FINANCIAL SERVICES LOCATION: UNITED KINGDOM Adam leads Digital for Marsh in the UK & Ireland and is responsible for transformation of our client and colleague digital experience, digital innovation and insurtech engagement.

Previously a strategy consultant for McKinsey and Oliver Wyman, with a focus on digital and data transformation. Adam was also previously Peru Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action, using data analytics to combat poverty more effectively.

EXECUTIVE BIO

“I think the digital generation is a given and I think as an organisation we are embracing it both here in the UK and globally. It gives us a competitive edge when we are transacting with clients. It's vital for us that we're able to serve the smallest businesses right up to the largest, and the core of that is our digital transformation.”

Driving Digital Transformation Adam Kemmis Betty is the Digital Leader for Marsh in the UK & Ireland, responsible for developing and delivering the digital strategy, with a particular focus on client-facing technology.

MARSH

“ There's no doubt that the insurance sector as a whole is a laggard when it comes to digital and we're playing catch up” ADAM KEMMIS BETTY DIGITAL LEADER, MARSH UK & IRELAND

He tells us that Marsh’s digital transformation really started in 2018-2019 and has accelerated during the pandemic as clients have moved more activities online.

“We've got a journey to go on,” he admits.

“The great thing is that we've really got commitment from our business leadership to invest in that journey and to stay the course.

Digital transformation of Marsh really has three components to it which correspond to clients, colleagues, and insurers.

Firstly, Kemmis Betty is responsible for creating a digital experience for clients. This ranges from enabling small business clients to get insurance quotes and buy insurance in insurtechdigital.com

31

MARSH

1874

Year founded

40,000+ Colleagues worldwide

130

Countries operating in

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November 2021

MARSH

real time online through to supporting large corporate clients to get real-time access to key data and documents, as well as insights and analytics.

The second area is about transforming internal processes – something Marsh calls its operational excellence programme.

“That's not just about technology,” says Kemmis Betty. “It's got other components but obviously technology is a big part of that, and that includes modernising some of our core technology platforms. We're moving to a low code no code platform in many regions of the world and it also includes using new technology, such as robotic process automation and AI to make some of our processes more efficient.”

The third area is how Marsh interacts digitally with insurers.

Of course, with digital transformation comes digital risk, and many of Marsh’s clients have transformed their business models, which has created new areas of risk for them.

“We've seen a huge increase in interest in our cyber consultancy services helping clients to understand and manage that cyber risk, and also in purchasing cyber insurance to protect them against that risk,” adds Kemmis Betty.

“For Marsh, the key benefit from digital transformation is enhancing the client experience. The transformation of our internal processes means we're able to respond to clients’ needs much more quickly. Then the data that we’re able to gain and use through that digital transformation means that we can provide richer insights back to clients which can really help them manage their risk and structure their insurance programmes in the most informed way.” insurtechdigital.com

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MARSH

LEADERSHIP STYLE

DID YOU KNOW...

Alistair Fraser-Hawkins shares his view on a more agile leadership style required post pandemic

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“I'm very conscious, as we come out of the pandemic, of the change in leadership style that's going to be needed in organisations.

I think leaders now have to be more agile.

I think we've seen that over the last 18 months, in terms of your ability to lead teams – they aren't just teams that you sit in front of everyday. They'll be geographically dispersed, they could be different parts of the business.

“We're working very hard with our leadership team to give them the skills that are needed to operate in the ‘new normal’ and for

November 2021

some people that would be a big shift change, but I think the ability for us and our success to lead with agility will be a defining factor for us going forward – not only in leading our clients but leading our colleagues as well.

“New normal isn't just how you operate your business, it’s also how you lead your business, and we want leaders who are able to lead in both physical and virtual environments simultaneously, which is a different skill set.

“I think that's a great opportunity for us as an organisation to really define ourselves as a continued global leader in this field by having a different style of leadership.”

MARSH

It’s not just about the benefits of course, and Kemmis Betty does highlight adapting to change as the biggest challenge when it comes to digital transformation.

He says the sheer volume of change and level of investment that Marsh is making across all these initiatives means colleagues require support to adapt to new processes and new ways of working at a time when the business is growing – plus of course managing all of that while also trying to serve clients and gauge the right pace of transformation.

“The advice I would give to any client or organisation embarking on a digital transformation is really to stay laserfocused on the end-user experience,” says Kemmis Betty. “That's how the big tech firms have created really successful applications – that ruthless focus on the user experience that's difficult to do in a large organisation where you've got many different stakeholders with different opinions. The way to do it is by adopting a truly agile approach.”

Disruptive insurance Many people would never believe they would hear the next sentence: it’s an exciting time to be working in insurance right now. That is obvious speaking with both Kemmis Betty and Fraser-Hawkins.

Previously there was a much clearer distinction between traditional tech suppliers who would provide platforms or services for the large incumbents and insurtechs who were digital attackers competing with those incumbents. Now that's evolving, particularly as many of the insurtechs have pivoted their business models to be more about partnership and collaboration with the incumbents – which opens up exciting areas of opportunity for large organisations like Marsh.

“The thing I'm hoping for most of all is increased diversification of talent within the insurance sector,” says Kemmis Betty. “I think if we're going to be successful as a business and as an industry overall in innovating and disrupting the traditional way of doing things and using new technology, that means that we've got to attract and retain new talent that we haven't traditionally been able to do.

I think if we achieve that it will go a long way to modernising the sector.”

“There's no doubt that the insurance sector as a whole is a laggard when it comes to digital and we're playing catch up. When we started, we could see that some of our competitors were moving faster than us but now, with the investments that we've made, particularly in new talent, we firmly believe that puts us ahead of the competition and really gets us on the right path of leading the insurance sector towards a more digital future.”

“It's vital for us that we're able to serve the smallest businesses right up to the largest, and the core of that is our digital transformation” ALISTAIR FRASER-HAWKINS CEO OF UK CORPORATE, MARSH

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MARSH

The final word has to go to Fraser-Hawkins as he looks to a brighter future in the aftermath of COVID-19. The last 18 months have been turbulent for everybody and not just from a professional perspective, but also from a personal one.

“The next 18 months will be exciting,” says Fraser-Hawkins. “I think we're already seeing industries booming. I think there will be some challenges.

“The insurance industry has a responsibility, in my opinion, to support the business community to enable them to rebuild their business and thrive.

“I think that's our real test – that we are an industry that is seen to be absolutely supporting growth in the economy and supporting customers, some of whom have completely changed their business models to make sure they've got the necessary insurance protection. This enables them to focus on what they do best, which is running their own business and let us worry about their risk and insurance needs.”

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MGA/TPA INSURANCE

FACTS OF LIFE: SEISMIC SHIFTS IN THE LIFE INSURANCE SPACE Traditionally the sphere of the financially responsible, life insurance companies are going next-gen with a vengeance WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

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INSURANCE MGA/TPA

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ife insurance. It’s a phrase that used to mean very little to the young, footloose and fancy-free. After all, if you were healthy, enjoying life and earning well, why would you even bother to think about something as boring as your own demise?

Such policies were usually only on the radar of those with responsibilities.

And even then, only the responsible with enough ready income to lay out on a decent insurance policy, bothered to get it.

However, times are changing - and recent data collected by comparethemarket.com reveals sales of life insurance went up in the second quarter of 2020, with young people

propelling this trend. Indeed, 40% of 18-34 year olds who have life insurance, the report showed, took out their policy after the first lockdown.

Nevertheless, despite the recent upsurge, statistics show that even today, when insurtechs are recognising the need to sell this vital cover to those that really need it (i.e. anyone with dependents), adoption is slower than in other insurance markets.

The uninsured The data, sadly, doesn’t lie. In the UK alone, 1,700 people die every day, and out of that insurtechdigital.com

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INSURANCE

“ Providers have had to adapt to survive and sought out services like integrating digital services to help them cater to their customers and keep them ahead of the curve” DAVID VANEK

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, ANORAK

number, several hundred are under 70 with dependents. According to Phil Zeidler, co-founder of DeadHappy, a next generation life insurance insurtech-founded in 2013, the demand for life insurance has improved in recent years, but the protection gap is still far too wide for comfort.

He explains, “There's a huge unmet need for life insurance cover. Data shows the protection gap (the gap of people that potentially need protection products like life insurance compared to those that have it) amounts to 8.5 million people in the UK alone.”

Zeidler points out that if these people were to die, then their loved ones would be left, not only managing the terrible grief of losing a loved one but also in financial ruin. He describes the situation as “a pretty desperate state of affairs.” insurtechdigital.com

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INSURANCE

Mick and Tel: Pussycat!

“ Data shows the protection gap (the gap of people that potentially need protection products like life insurance compared to those that have it) amounts to 8.5 million people just in the UK” PHIL ZEIDLER

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, DEADHAPPY

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The problem, says Zeidler, are the products and services on offer, which just don’t appeal to the generation in need of an insurance safety net.

Changing times But the digital transformation of services and the development of the IoT, has caused a shift in the life insurance industry.

Disruptive companies like DeadHappy, that provide unique offerings that appeal to the younger generation, are becoming more commonplace. Technology is also playing a vital role.

David Vanek, CEO and cofounder of the insurance companion platform Anorak says the demographic demanding life insurance is changing. He explains, “Across financial services we’ve seen younger earners gravitate towards personalised services, by using smart data

INSURANCE

(incl. Open banking) to help guide their decision-making.

“Aside from an in-person adviser, financial apps are in an ideal position to best demonstrate where a users’ financial liabilities lie, through the sheer amount of personal data these apps have access to and significantly, mobile technology’s ability to personalise information to an individual’s needs.”

Vanek says that personalising information to the individual helps people better understand their needs, by educating and equipping them with the knowledge they need to get the right protection in place for them and their families.

Some sites are already adopting integrated human and digital expertise to cater to the “complex needs” of customers seeking protection products, with Anorak doing so in the life insurance space in the UK. Safeguarding the future But the past 18 months have been a game changer for most people globally in terms of considering mortality - and dependents they might leave behind. Vanek says the uncertainty of the pandemic and the additional financial strains this has put on the average household, has resulted in a boost for the life insurance sector.

“Users are looking to financially safeguard their future. Among millennials and younger earners in particular, we’ve seen a 40% increase in 25 to 44-year-olds with no life cover who are now considering cover in a bid to ease worry over their financial liabilities should something prevent them from earning.”

Vanek also points to a spike in distributor interest from existing financial services providers looking to offer “embedded insurance advice” as part of their app services.

Life insurance demands A recent data analysis report by the insurer William Russell found that there are more than 10,000 Google searches on life insurance in the UK annually. The most popular search for life insurance globally is ‘life insurance for parents’ with over 44,000 searches.

Demand and interest in the market is not necessarily the problem.

Inez Cooper, founder of the international insurance company, William Russell believes customers need clearer education on policies before they embark on buying cover. She advises, “Educating yourself of the different products out there when it comes to life insurance policies is always a good first step.

“There are some key moments in life when you should consider having life insurance such as getting married, buying a home, having a child or moving abroad. These all usually require large expenditure and can be life changing circumstances, so it’s good to have financial protection in place.”

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INSURANCE

He says this increase in awareness represents a “golden opportunity” for agile providers to connect with millennial customers by providing a vital service, that is highly converted within this demographic.

The pandemic has also shed light on how an inability to work, the death of a loved one, reduced earnings or how losing your source of income, can dramatically impact quality of life.”

“As a result, we’ve seen a jump in the numbers of people coming to us who are curious about income protection, critical illness cover and life insurance – with a third of our users citing the pandemic as the sole reason for looking into life insurance,” says Vanek.

Life changing According to a 2018 study by New York Life, the average generation x-er has a 48 % coverage shortfall in life insurance.

The recommended amount is $525,000 in coverage but most only obtain only $272,000 if they purchase any at all.

Legal & General carried out a study on generation x-ers attitudes to life insurance.

The report revealed that 9 out of 10 respondents overestimated the cost of a life insurance policy for a 30-year-old, and 44% of those without cover didn’t realise it could be used to help pay off the mortgage in the event of their death.

The same Legal & General report discovered that the main reason millennials don’t have life insurance is that they believe other expenses should take higher priority.

One in five joint mortgage holders without cover said subscriptions like Netflix were more important than life insurance.

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“In particular, younger earners are wising up to the benefits of having protection policies in place.”

Legacy life insurance services But still much needs to be done to make the space more appealing to younger customers.

Incumbent life insurance companies are still offering products that are too complicated to apply for, and not flexible enough to suit the needs of young customers.

“When it comes to life insurance, many of the traditional products are still extremely complex, designed to be sold through advisers face-to-face - a service most people don’t have access to anyway, let alone during a global pandemic,” says Vanek.

He believes mobile services that provide easy, instant and comprehensive cover that can be tailored to customers, is the only way to bring the sector into the modern era.

“Providers have had to adapt to survive and sought out services like integrating digital services to help them cater to their customers and keep them ahead of the curve.”

He adds, “While we’re not expecting a full move to automation in the future, over the pandemic many providers have started looking for a hybrid approach, one that allows them to go digital without losing the human element that is still at the heart of the insurance industry, something we expect to continue into the future.”

“ Educating yourself of the different products out there when it comes to life insurance policies is always a good first step” INEZ COOPER

WILLIAM RUSSELL

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DRIVING AN AUDACIOUS PLAN FOR CHANGE WRITTEN BY: WILL GIRLING

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November 2021

PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

HQ: The River Point building in Chicago (far right) insurtechdigital.com

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

CEO Patrick Blandford is joined by four other executives from Tokio Marine Highland to discuss its rebrand, digital transformation, and cultural alignment

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mainstay in US-based property and casualty underwriting (P&C), Tokio Marine Highland has nurtured a celebrated industry reputation based on the breadth and quality of its speciality risk management solutions, such as private flood, construction and lenderplaced products.

Originally founded as WNC Insurance Services in 1962, Tokio Marine Highland recently opted to rebrand in order to capitalise on the brand prestige of its parent company Tokio Marine Kiln (itself part of Tokio Marine Holdings), which completed its acquisition of WNC in 2018. “It's really enhancing the reputation that we’ve already built as WNC,” explains Joshua Clifton, Vice President of Marketing and Communications. “We see this as a great opportunity to enter new markets, attract talent, and seek new acquisitions and capacity partners.”

At the helm guiding the company through this exciting time is Patrick Blandford, CEO, who originally joined in 2004 as a board member and took on the CEO role in 2018.

Characterising his role as assembling the best team possible and overseeing Tokio Marine Highland’s overall performance,

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“We favour niche markets where we can establish a leadership position by understanding them through the customer’s perspective” PATRICK BLANDFORD

CEO, TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

1962 Year founded

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

Driving an audacious plan for change

“[On the company’s rebrand] We see this as a great opportunity to enter new markets, attract talent, and seek new acquisitions and capacity partners” JOSHUA CLIFTON

VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS, TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

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November 2021

Blandford emphasises that achieving the dual objectives of digital transformation and “to be a good company” (the official Tokio Marine philosophy) remain his top priorities. “I saw [at Tokio Marine Highland] the opportunity to preserve a very strong entrepreneurial culture, but one that is backed by the strength and resources not only of Tokio Marine Kiln but also the broader Tokio Marine Group. This has been the most rewarding challenge of my career so far,” he says.

Previously involved in other aspects of finance prior to his present appointment, particularly private equity investing, Blandford states that his background

TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

PATRICK BLANDFORD TITLE: CEO INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

gives him a unique perspective that helps guide Tokio Marine Highland’s strategic direction. “Successful private equity investors are able to understand market cycles, identify pockets of opportunity and get in front of risks. There is a natural sense of urgency when you have a three to fiveyear expected hold period. The beauty of our ownership is that we have a very long horizon but are still driven by that sense of urgency.” This experience has proven particularly invaluable over the past 18 months when a taxing blend of shifting customer expectations and COVID-19related market disruptions conspired to change the entire insurance sector.

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US Pat Blandford joined Tokio Marine Highland as a board member in 2004 to focus on growth strategies. He assumed an operating role in 2011 as the Managing Director of Strategy and Finance. In that role, he led acquisitions, product line expansion and relationships with key capital partners, including Tokio Marine Kiln. He was named CEO in 2018.

Prior to joining Tokio Marine Highland, Pat spent 20 years investing in and advising growth services companies. He was a Managing Director of two private equity firms, Frontenac Company and CCCC Growth Fund. He led both firms’ financial services investments.

He began his career at Goldman, Sachs & Co. and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

KIRAN ACHEN TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

Kiran Achen is responsible for defining and implementing a technology strategic vision aligned to Tokio Marine Highland’s growth and performance goals. He has oversight of the technology organisation and all technology initiatives.

Prior to joining Tokio Marine Highland, Kiran Achen was Assistant Vice President in the IT organisation of CNA and focused on strategy, roadmaps, IT modernisation and simplification, digital innovation, customer experience and cloud computing. Kiran began his career with Deloitte Consulting.

Kiran holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University.

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US

Tokio Marine Highland prides itself on a strict operational focus within highly specialised P&C niches. Now holding a leading position for nearly three decades, the company is experienced at exploring new lines of coverage within these parameters and swiftly introducing a team of proven underwriters empowered with strong data resources and digital tools.

"We are fortunate to be owned by our principal risk partner. It is natural that we put sustained underwriting profitability ahead of everything we do," explains Blandford. “We favour niche markets where we can establish a leadership position by understanding them through the customer’s perspective.” This approach makes Tokio Marine Highland’s mindset

TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

230 Number of employees

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

“Over the last 18 months, insurance has proven to be a very resilient industry that is attracting even more capital and, therefore, more opportunity, but a different set of challenges” NIRAV SHAH

CHIEF ANALYTICS OFFICER, TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

comparable to a startup, albeit reinforced by an established presence in the market that smaller companies would not possess.

The relentless focus on customer outcomes is in recognition that service expectations are changing, a key observation in a traditionally conservative industry. Although outside of insurance, tech leaders like Google, Apple, and Amazon are rewriting how customers view modern business experience, and Tokio Marine Highland is determined to keep pace with the change. “Over the last 18 months, insurance has proven to be a very resilient industry that is attracting even more capital and, therefore, more opportunity, but a different set of challenges,” says Nirav Shah, Chief Analytics Officer. “Newer capital sources have very different expectations when compared to traditional providers. Therefore, insurance markets need to be a lot more agile to make the most of the influx of non-traditional capital into the marketplace.”

In this new market, ‘the experience’ of a company has become a strong metric for quality and competitive differentiation.

Kiran Achen, CIO, believes that driving Tokio Marine Highland’s wholesale

REASONS TO CELEBRATE 2020 Although 2020 has been a difficult year, Blandford still praises Tokio Marine Highland’s leadership and employees for providing so many reasons to celebrate nonetheless. Among his cited highlights are: The strong underwriting performance of the private flood team in spite of record hurricane activity.

Achen and Shah’s respective teams in building the company’s data platform, ‘The Ark,’ capable of providing higher quality insights to underwriters.

Recognised as one of the best places to work in insurance.

"I missed the in-person interaction for much of 2020 and 2021, and it definitely made our transformation effort more difficult. I’m thrilled to be working side-byside with the team again, and you can see it in the velocity of our accomplishments."

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

JOSHUA CLIFTON TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

Joshua Clifton is responsible for the development and execution of Tokio Marine Highland’s marketing strategy to enable profitable growth and position Tokio Marine Highland as the underwriting agency of choice within its target markets.

Joshua is accountable for Tokio Marine Highland’s web and social media platforms, and driving public relations and communications strategies.

Joshua has two decades of experience in leading communications, content development and digital marketing initiatives in the financial services and publishing industries.

He previously served as Communications Director of Content Strategy and Development for CNA. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and political science from Indiana University.

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US

digital transformation will be crucial for pursuing this new focus; advantages gained elsewhere will be fleeting. “For me, the insurance industry is the last frontier that hasn't yet been disrupted. There is now an opportunity for carriers like us to partner with insurtechs, hire the right talent, and actually disrupt the industry from within.”

Tokio Marine Highland’s digital transformation journey began in earnest in early 2018. The first step, according to Blandford, was shaping the leadership team and assembling resources in order to create a foundation of expertise and technical infrastructure. Unlikely assistance came in

the form of COVID-19, which, despite its obvious negative impact, actually helped concentrate the company’s efforts. “I think of 2020 as the year that we turned the corner,” he states. “The unfortunate environment enabled us to spend less timefighting fires and more time bringing our larger team into the transformation efforts.”

Centering the change around robust datadriven insights, exceptional client interfaces and automated operations, Shah and Achen state that a special emphasis was placed on the cloud, low-code/no-code platforms, open-source, smart systems, AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning).

“For me, the insurance industry is the last frontier that hasn't yet been disrupted” KIRAN ACHEN

CIO, TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND insurtechdigital.com

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TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

“We’ve rolled out a new digital platform products to fit their lifestyle: they're more housing our difference in conditions (DIC) conscious of where and who they choose product,” says Tim Reilly, Senior Director to place their business with. We need of Digital Distribution. “Essentially, this to be flexible with our tech stack and platform enables straight-through ensure our products and services processing for earthquake and complement those already being landslide coverage. We’re also in used by other ecosystems.” the middle of a soft launch for our Although Tokio Marine Highland new flood product, which will be has the expertise and technology Revenue housed on the same platform.” In to drive its transformation roadmap in 2020 its quest to unlock additional value forward, Blandford is under no for its customers, Tokio Marine Highland’s illusion that the end is in sight, “this is approach to product development is a continuous journey.” Therefore, he exploratory and empathetic to their considers that the ultimate success or needs. “Our customers are looking for failure of the company’s endeavour will

$98mn

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November 2021

NIRAV SHAH TITLE: CHIEF ANALYTICS OFFICER COMPANY: TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

be determined by its cultural cohesion and the adoption of an inclusive and agile operating philosophy. Separating the business into dedicated squadrons, Blandford explains that each is encouraged to experiment, learn and improve on its own terms. Whether focused on product development, how the company collaborates with its partners, or diversity and inclusion, Tokio Marine Highland is continually exploring new ways to reinvent itself. “Obviously, key results have to align with the objectives, but every 13 weeks, we're looking at what has changed both internally and externally.”

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: LONDON, UK Nirav Shah is responsible for setting and executing Tokio Marine Highland’s strategy to become a data-driven business. He oversees the data and analytics functions and leads the Springboard Squadron, a team charged with reimagining what insurance looks like in the digital age through experimentation.

Nirav started his career with RBS Insurance in the UK (now known as the Directline Group). He joined Tokio Marine Kiln in 2013 to join an embryonic Actuarial Pricing Team, eventually taking leadership of the team in 2017.

He has a BSc in Actuarial Science from The Business School, City University of London.

TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

TIM REILLY TITLE: SENIOR DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION COMPANY: TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

Tim Reilly is responsible for leading Tokio Marine Highland’s distribution strategy and delivering a common digital experience to enhance customer satisfaction and drive profitable growth.

Prior to joining Tokio Marine Highland, Tim served as director of digital operations at H.W. Kaufman Group, where he managed product and distribution for operations pertaining to the Burns & Wilcox digital platform. He has also previously served as the digital engagement manager at Risk Placement Services.

Tim holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Iowa and a certificate of international relations and affairs from the University College of Cork.

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US

“We need to be flexible with our tech stack and ensure our products and services complement those already being used by other ecosystems” TIM REILLY

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION, TOKIO MARINE HIGHLAND

In 2021, the company is fully embracing the "new normal" in more ways than one.

The launch of a new fine art division headed up by industry expert Christiane Fischer (a hiring "coup," as Blandford describes it) provides an exciting opportunity to reconfigure Tokio Marine Highland's digital platform even further. "What you see in 2021 is the execution of our digital playbook," Blandford says. “You'll see our broader product portfolio apply the Tokio Marine Highland digital offerings.” Safe in the knowledge that through a united and focused culture, the company will prosper, he calls for setting “audacious” goals that

push the envelope of modern insurance and keep Tokio Marine Highland at the cutting edge where it belongs. “We have to enjoy our success and treat every setback as a learning opportunity. We also need to remain humble: our competitors are highly skilled, well-capitalised, and they're moving quickly.” However, by prioritising experimentation, corporate agility and customer-centricity, Tokio Marine Highland has the capacity to move even quicker.

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CYBERSECURITY IN THE

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We take a look at how insurers are measuring the threat of hackers as digital transformation marches towards 2022 WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

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efore the new normal - back when hybrid working hours were a distant dream, insurtechs were mainly preoccupied with creating new products that could be delivered seamlessly to the customer and following the market demand for new services.

Fast forward to 2022, and although insurtechs are by nature, agile, digital transformation has still managed to spring a few nasty surprises on the space. The increased rate of cyber attacks has possibly been the most difficult challenge for the sector to date.

Risk assessment in the field has also become increasingly complex as the digital footprint of companies has expanded along with the home office culture and IoTdependent business processes.

Risk driven security So, what changes in cybersecurity risk assessment changes have occurred over the last 18 months as a result of digital transformation? And, crucially, are companies addressing them in the best possible way?

Alex Bransome, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Doherty Associates believes there is much work to be done in the space.

He says, “With the dramatic shift to remote working over the last 18 months due to the insurtechdigital.com

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TECHNOLOGY

“ There is an opportunity for collaboration between insurers and current or prospective policyholders here” ALEX BRANSOME,

CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, DOHERTY ASSOCIATES

COVID pandemic, organisations have had to extend the scope of their risk management programmes to include a multitude of new threat models that remote working has introduced. Risk driven security assessment is critical to ensure organisations remain secure during this period of digital transformation.”

Organisations, points out Bransome, must understand that their network boundary now extends into the homes of their staff..

This comes with a range of new risks that need to be managed accordingly, such

as insecure remote access methods, and regulatory and compliance risks, “such as data leakage through the usage of untrusted personal devices.”

Digital twinning Essentially insurtechs need to take stock of the seismic changes that have occurred over the past 18 months and make sure their own digital transformations are up to the task, as well as their risk assessment abilities.

“Going digital implies the transformation of physical artifacts into digital equivalents called ‘digital twins,’ says Altaz Valani, Director of Insights Research at Security Compass. “The success of any digital transformation programme is predicated on an organisation’s ability to transform its operations to use these digital twins.” insurtechdigital.com

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TECHNOLOGY

He points out that every digital transformation aims to either enhance existing services or create entirely new services and revenue streams. With that background, the implications for conducting risk assessments are quite significant.

Understanding risk Looking at the entire picture of risk and making an accurate assessment of the threats companies face, is also part of the solution. But Bransome believes this is not being carried out in the majority of cases, because there is a lack of understanding in the space.

“I believe that insurers in the past have not accurately understood the real-world security posture of the organisations they are offering insurance to,” he says, but goes on to point out that the situation is improving.

“However, insurers are now starting to respond better to the needs of clients in terms of policies becoming clearer regarding their scope and coverage. This is partly being led by their own losses, which have been significant, especially with the rise in hugely costly and frequent ransomware attacks.”

Bransome also highlights the fact that there is now much more scrutiny being applied by underwriters to organisations applying for cyber insurance. Insurance companies are also utilising technology to help assess client technical and organisational security controls to get a clearer understanding of their security posture and potential risk. “These technologies include a multitude of opensource intelligence signals and active scanning techniques to build a risk profile that can directly affect the premium,” he says.

Trends in the cyber risk space According to a recent survey report by Veronis, ransomware attacks have increased by 148% since the pandemic began. The 66

November 2021

“ Ransomware is going to be a continuing problem into 2022, especially at the rate of development we are seeing with organised Ransomware groups” ALEX BRANSOME,

CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER, DOHERTY ASSOCIATES

hacking arena is a highly organised network of gangs that operate globally - and insurance companies are high on the target list due to the amounts of sensitive data that they hold.

Bransome says, “Ransomware is going to be a continuing problem into 2022, especially at the rate of development we are seeing with organised Ransomware groups. The increasingly advancing tactics and techniques used by these cybercrime groups, coupled with the commercialisation of professional, easy to use Ransomware-as-

TECHNOLOGY

Five changes to cyber risk assessment in 2021/22

a-Service offerings means this threat remains a top three risk for most organisations.”

“These advancements include adding additional extortion methods, where an organisation's sensitive financial, customer and personnel data is not only encrypted, but it is stolen with the threat of releasing it online if the ransom is not paid.”

The future of risk It seems likely that as the market matures, the uptake of automated technical risk assessment techniques will increase,

• Traditional risk assessments which were conducted periodically using highly manual approaches and physical reports are now giving way to digital equivalents in the form of digital data.

• Risk assessment processes that used to halt operations for a period of time are giving way to ongoing, continuous, automated risk assessments that minimise impact on business operations.

• Multiple attestations in the digital realm can now provide a more defencible understanding of the risk.

• The ability to change a risk assessment algorithm or methodology can be done digitally with delivery of the training provided in context.

• The ability to simulate multiple risk scenarios is greatly simplified with thousands of simulations possible.

Information from Security Compass insurtechdigital.com

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“ InsurTech has traditionally focused on enhanced (often rapid) service delivery as a primary disruptor” ALTAZ VALANI

DIRECTOR OF INSIGHTS RESEARCH, SECURITY COMPASS

Multilevel perspective As part of a new approach to cyber risk assessment, Valani suggests a InsurTech players must view risk assessments from three perspectives: Capabilities - It is not enough to have a risk assessment methodology.

In a digital world, we also need to consider integrated capabilities around asset management, knowledge management, digital modeling, audit, and vulnerability management.

Stakeholders - The stakeholder group in digital transformation extends beyond the boundaries of risk teams to also include software developers, testers, architects, and executives.

Each group has their own perspective on risk assessment.

Value creation - To avoid wasting time and resources, there must be a concrete alignment from business goals to value streams which, in turn, map to the information technology required.

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therefore creating high level risk profiles of clients. However, Bransome points out that one challenge with automated assessment techniques is inaccuracies and false positive results. “I would like to see transparency and visibility built into these systems for the client,” he says.

“There is an opportunity for collaboration between insurers and current or prospective policyholders here. This would help to ensure a fluid process that allows for the correction of any false positives, as well as

TECHNOLOGY

guidance on detected issues, similar to the technology platforms we use to manage third party risk.”

Valani agrees that automation will be key in driving the industry forward and providing watertight risk assessment. He says, “InsurTech has traditionally focused on enhanced (often rapid) service delivery as a primary disruptor. The requirements for ensuring quality of service, however, is quickly evolving to now include ethical, privacy, and security concerns as well.

This is an area InsurTech players must face head on.”

He adds, “To avoid slipping back into the pre-digital era of manual processes, it necessitates a response that integrates our software development with risk assessments and, ultimately, business goals.

“Only then can we hope to achieve the right balance between risk assessments and software delivery operations that continually deliver disruptive and innovative services against incumbents.” insurtechdigital.com

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Becoming Canada's First Integrated Health Organisation WRITTEN BY: LEILA HAWKINS

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PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

GREEN SHIELD CANADA

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GREEN SHIELD CANADA

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GREEN SHIELD CANADA

Green Shield Canada tells us about becoming Canada's first health insurer to integrate health services, all with a strong social mission at its core

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reen Shield Canada (GSC) is best known as one of the country's largest health and dental benefits providers, and in the six decades since it was established has maintained its social mission at its core.

Bill Wilkinson, a pharmacist from Windsor in Ontario, decided to start the company after a young mother visited his store and was faced with having to choose between paying for her daughter’s prescription or her own. This led Wilkinson, along with four other pharmacists, to create North America’s first pre-paid drug plan, a concept that is widely in use today.

CEO and President Zahid Salman explains that GSC today remains committed to its structure as a not for profit, social enterprise whose business earnings are used to fund its social impact priorities. "Our business activities, community investment and health system advocacy work all support better health outcomes in our communities,” he says. "In the end, we operate for the purpose of making it easier for people to live their healthiest lives, and our mission is delivering meaningful solutions to improve health and wellbeing. Our purpose and our mission are what guides our business and social impact priorities."

To better serve its customers, GSC is currently repositioning itself, from being solely a health and dental benefits carrier to being Canada's only integrated health insurtechdigital.com

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"We're moving to radically enhanced CRM capabilities, new data and analytics platforms, and develop an increased cloud posture" DAVID WILLOWS

EVP INNOVATION AND MARKETING

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services organisation with capability across health insurance, pharmacy benefits management, health and benefits administration, and health services delivery.

Salman says this expansion will in turn help increase the company's social impact. It will generate greater funding and provide new service capabilities that can be deployed in local communities.

This has led to the current focus on digital transformation at the company, which will be crucial as GSC enters new markets and deploys new services. "A key component of the broader business transformation we are undergoing will be digital, as the vision for our future business models is digitalfirst," Salman says. "While GSC has always been strong from a technology perspective,

GREEN SHIELD CANADA

ZAHID SALMAN TITLE: CEO AND PRESIDENT

as evidenced by our proprietary Advantage claims and pharmacy benefits management platform being used by other providers in the market, being digital-first across our business lines will need to be enabled by things like increased agility, having greater customer insight, delivering improved analytics to our plan sponsors to support their decision making, and by better leveraging the cloud."

The company recently took its first step along this journey by launching “GSC everywhere”, a web and mobile portal that serves existing plan members, and that was co-designed with their input. "The aim was to be modern and flexible and ease navigation for the basics – claim submission and eligibility checks" David Willows, EVP

EXECUTIVE BIO

COMPANY: GREEN SHIELD CANADA Zahid Salman joined Green Shield Canada as CEO and President in September 2018.

Prior to this he spent several years in executive roles at various global HR services and wellbeing organisations.

He says that what drew him to the position at GSC was the focus on its social mission, and being able to expand its social impact.

Salman describes his management style as "results oriented, but client and people focused. That fits nicely with our organisational values, which are putting client's needs first, positioning people for success, and committing to a culture of excellence.

I think my style has definitely evolved over the years based not just on what I've experienced and learned, but also based on the attributes needed to lead today. The workforce has vastly different expectations compared to 30 years ago."

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Seismic or small, change is all around us With technology and human ingenuity, we can make change work for you and your business.

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Accenture and GSC: Building a prosperous relationship Paulo Salomao of Accenture tells us how they are helping Green Shield Canada to digitally transform their business.

Paulo Salomao is a Managing Director for Financial Services at Accenture Canada, where he has overall responsibility for the company’s insurance business in the country. He is also responsible for the day-to-day partnership with Green Shield Canada (GSC), one of the country’s largest health and dental benefits providers.

Salomao explains that the partnership formed when GSC was looking for a lead partner to help drive their ambitious digital transformation program. “They wanted to both introduce a new digital health business, as well as drive a step change in the performance of the legacy group benefits business” he says.

Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security across 40 industries. The firm offers Strategy and Consulting, Interactive, Technology and Operations services—all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. “We have around 10,000 strategists globally, which is on a par with the largest strategy firms around the world. We also have

around 50,000 professionals who help our clients bring transformation to life through people, technology, and change efforts” Salomao explains. The company is also the largest digital marketing agency in the world, with more than 60,000 data and analytics professionals.

Salomao says that partnerships such as the one with GSC are at the heart of Accenture’s business. “It’s very difficult to unlock substantial value for our clients through one-off efforts, so the primary focus of our organisation is to develop partnerships with clients like GSC. We go out of our way to ensure these are win-win, and they create value for all of those involved.”

The partnership is still in its early days, and Salomao says their key objective is to become the partner that will help them achieve their broader digital transformation aspiration in a way that is both cost efficient and market-relevant. This will involve three main things: taking GSC’s existing capabilities and complementing them with new cloud, CRM, data and analytics technologies; futureproofing the legacy business so GSC can quickly react to changes in the operating environment; and bringing together the legacy business and the new digital health business, so GSC can continue to be a market leader. “When we successfully do that, then I think we’re going to have a very prosperous partnership with GSC for many years to come” he says.

Learn more

GREEN SHIELD CANADA

GSC: becoming Canada's first integrated health organisation

for Digital, Innovation and Brand Experience explains. "Of course, it being 2021, we put in lots of API layers too, in order to allow our partners to plug in and bring added health services to our customers – all part of our vision of evolving into an integrated health services company.”

The platform took existing legacy software and modernised it, and Willows explains they are planning to ramp up their digital capabilities. "We're moving to radically enhanced CRM capabilities, new data and analytics platforms, and developing an increased cloud posture. This is a much longer term initiative, over three to five years, and it will certainly be more complex for the organisation, but it will serve our commercial goal of moving from core health and dental benefits administration to an integrated healthcare company."

Willows says that GSC's digital strategy was profoundly impacted by COVID-19, particularly in terms of delivering care 78

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"We operate for the purpose of making it easier for people to live their healthiest lives" ZAHID SALMAN

PRESIDENT AND CEO

DAVID WILLOWS TITLE: EVP INNOVATION AND MARKETING

EXECUTIVE BIO

COMPANY: GREEN SHIELD CANADA David Willows has worked at GSC for 10 years, during which time he has primarily worked in product innovation and branding.

Like Salman, he also worked at AON where he spent four years as senior vice president. Before that, he had focused on driving innovation into Life and Disability management at Canadian insurers in senior leadership positions.

"I look back and feel I've had some tremendous leaders who have mentored me and opened my eyes to what works and possibly what doesn't," he says. "I love to surround myself with very capable, smart people who are creative as well. Once those people are with you, you trust them to use the skills that they bring to bear, and empower them to do the work.

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"Our digital transformation will deliver digital services and help patients more effectively navigate care" ZAHID SALMAN

PRESIDENT AND CEO

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virtually. "I look back at 2018 and 2019 when we were starting to strike our first investments in virtual care, and displaying these new capabilities to Canadian employers, and by extension, their plan members. There was interest, but I'd say their thinking was that they didn't want to commit new or existing funding to it.

"That changed quickly in March last year," he adds. "All of our data suggests that the attitude of plan sponsors and plan members has changed quickly. Namely, by living through a life of lockdown and not having access to traditional services, digital health services were more front of mind.

The response has been universally positive, both with the customer experience and satisfaction with health outcomes. Now we have a landscape where we can expand these offerings."

GSC's partnership with Accenture is enabling the company to add new capabilities it hasn't had before. "We just built the new GSC everywhere platform, and historically we had built and managed these platforms on our own. We were confident upgrading such offerings on our own," Willows says. "But when we are talking about introducing vastly increased CRM capabilities, changing and adding data and analytics platforms, and increasing our cloud posture, a lot of this will be new to the organisation. We're able to say that for this next generation work we need to enhance our team with additional subject matter experts and certainly Accenture is a company that has done this with organisations small, medium, and large many times before."

Having a strong partner ecosystem will be vital to this digital mission. "It was a really critical topic even before we contemplated some of the specific aspects of our digital

GREEN SHIELD CANADA

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Year Founded

Health Benefits and Services Industry

1200

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$800M Revenue

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transformation," Willows says. "People are doing good work in digital health in Canada… they're ahead of the curve and in the market already. As a company of 1200 people, we're not going to build everything from scratch.

Early on we made strong connections in the technology and virtual health communities, and have curated, we think, offerings on the virtual health side that are the best of the breed. We certainly will not be able to deliver on our vision without having very strong, mutually beneficial ties with both technology and virtual health partners."

Ultimately, Salman says that the priorities of GSC's digital journey are driven by the needs of customers. "They're looking for convenient, seamless services that can 82

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"We're focused on repositioning Green Shield as an integrated health services organisation. By doing this we'll help improve the health and wellbeing of Canadians across the country" ZAHID SALMAN

PRESIDENT AND CEO

GREEN SHIELD CANADA

be accessed whenever they want, from wherever they want. From a services perspective their needs have evolved rapidly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now they're increasingly focused on things like mental health, faster and easier access to physicians, and more cost-effective procurement of prescription drugs.

"The pandemic has shown everyone the great potential solutions like digital mental health, telemedicine and e-pharmacy have to improve the patient experience. The digital transformation we're contemplating will enhance our ability to not only deliver digital services like these, but also connect them where relevant, and help patients more effectively navigate care."

There are also benefits to the workforce, as things like automation will add speed and efficiency to routine tasks. "This will enable GSC to better focus on helping people, which is the reason people choose to work here," Salman says.

Looking ahead, GSC has several projects in line with its social mission.

One is the Green Door Project, launched in 2020 with the University of Toronto to establish a new dental clinic providing free care to underserved populations, alongside conducting a five-year research programme. "This is actually the largest single donation to dental public health research in Canadian history," Salman says.

"We'll also be launching a signature women’s mental health programme later in 2021. Recognising the adverse impacts COVID-19 has had on female participation rates in the workforce, our aim is to provide necessary supports to reverse that trend, with a particular view to facilitating women’s movement into leadership roles, recognising both historic underrepresentation as well as the ways the pandemic has further exacerbated this. We think this is a very important programme that we'll expand over the next three to five years.

"From a business perspective, we'll remain focused on our multi-year business and digital transformations, with the goal of repositioning Green Shield as an integrated health services organisation.

By doing this we believe we will help improve the health and wellbeing of Canadians right across the country."

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DIGITAL REVOLUTION: INSURTECH IN THE NEW NORMAL The past 18 months has transformed industries globally - and insurtech is no exception. We look at the new trends predicted for 2022 WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

W

ith digital transformation almost old news, it hardly comes as a surprise that one of the most technology-reliant sectors on the planet namely insurtech, has had its fair share of COVID-19 road bumps.

The pandemic has brought change at an almost cellular level. Product demand has changed, with industries now seeing a greater adoption of telematics and a world clamouring for adequate cyber cover.

Customer expectations have changed. They want fast, flexible and low cost products that can be arranged in moments and claimed upon just as quickly.

Investment and insurtech However, studies show that 2021 has seen a hard market for insurers, resulting in higher premiums and higher claims rejection rates for customers across the board.

According to a recent study by KPMG, the uncertainty driven by the pandemic has had a significant impact on investment 84

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in insurtech. Venture dollars to insurtechs dropped to US$2.3bn in the first half of 2020.

This is a marked decline from almost $13.4bn for full-year 2019. Thankfully, 2021 has seen this situation stabilise - but experts don’t believe the marketplace is out of the woods yet.

Hermann Fried, Managing Director at bsurance, explains, “Across the board, we saw companies investing heavily in digital transformation projects so they could more effectively run their businesses and serve their customers during lockdown. Similarly, many more consumers experienced firsthand how fast and easy buying products and services over the internet has become.”

Customer concerns The biggest pandemic related shift has been the customer, confirms Meeri Rebane, CEO and co-founder of INZMO. She believes the pandemic naturally led to concerns about finances and people becoming more risk conscious. However, it’s not all plain sailing.

“The problem is the disconnect between the needs of today’s consumer and the way in which insurance services are being delivered.”

Rebane points out that today, customers expect the same level of service, personalisation and simplicity from their insurance provider as they do from the tech giants they encounter daily, as well as the response times, seamless interaction and transparency they are accustomed to from their banking providers.

STRATEGY

Meet the commentators

Hermann Fried, bsurance

Meeri Rebane, INZMO

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DIGITAL PAYMENTS

Avoid the Top 5 Most Common Open Source Vulnerabilities Within Financial Organizations Learn what open source vulnerabilities are commonly found in financial services organizations.

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STRATEGY

“ Combined with the proliferation of online services this is re-shaping expectations” MEERI REBANE

CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, INZMO

“Combined with the proliferation of online services this is re-shaping expectations. Consumers are less inclined to want to seek out insurance, and do the groundwork,” says Rebane. “They want it embedded in products and services at the point of purchase.”

UBI and flexibility The demand for UBI (usage-based insurance) particularly in the motor insurance industry, has risen markedly. This has mainly been caused by a drop in consumer drivers as the work from home directive kept people away from their daily commutes. Demand for policies has stayed stable - but preference for more flexible products has increased.

“COVID has forced insurers to move towards customer centricity and has emphasised the need to adopt technological innovation, to change how the insurance process is managed and simplify the customer experience, '' says Rebane.

And companies are recognising the trend and diversifying into insurtech services from other industries, says Fried, because they see the benefits of adding digital services to their portfolios.

“What we did see, as a result of online commerce booming during lockdown,” he explains, “was a lot of interest and investment in insurtech products that could be easily incorporated into a company’s

Hermann Fried TITLE: MANAGING DIRECTOR COMPANY: BSURANCE LOCATION: AUSTRIA He says: “We are facing major changes in the insurance industry,” stresses Hermann Fried. “Digital applications have already massively increased the demands of customers in many industries in terms of speed and service quality. They also place these expectations on their insurance companies.”

Meeri Rebane TITLE: CEO AND CO-FOUNDER COMPANY: INZMO LOCATION: GERMANY She says: “It’s naive to believe that whatever you create will need only minor adjustments in the future. Be prepared, that the whole experience might have to be changed.” insurtechdigital.com

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Insurtech trends for 2022 More personalisation: Greater data collection and analysis will see more insurtechs and incumbents offering flexible, personalised services to customers.

Digital transformation is far from over: The insurance industry is lagging an estimated 20 years behind developments that have taken place in the fintech space.

2022 will see the accelerated transition to new technologies increase.

Diversification: More and more companies are recognising the value of digital services and products and are keen to provide insurance products and services.

Better investment: The investment slump of 2020 and 2021 will see an upsurge as the market continues to stabilise in 2022.

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existing online offering. Companies across Europe were looking for value-added services that would differentiate them from their competitors.

“This, together with the fact that more people were buying goods for their home, meant that services that offered insurance on products as they were bought did particularly well.”

The demand for more flexible services is driven by an expectation for better-tailored products. And this demand can only be furnished by data, points out Fried.

“What we may also see play out over the course of the next year is an increase in personalised insurance products. This is because consumers generally have higher expectations that companies tailor their services - due to trends like Open Banking - and there is simply more data available due to more and more of us living our lives online.”

STRATEGY

Digital journey Although the insurance industry appears to have made great technological strides over the past 18 months, it is still a space that lags far behind that of its contemporaries. The pandemic has been a giant driver in terms of development, but the journey to complete digitisation is still a long way off.

“If you compare it to the banking industry, insurance is at least 20 years behind – so there is still a long way to go,” says Fried. “The pandemic did supercharge both interest and investment, however, many processes still remain firmly stuck in the past.”

But, all movement is in the right direction, he acknowledges. And the last two years have showcased to all the stakeholders in the insurtech industry that there is a clear demand for better options, services, and infrastructure within the insurance market.

This will mean that digital transformation projects will gather pace.

“ Although the innovation gap between insurance and other sectors may seem quite large, we’ve experienced how fintech, after a slow start, rapidly gained traction” HERMANN FRIED

MANAGING DIRECTOR, BSURANCE insurtechdigital.com

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“The pandemic did supercharge both interest and investment, however, many processes still remain firmly stuck in the past” HERMANN FRIED

MANAGING DIRECTOR, BSURANCE

“Although the innovation gap between insurance and other sectors may seem quite large, we’ve experienced how fintech, after a slow start, rapidly gained traction over the last few years and is now growing exponentially resulting in wholesale change.

Insurtech and the digital transformation it will enable is likely to follow a very similar path, says Fried. “As a result, I expect that the insurance industry will look radically different in only a few years’ time.”

As Rebane succinctly says, “The pandemic has been both a stress test and a turning point for the world of insurance and the skyrocketing demand for fully digital services has pushed the industry’s technological capacities to their limit.

“Insurtech is playing catch-up in the areas of innovation and technology and is just starting to digitise the customer experience in a similar way to banking a decade ago,” she stresses. “However this means there is plenty of opportunity to add value in the Insurtech sector today.”

Fried agrees. “Although the innovation gap between insurance and other sectors may seem quite large, we’ve experienced how fintech, after a slow start, rapidly gained traction over the last through years and is now growing exponentially resulting in wholesale change.”

He adds, “Insurtech and the digital transformation it will enable, is likely to follow a very similar path.” insurtechdigital.com

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Insurance by Design: Amwins innovation moves industry forward

WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

AMWINS

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AMWINS

Tom Parsons, Head of Digital at Amwins, tells us how insurance is being reimagined by technology

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t’s been a transformative past two years for the insurance industry globally, with the pandemic kicking digital transformation into overdrive and forcing legacy system operatives to up their game.

Insurance is now at the cutting-edge of innovation and traditional processes are firmly on their way out, says Tom Parsons, Head of Digital at Amwins.

With a global footprint across more than 150 countries, Amwins is the largest independent wholesale distributor of specialty insurance products in the United States and one of the largest and most successful Lloyd’s broking operations in the speciality market sector. Based in Charlotte, N.C., Amwins handles premium placements in excess of $26bn and has a reputation for delivering specialised placement solutions through its deep resources and experience across five main business verticals: Brokerage; Small Accounts; Underwriting; Global Risks; and Group Benefits.

To be part of such an organisation, requires a specific skillset as well as a passion for technology and progress.

Parsons began focusing on insurance as a career during graduate school and has never been more excited by the changes in technology and innovation as he is today.

“Most people in this industry say they fell into an insurance career,” he says. “Perhaps my story was a little more deliberate. At the time, I was following the crowd - - going through rounds of interviews with various insurtechdigital.com

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investment banks. It seemed like it was what everyone was doing, so I didn’t think about it much.”

As chance would have it, a stroll through the university careers centre cemented the decision, as Parsons stumbled upon the Lloyd’s of London market. From that moment, the suited, opulent environment of executive level insurance hooked his interest. “A few interviews later and I was struck by the differences with banking,” enthuses Parsons. “Not only did Lloyd’s seem full of larger-than-life characters, but it was also full of an incredible variety and complexity of insurance risks. I was instantly hooked and there was no looking back.”

Amwins digital strategy Today, Parsons is a long way from the hallowed halls of Lloyd’s of London. In fact, he has been based in the U.S. for the past 96

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four years - unable to travel in the past two due to the pandemic restrictions. But it is here that he has found himself at the heart of insurance innovation, managing the internal and external digital strategies for Amwins.

He explains, “My current position has two

“ As part of developing Amwins’ digital strategy, we interviewed hundreds of our retail agent partners so we could listen deeply to their needs” TOM PARSONS

HEAD OF DIGITAL, AMWINS

AMWINS

TOM PARSONS TITLE: HEAD OF DIGITAL

2000

INDUSTRY: INSURANCE

Year founded

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

6,200+

As head of digital strategy for Amwins, Tom develops and implements digital offerings for retail clients. With 15 years of experience in the industry, Parson’s roles have ranged from building, managing and training teams to designing complex captive structures to meet clients’ coverage needs. Prior to joining Amwins, Parsons was president of WNC Insurance Services’ specialty division where he built an end-to-end online platform to distribute surplus lines insurance products. Before that, Parsons served as a departmental portfolio manager of Tokio Marine Kiln, leading the implementation of a Solvency II financial model and raising over $1B in collateralised reinsurance.

main focuses. Internally we are focused on building and maintaining the Amwins digital strategy and ensuring we are executing this strategy effectively.

“The more external focus is working with the Amwins Ventures Fund which gives us the opportunity to look closely at and invest in technology companies that have the potential to enable and enhance how we solve retail agent problems and become easier to do business with.”

Parsons has an impressive background, having spent time in a number of roles that have prepared him for his current position, which have included working with regulators to get approval for a complex new Solvency II financial model, raising over $1bn of Insurance-Linked Security (ILS) capital from institutional investors and designing and building a new retail agent-facing portal, among others.

“I have had the unique opportunity to closely observe the problems and needs of individual participants through the insurance value chain from the retail agent, to MGA, to MGU, to the carrier, to the regulator, to the reinsurer, to the institutional investor,” he says. “I think experiencing these different perspectives helps me prioritise and focus on the aspects that matter most within my role.”

Technology enablers The Amwins approach to progress is a

EXECUTIVE BIO

Employees worldwide

AMWINS

$26bn

Annual premium placements

22,550 Underwriter relationships

25,000 Retail agency relationships

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dynamic one, with well applied technology seen as an enabler rather than a disruptor of the insurance value chain.

“As such, it was natural that as part of developing Amwins’ digital strategy we interviewed hundreds of our retail agent partners so we could listen deeply to their needs,” says Parsons. “This was an extremely insightful experience, spending hours listening to and focusing on our retail agents, and it highlighted and confirmed many rich insights into what makes a best digital experience.”

The experience, he explains, led Amwins to categorise some of the main attributes of a best agent digital experience. These factors include straight through processing,

“Amwins has a combination of a strong entrepreneurial mindset, a focus on meritocracy over hierarchy, and a 150-year vision that creates a motivating and supportive work environment” TOM PARSONS

HEAD OF DIGITAL, AMWINS

which where possible allows agents to move work off their desk by providing instant rate, quote, bind, and issue capabilities.

Market access is another attribute that provides flexibility and availability with good coverage options and competitive pricing.

Other attributes include self-service, which enables instant processing of mid-term adjustments and renewals, management of payment options, and insurtechdigital.com

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AMWINS INITIATIVES FOR FUTUREPROOFING INSURANCE Data Science Claims Insights: Amwins has been collecting rich claims data for many years and is starting to better unlock the rich information contained within this data through evolutionary algorithmic techniques to discover the best model performance for a given combination of predictive rating variables.

DID YOU KNOW...

There are a number of exciting initiatives Amwins is working on which to materially improve the experience of our retail agents.

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Personal Lines: Amwins is creating a seamless experience between the digital (straight through processed) and human (manually underwritten) solutions currently offered.

The company is focused on creating a seamless hybrid experience for the agent that perfectly balances digital and human interaction. The solution will be able to offer instant rate, quote and issue, and where the risk needs specialist underwriting or brokerage services, via a specialist team of underwriters and brokers.

Professional Lines: Building deep integrations with its carrier partners enables Amwins’ retail agents to price and coverage discover instantly on their desktop. This is particularly valuable with cyber liability where carrier appetite rapidly changes.

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Data Extraction: An understandable frustration for many retail agents is the unnecessary keystrokes required for a submission.

Amwins is working on a number of workflow agnostic solutions which will minimise keystrokes by allowing agents to upload documentation as part of the submission process.

Natural Language Processing (NLP): Amwins has recently partnered with a company that scrapes publicly available information and uses NLP to predict company industry classifications, all within a sub-second data call. Not only can classifying a business into an industry be painful for retail agents, it can also lead to misclassification impacting both rate and available coverage.

Third-Party Data: Amwins has consumed third-party data for many years across its commercial and personal lines portfolios. This includes both property characteristics and hazard information. The company is constantly evaluating new data providers as they look to add convenience to their retail agents and value to their underwriting.

AMWINS

“ The company is focused on creating a seamless hybrid experience for the agent that perfectly balances digital and human interaction” TOM PARSONS

HEAD OF DIGITAL, AMWINS

access to documents, as well as supporting integration with Agency Managements Systems, allowing ‘upload’ and ‘download’ of information. Interactive Experience is also a primary consideration, and Amwins has created multi-channel communication experiences, but importantly always allowing

access to a human when desired.

“We see three main enablers in helping us to fulfil these best agent experience attributes. It is important to consider all three together, rather than independently,” says Parsons, and outlines the following: People as a priority As well as placing technology at the forefront of its strategy, Amwins has a reputation for taking care of its employees, nurturing talent, and encouraging creativity. This, coupled with its dynamic attitude to innovation, is a winning combination, says Parsons.

“Amwins is a place like no other, it truly hires the best people and enables them to do exceptional work,” he says. “I enjoy coming to work each day working

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with outstanding people who are deeply passionate about what they do.

“The combination of a strong entrepreneurial mindset, a focus on meritocracy over hierarchy, and a 150-year vision creates a motivating and supportive work environment that brings the best out of everyone.”

This philosophy has been well born out over the pandemic, as the working processes within Amwins have shifted seamlessly to make way for a remote workforce so that the company has been able to fully serve its customers.

“As a company of individuals, we've learned to interact with each other in a more digitalled manner. In the past, a phone call probably would've been in a non-video conference 102

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manner, whereas now that's become the standard. I think that kind of communication or that new acceptance of how to communicate with each other is changing.”

Parsons believes insureds now have higher expectations around communicating with corporate entities - although during the pandemic this has not been without its challenges. “Our clients have had to close down their storefronts. So, we're seeing that they're interacting with their customers in a more digital fashion and in turn, we need to then create similar digital experiences for our clients. These trends began before COVID, but has COVID increased the speed at which these trends are occurring? I think yes.”

AMWINS

New innovations and trends It’s not only the customer-facing side of insurance that is seeing marked trends emerging -- P&C and underwriting are also at a transition stage. Parsons says the insurance industry is broad and diverse in its makeup, with underwriters quantifying risk for the purposes of calculating premium on a wide variety of risks daily.

From complex parametric triggers to more ‘traditional’ property risks, underwriters calculate the premium required for risk to be transferred. “However, as broad and diverse the insurance industry is, there are a number of general trends we see taking place,” he points out, including: Increased focus on structuring and

“ The combination of more costeffective data storage and processing technology with advances in machine learning and deep learning techniques is opening new areas of development” TOM PARSONS

HEAD OF DIGITAL, AMWINS

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acquiring more data (both first party and third party) Building more advanced capabilities to analyse data to form deeper insights on risk selection, pricing, and portfolio building.

INSURANCE INNOVATION ENABLERS

DID YOU KNOW...

Technology: The technology available today can enable businesses in ways almost unthinkable 10 or 20 years ago.

Effective and empathetic application of technology can transform the most painful retail agent experience into one that is pleasant, or at least more acceptable – this is insurance after all!

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Data: Accessing and using more data can reduce the amount of data we need to collect from our retail agents, reducing painful keystrokes, but data can also enable better risk quantification so our retail agents can offer their insureds the most competitive price possible.

People: Constantly challenging the status quo of insurance process and ensuring the retail agent’s experience is being prioritised, is very important. To achieve this, we need to ensure we are always hiring and retaining the best people.

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Great customer experiences Technology is essential to the role, enabling underwriters to perform more effectively, with greater accuracy. In fact, “The combination of more cost-effective data storage and processing technology with advances in machine learning and deep learning techniques is opening new areas of development which were not available a number of years ago,” he says.

Parsons points out that the application of such developments is wide-ranging, from enabling real-time use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) to determine business industry classification, image recognition to determine the shape and standard of a property’s roof and building sophisticated predictive models to uncover new risk quantification insights.

Well-applied technology solutions, he says, can potentially enhance and enable every aspect of the insurance industry.

Amwins future strategies Currently, making any kind of prediction on where the insurance industry might be in a decade is fraught with complications.

This is down to the destabilising times we are living in, as well as the difficulties in accurately assessing technology adoption in the marketplace.

However, it is reasonable to expect current trends to continue. Effective implementation of technology by innovators and early adopters will slowly force technology laggards to catch up or exit, says Parsons.

AMWINS

“We are seeing increasing pockets for homogenous risk being underwritten in a fully algorithmic straight through processed manner with digital experiences, and we expect this to increase through the industry.

“Microservices, Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) are making these trends of bigger data, deeper insights, and digital experiences easier to access, which will likely speed their proliferation.”

Winning formula Ultimately, these achievements can only be realised through superior teamwork and an incredible amount of talent, acknowledges Parsons. He says that while this past 18 months has been challenging, it has also been inspiring in terms of what his team has been able to accomplish.

“This year, we have been able to rapidly experiment in building an interactive price and coverage discovery platform for our

retail agents, offering some differentiating capabilities we don’t see with other platforms.

I’m proud of what we achieved in a short time frame. It’s a testament to the impressive development team we have invested in and I’m excited to see what they build next!”

On a more personal level, Parsons takes an almost reverent approach to the pace at which technology is enabling things to happen in insurtech. “The insurance industry is adopting technology at an ever-faster rate. I am excited to see how advances in machine learning, natural language processing, speech recognition, and image recognition will create a paradigm shift in how insurance is placed and serviced.”

He adds, “With these rapid advances in technology, the limiting factor for industry advancement increasingly becomes our own imagination!”

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EVENT REVIEW

The Ultimate FINTECH & InsurTech

LIVE EVENT FinTech & InsurTech Live, the industry’s ultimate event, launched last month alongside it's celebration of the Top 100 Leaders in the FinTech and InsurTech industry WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

T

he FinTech & InsurTech Live event in London brought together an outstanding lineup of speakers.

Senior decision-makers from the industry discussed cutting-edge developments in the fields of finance and insurance. Below is a summary of insights from the event.

Day One The first day started with an introduction from the moderator Scott Birch, Editorial Director at BizClik Media Group. Then brothers Gabino and Stephen Roche, founders of Saphyre, took the stage to share inspirational stories from the fintech industry and discuss the benefits of using AI to structure data. Gabino also shared his views on the regulatory landscape,

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“ Finance is overly regulated, and regulators are motivated by creating more rules.

Some of those rules are outdated, or they mean well but cause unintended consequences” GABINO AND STEPHEN ROCHE, FOUNDERS OF SAPHYRE

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"Finance is overly regulated, and regulators are motivated by creating more rules. Some of those rules are outdated, or they mean well but cause unintended consequences."

The conversation shifted to the power of integrated communications when Sohail Raja, Chief Digital of Societe Generale, gave her talk. Stephen Dury, Vice President of Capgemini, followed with a new perspective on banking. Then Luke Manning, Head of Sustainability at the London Stock Exchange, shared insights into the direct impacts of climate change.

EVENT REVIEW

the risks and present-day applications of artificial intelligence. "AI raises other ethical challenges. Risk profiling may become ethically questionable and result in financial exclusion for some people."

Parul Kaul Green, Chief of Staff at AXA, started the following talk by describing how advancements in digitalisation could improve insurance-related services.

Following the morning's networking session, Scott Abrahams, Senior Vice President of Mastercard, shared his views on the future of payments. After that, John Duigenan, Global CTO for Banking and Financial Markets at IBM, talked about why big data is crucial for creating universal connectedness.

Key trends in sustainability The first panel covered the significance of integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals into business, followed by a second panel about diversity. The next speaker, Madeline Bailey, Co-Head of Technology Consulting at Norton Rose Fulbright, continued the same theme by addressing the human side of change innovation.

Kate Rosenshine, Global Technology Lead at Microsoft, followed with a talk on the importance of breaking barriers for women.

The day concluded with a panel continuing the topic of women and diversity in tech.

On this topic, Kate added, "It's a lot more challenging on the brain to get along with people that have a different communication style, background, or skill set, but in the end, that collaboration brings better results."

Day Two The second day began with a presentation

by Tangy Morgan, Senior Advisor to the Bank of England. She shared insights on

Improving customer experience The conversation moved to cover the rise of fintech when Gareth Wilson, Vice President of Banking and Capital Markets at Capgemini, delivered his session. "Avoid the temptation to copy. Work and drive your own niche."

Following the lunch break, a panel discussed the need for insurers to improve customer experience and trust. Then Alistair Fraser, CEO of Marsh, spoke on the future of leadership. The audience also heard insurtechdigital.com

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from Mark Mamone, Group CIO of GBG, who shared insights into using identity management to build trust. Day two closed with an all-rounded panel discussion on financial services.

Day Three The final day was an online-only event, which started with a presentation on sustainable development by Javette Hines, Global Head of Supply Chain Management at Citi.

The morning continued with a presentation on cultivating inventive ideas by Ben Maxim, Vice President of Digital Strategy and Innovation at MSU Federal Credit Union. Mike Massaro, CEO of Flywire, followed with a talk on scaling up and his company’s IPO. He also emphasised the need to "tell the story to a new set of investors."

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“ I want to take that diversity further than just gender and go to the heart of what I believe is really missing from the financial services space” SHAN MILLIE

BRIGHT BLUE HARE

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“ We must always be on top of the fact that fintechs bring challenge, innovation, and creativity to some of the biggest problems faced by the sector” STEPHEN DURY CAPGEMINI

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“ AI raises other ethical challenges.

Risk profiling may become ethically questionable and result in financial exclusion for some people” TANGY MORGAN

SENIOR ADVISOR, BANK OF ENGLAND

Going high-tech The next webinar was about turbocharging innovation by Likhit Wagle, General Manager at IBM. Day three concluded by outlining the importance of using a modern cloud data stack for business intelligence with Steven Mayotte, CIO of Payomatic.

The most common theme throughout the event was the need to accelerate technological change. However, the speakers also emphasised the need to modernise regulations. All in all, the FinTech & InsureTech Live event was a great opportunity for people to network and learn about the technologies shaping the future of the industry.

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HOME RUN: INSURTECH AND THE REMOTE WORKFORCE Working from home has had a unique impact on all industries – not least the insurtech sector. But is it time to get back to the office?

WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

“ Participants agreed that they are able to work remotely now, but they questioned whether they are positioned to work well remotely” JEANA MUÑOZ AND JIM BRAMBLET, ACCENTURE

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W

hen the 2020 global directive to ‘work from home’ was issued in the spring of 2020, many industries struggled with the concept.

Most sectors require a minimum number of staff members on the ground to operate efficiently. Some even need all hands on deck, regardless of a pandemic.

In industries that affect supply chains, the location-based staff makes up the majority of the workforce. While those in administrational roles could happily swap the corporate office for the home one, entire fleets of drivers, for example, and warehouse operators, were deemed essential workers and stuck to their posts.

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However, in an environment like insurance, the requirements aren’t quite so hard and fast. And for companies like insurtechs that have been built with digital transformation in mind, the work from home directive has been an interesting test ground for studies on worker productivity in the home environment.

Productivity and working from home For example, a recent McKinsey Global Institute analysis on the long term effects on productivity from remote work found that well educated, highly skilled staff in the insurance industry (and a handful of other sectors as well) were able to work just as productively – if not more so when they spent three or more days in their home offices per week.

McKinsey’s data took into account more than 2,000 activities across 800 sectors and discovered that insurtech and fintech respectively, scored exceptionally well in terms of minimal loss of productivity.

“ Being office-centric supports our value of ‘keep getting better’, by learning fast from each other in realtime feedback” HELEN HODGES URBAN JUNGLE

However, working from home isn’t just about productivity levels. Employee satisfaction has also been affected by the change, with many workers citing a strong preference for the home office environment, saying it provides a better work-life balance. Recently, a survey by the industry giant Accenture, revealed that 25% of insurtech employees would opt to work from home full time if it was offered.

But, a conclusive 72% said they would prefer a hybrid working environment, with two days a week or less in the office, which would allow them to connect with their colleagues personally, but would also provide them with a better work-life insurtechdigital.com

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Insurtech WFH challenges Lack of connection with the customer: Companies that operate best through having a strong interpersonal customer relationship have found WFH more challenging in terms of explaining new products and services.

Suffering sales: Some sales teams have stated that because insurance is an intangible product, it needs a human face. This has been limited during the pandemic, and then has been reflected in falling sales.

Data protection difficulties: The more staff that work remotely, the greater the chance of a data breach, simply because more devices are being connected to the company networks. This has proven challenging for many insurance companies.

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balance. Tellingly, just 6% of those surveyed said they were keen to go back to the office full time.

Onboarding and a growing team Another challenging aspect for the insurtech space is the onboarding process that has by necessity, taken place from a distance. Most successful companies in the space are hiring at a rate of knots to cover the demand for their services, products, and expansion plans as the insurtech growth spurt continues its upward trajectory.

This, says Helen Hodges, Chief of Staff and Operations at the London-based Insurtech Urban Jungle, has been one of the trickiest

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

believe their teams can be more creative and decisive when physically present in the office.

She explains, “Urban Jungle’s operating model has always been deliberately different to traditional insurers; we're 100% paperfree and have built our business operations and customer-facing business online, so in many ways, we weren't operationally impacted from shifting where our desks were located.

“From a product perspective, we have continued to make our products better based on customer feedback in exactly the same way we would have done if we were all in the office.”

However, the cultural shift caused by working remotely is not something the insurtech will continue with long term.

Hodges says, “What is different for us is the impact that working remotely and recently in a hybrid mode has had on culture and how we work together. We value being transparent and by doing that we make a lot

areas to navigate. “What we have found overall is that onboarding to our rapidly growing team has been more challenging remotely and sharing fast feedback and coaching opportunities has been limited by being remote.

“We believe that being office-centric supports our value of ‘keep getting better,’ by learning fast from each other in realtime feedback.”

Urban Jungle’s decision to remain an office-centric company, despite data suggesting most workers would prefer a hybrid solution, is not a decision based on the insurtech’s operation abilities. Rather, the company made the call because they

“ We value being transparent and by doing that we make a lot of business decisions (which can be made) in an open office environment” HELEN HODGES URBAN JUNGLE

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“ They have futureproofed their business and made sure that they are ready to welcome the workplace of tomorrow” STEVE RAFFERTY RINGCENTRAL

of business decisions (which can be made) in an open office environment.

“During the time we were working from home we trialled a lot of different techniques to allow this to continue. For example, open 1:1 meetings with the CEO and the senior leadership team which anyone could join and listen to the decisions being made.”

Is remote working sustainable long term?

Probably not, say Jeana Muñoz, MD of Insurance consulting, and Jim Bramblet, MD Insurance Lead, North America, for Accenture, co-authors of the recent study.

They believe their findings reflect the general opinion that although insurtechs can function remotely, and effectively, it’s not a sustainable solution long-term.

Bramblet and Muñoz write, “Participants agreed that they are able to work remotely now, but they questioned whether they are positioned to work well remotely.

Further, although productivity and/or efficiency seem to be increasing in the new environment, emerging human capital trends indicate these gains may be coming at a cost.”

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They conclude, “If you asked us today if remote work is sustainable, we would have to say, “No.” Now is not the time to be complacent. Insurers wanting to boost workforce morale and build a competitive advantage to ensure future success have work to do.”

Steve Rafferty, Country Manager, UK & Ireland at RingCentral, believes the hybrid working environment is here to stay because insurance companies have embraced a new and adaptive approach to work. “When I've spoken with our customers in the insurance industry, such as The Ardonagh Group for example, it's clear that they have managed to navigate the challenges of remote working to the extent that they are fully operational for both employees and clients.

He says intelligent communication and workflow tools can power seamless and effective collaboration experiences across businesses. With the right tools, workforces no longer need to exist in one place.

Digital cloud based communication systems unify remote and onsite teams and employees, wherever they’re based recent research around insurance agencies for example, found that nearly two-thirds of agency employees would like a mix of at-home and office working going forward.

“It’s not really that surprising when you consider how the insurance industry has adapted and the technology innovations that are currently available which enable a hybrid approach to work and maintain human connections,” Rafferty says.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

environment, or get back to work full time.

However, 2022 will be an interesting testing ground as the mandated work-from-home directive becomes a preferential one for the insurtech space.

Hodges says, “Whilst it's been possible to continue working in a remote and latterly hybrid model at Urban Jungle, we plan to get the team back in the office as soon and as safely as we can. We know that people can work efficiently and effectively in different places, and have always had a ‘grown-up’ approach to flexible working.”

She adds, “We look for impact and outcomes and think that we work best as a company in office due to; it helps everyone learn fast, decisions can be made quickly, it helps us be transparent in our decision making and last of all we’re all sociable and we have fun together while doing it.”

Insurtech WFH benefits Broader spectrum of recruitment: While onboarding has its challenges, the opportunities to employ people remotely from globe wide locations provides companies with better hiring capabilities.

“For the companies in the insurance sector that have invested in and embraced these tools, they have future-proofed their business and made sure that they are ready to welcome the workplace of tomorrow.

Their hard work over the last two years will not be undone and could improve their competitive edge.”

A matter of preference?

Ultimately, the decision comes down to cultural preference as individual companies take the plunge into a new and hybrid work

Better productivity: Most studies carried out have shown that employee productivity levels increased when they worked remotely, and that the WFH environment did not impact business success or growth.

Happier staff: Employees that are more content have a longer shelf life with a company, learning and growing with it.

Flexibility in terms of working locations has been universally accepted as a positive move in the business world. insurtechdigital.com

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FROM INSURANCE TO RESILIENCE WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

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Dominique Roudaut, chief strategy, partnership and innovation officer of Hannover Re, explains the reinsurer’s role as an ecosystem orchestrator

I

n 2019, Hannover Re launched their Asian frequent engagement. The traditional Growth Initiative. The company’s objective insurance model where insureds pay a was to expand its footprint in Asia with an premium once a year and eventually get the innovative approach, including expanding benefit of it the day a claim occurs has proved in Personal Lines. The motivation behind short, simply because it fails to engage with the move was client-centric, targeting endthe customer. users through expanding on With client-centricity existing partnerships with presenting as a core value “WE CAN ALSO insurance companies. of the company, embracing ASSIST INSURERS It resulted in Hannover change became essential in WITH ASSESSING Re Personal Lines launching future proofing Hannover AND SETTLING 20 product innovations over Re’s plans.

CLAIMS WITHIN the past 10 months with as “We want our insureds MINUTES WITH A many partners. to get something out of DIGITAL FNOL USING insurance every day with Dominique Roudaut, chief THE SMARTPHONE partnership and innovation prevention services and officer of Hannover Re relevant information, CAMERA OF AN Malaysian Branch, covering educating and empowering INSURED” Asia excluding China and them to change their AnZ, explains, “Hannover Re behaviour”, Roudaut says.

DOMINIQUE ROUDAUT clearly distinguishes its effort The insurance company CHIEF STRATEGY, PARTNERSHIP, AND INNOVATION OFFICER, between enhancing insurer’s has designed its engagement HANNOVER RE services for end-users, in a way deemed valuable solutions for insurance company portfolios, and relevant enough to not need additional and strategy enablement for distribution”. rewards and incentives. However, in some “We provide resilience for end-users; markets there have been tweaks to the format customer-centricity, efficiency, and to provide this appreciated value, nudging relevance for insurers, as well as pointed further behavioural change. solutions for distributors, to better enable In the process, Hannover Re has aspects of their strategy.” evolved from a pure-play reinsurer into an ecosystem orchestrator and integrator. In End user-centric services the process we have evaluated over 700 According to Roudaut, Hannover Re’s services insurtechs and have engaged over 30% of for end-users are geared towards generating these potential partners around specific use insurtechdigital.com

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Hannover Re Corporate clip

cases for each ecosystem focused on:

“HANNOVER RE’S ECOSYSTEM PARTNER CAN ALSO CONTACT ANY SOCIAL MEDIA TO TAKE DOWN AN OFFENSIVE POST”

another 400 passengers because a flight has been canceled”.

• Lifestyle “The Hannover Re • Travel team recognised the • Health and wellbeing experience of flight • Consumption disruption could be • Mobility improved for passengers.

Instead of queuing, our Personalised services customers get notified of that address real needs any disruptions by SMS Training and supporting within two minutes of employees have played a the event. And receive DOMINIQUE ROUDAUT major part in the shift too. a call within 15 minutes CHIEF STRATEGY, PARTNERSHIP, AND INNOVATION OFFICER, Hannover Re prioritises from our team, getting HANNOVER RE training their teams in them lounge access, seat Design Thinking, which, says Roudaut, has availability on the next flight, or overnight stay allowed the company to better address the at the airport hotel. cultural shift required by its user-centric “There is no paperwork to wade through for approach. claims and the disruptions are automatically He explains, “Travel is a good example. As dealt with from that moment on. We have travelers, we have all experienced having to a similarly inspired solution for luggage, queue at an airline desk for two hours with enhancing further the resilience we aim for.”

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The goal is to tailor insurance to fit into the insured lifestyle – rather than an insured having to change its agenda around insurance and life events.

As an ecosystem orchestrator, Hannover Re, identifies, compares, and selects relevant potential partners with our insurance company clients and chooses the preferred ones with whom it can synergise and co-design a solution to the problem identified, as defined by end-users.

TITLE: CHIEF STRATEGY, PARTNERSHIP, AND INNOVATION OFFICER INDUSTRY: REINSURANCE LOCATION: LONDON C suite at the crux of customer centricity, insurance innovation and digital distribution with 20 years of P&L leadership, strategic, innovation, transformation, digital, ecosystem, product and underwriting experience at a country, regional and global level.

From vision to execution transformation of culture, processes and organisation across multiple countries to be more efficient (transformation) and relevant (innovation) in order to achieve P&L targets. Lead relationships and client negotiations for large, sensitive and complex deals. Influence stakeholders at every level in a matrix environment.

Customer experience advocate and customer centric insight (anthropologist, design thinker, disruptive strategist) leading to contextually design awarded and patented insurance products and services delivered through a relevant customer journey and experience.

EXECUTIVE BIO

Cyber crisis prevention and assistance In the current climate, cyber-attacks are devastating and user priorities are usually prevention, crisis assistance, and then insurance. Hannover Re provides prevention services together with its select ecosystem partner via an application that checks the vulnerability of customer mobile phones or computers.

The solution comes complete with a dashboard to monitor the security score in real-time. Every vulnerability comes with an action plan to address it and improve the resilience score.

Roudaut says ease of use is paramount in encouraging adoption if the action plan is too cumbersome for a user to implement, Hannover Re has a hotline that remotely addresses what needs to be done on a customer’s device to improve their resilience to cyber risks. If a claim then occurs, the service provides swift and streamlined crisis management.

“Hannover Re’s ecosystem partner can also contact any social media to take down an offensive post. This is often far more urgent than paying a lump sum for psychological assistance, which is also covered under the insurance.

“The cyber solution product can also connect with social media platforms to

DOMINIQUE ROUDAUT

Digital strategy vision and implementation, notably in frontier markets, encompassing ethnographic insight leading to design products & services, customer journey, UI/UX, building an ecosystem with digital partners, along with underwriting and insurance operations expertise for front and back office and navigating the regulatory field.

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to inform, educate, empower and prevent,” says Roudaut.

re-enact a hacked account, instead of the insured having to re-create one from scratch.”

Thanks to data collected through the prevention service, Hannover Re can even re-create the telematics of cyber. This ensures the products also have a fair market price to all insured because each policy can be based on an individual risk profile.

“The solution enables us to engage specifically with some personas and market segments with specific communication relevant to them and their cyber exposure

“ WE DO NOT POSITION OUR SOLUTIONS AS A SOURCE OF ANCILLARY REVENUE. RATHER, THEY ARE CORE TO FULFILLING THE STRATEGY OF A DIRECT DISTRIBUTOR” DOMINIQUE ROUDAUT

CHIEF STRATEGY, PARTNERSHIP, AND INNOVATION OFFICER, HANNOVER RE

A scientific approach to healthcare services Medical research indicates that those with the best prognosis are the ones with the best support system.

Hannover Re deliberately sought out an ecosystem partner that could recreate such a support system with an app and coach service as part of their Critical Illness insurance cover.

The cancer support system helps insured to document how they feel, write a journal, track their symptoms, and receive educational content on their condition and treatment to better alleviate its consequences. These include tips on sleep or nutrition.

The app provides them with a connected community of real people who are going through similar experiences. The support system also offers unlimited access via video, chat, SMS, voice call to a certified health coach who can accompany the insured further.

Providing patients with support during their illness and treatment regimen is also essential, says Roudaut. “These solutions help the insured become active in their treatment journeys because they are empowered with the right support and information instead of being corralled on the conveyor belt of white blouses.”

He continues, “The same thought process led Hannover Re to also deploy early detection and cognitive training as a way to prevent Alzheimer’s disease available via an app and to deploy mental health coaching designed to create a new positive habit within a 16-week programme based on what the insured wants to improve also app and coach driven.”

Global leader in internet disruption solutions Stability of service since the global digital transformation has become essential for insurtechdigital.com

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companies worldwide. Hannover Re recently launched an unprecedented solution with their ecosystem partner Riskwolf to insure internet outages via an index, 1st for consumers.

A growing number of countries have enshrined access to high-speed internet as a fundamental right. “Outages are well documented and nothing is currently being done about it,” says Roudaut. He points out that while insurance can’t fix a network failure, end users can at least receive an indemnity for it. “Together with Riskwolf, Hannover Re is working towards further outage insurance iterations for the digital economy and SMEs.” The goal is to deliver solutions to direct distributors that help them fulfill their strategy, be it market differentiation, retention, growing some market segment, building trust with their merchants and clients, or becoming more environmentally friendly.

“We do not position our solutions as a source of ancillary revenue. Rather, they are core to fulfilling the strategy of our clients , those who are the product distributor.”

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User centricity also requires IT capabilities in order to deliver the entire insurance journey on a mobile phone. Roudaut explains that Hannover Re clients are not only insurance companies. They are also to assist the direct distribution clients such as MNO, MMO, Banks, retailers, and eCommerce companies who work with our insurance clients. He says, “Ecosystem partnerships effectively digitises the entire insurance journey through a mobile phone, a feature appreciated by our MNO and SME clients notably.”

Insurer centric solutions: Motor insurance Hannover Re offers a Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard to insurance companies to monitor and pilot their portfolio performance.

This provides a user-friendly interface between the customer and service provider.

According to Roudaut, the more details the customer can share with us, the better our insights are. The business visualisation tool enables insurance clients to better assess performance on top-line (distribution, market segment, geography, personas, demographics, age, make, model, etc.) and bottom line (granular LR and CR on every possible micro-segment).

The next stage is the analysis of the portfolios – for trends and performance metrics. Microsegmentation for propensity and sensitivity analysis can be deployed for more accurate price points per personas, distribution segments, demographics. The aim is to increase margin and market share where it is possible and where it makes sense. “Our approach has yielded a minimum of a two percentage point improvement of the client’s combined ratio and a double-digit increase in conversion rates and top-line growth.”

The third essential ingredient is innovation.

Roudaut points out that the process is key.

“As ethnographers we have defined the use insurtechdigital.com

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case for end-users. The Job to Get Done is not insurance but how to get from A to B in a safe and engaging manner,” he says.

“As ecosystem orchestrators, we have scouted, compared, and selected the best telematics, engagement, claims, smart city, mobility as a service company, and environmental impact measure and offset to integrate into our offering.”

As such Hannover Re strives to offer insurance partners a turnkey pay-as-youdrive solution that is precise enough to be relevant, engaging enough to drive consumer behaviour. The Hannover Re solution favours neither the car nor the driver. Rather, it is mobility-centric.

Sustainability and green providers Sustainability is high on Hannover Re’s

agenda. The company’s mobility solution empowers customers to define their journey by combining public and private modes of transportation. It helps end-users, insurers, and the planet Roudaut adds, “We also launched a solution enabling users to measure and offset any purchase made online through an eCommerce platform. It tends to increase conversion rates while internalising the cost of production, packaging, and shipping on the environment.”

Optimisation for sales and claims Hannover Re’s innovations have been pivoted towards sales and claims optimisation to better improve customer centricity while alleviating pressure on the Loss Ratio and streamline insurance back-office operations. insurtechdigital.com

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“WE PROVIDE RESILIENCE FOR END-USERS; CUSTOMERCENTRICITY, EFFICIENCY, AND RELEVANCE FOR INSURERS, AS WELL AS POINTED SOLUTIONS FOR DISTRIBUTORS, TO BETTER ENABLE ASPECTS OF THEIR STRATEGY” DOMINIQUE ROUDAUT

CHIEF STRATEGY, PARTNERSHIP, AND INNOVATION OFFICER, HANNOVER RE

The company’s solutions for claims revolve around fraud and First Notice of Loss with different partners for every ambition and every budget.

An innovative way to assess fraud and adjudicate claims is a triage mechanism for high volume low value claims powered

by Clearspeed recycling and improving on a technology – notably used by defense forces in war zones to for instance hire local resources and better distinguish between an earnest translator and a potential suicide bomber. This solution improves user centricity by adjudicating volume claims quickly while still protecting the balance sheet zooming on red flag cases.

“We can also assist insurers with assessing and settling claims within minutes with a digital FNOL using the smartphone camera of an insured,” says Roudaut.

Hannover Re’s approach to innovation combines: • Reinsurance • Reassurance, where Hannover Re accompany (reassure) our insurance clients with their customer-centric, change management, and innovation journey • Ethnographic insight and data analytics • Ecosystem orchestration, integration, and facilitation for deployment Ultimately, putting the customer at the heart of the process and taking a holistic approach to business, is paying off for Hannover Re. From providing swift and essential support services to paying attention to sustainable solutions, the company is future-proofing against the changes sweeping the industry globally.

Roudaut adds, “We deliver resilience, not merely insurance. We craft experiences from A to Z.”

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TOP 10

BIGGEST FUNDING ROUNDS WRITTEN BY: JOANNA ENGLAND

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As insurtechs prove they are a force to be reckoned with, investors stake their claim in the growing sector

I

nsurtechs are leading innovation in the insurance industry, through technology, customer services, and variation. In fact, The global insurtech market will be worth $119.4bn by 2027 according to research by the market research company, Valuates Reports. Data from the survey, which looks at predicted trends from 2021 to 2027, shows the insurtech sector is growing at a CAGR of 34.4%. We take a look at the biggest funding rounds in insurtech in 2021.

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09

Branch Insurance

10 Akur8

Raised: US$30mn Leading participants: BlackFin Capital Partners Headquartered in France, Akur8 is an insurtech that specialises in AI pricing solutions for the insurance industry. The platform automates risk modelling and optimises prices for insurance companies while keeping full transparency and control on the models created, as required by regulators worldwide.

Raised: U S$50mn in a Series B round Leading participants: Anthemis Group

Founded in 2017, Branch Insurance is based in Ohio and prides itself on providing affordable insurance for all. Branch uses innovative technology and bundles Home and Auto Insurance together in coverage packages. Unlike other insurance companies, Branch underwrites policies through Branch Insurance Exchange - its reciprocal insurance exchange.

This means the insurtech is able to eliminate overhead costs and pass savings along to its members.

08

Tractable

Raised: U S$60mn in a Series D round Leading participants: Insight Partners As one of the leading service providers for P&C insurers, fleet operators, and manufacturers globally, Tractable’s products apply artificial intelligence to photos and video, by creating fast and accurate assessments of claims. The technology can also triage cases, generating instant estimates at the first notice of loss (FNOL), using customer photos. The company recently partnered with Graphcore to accelerate the use of AI in accident and disaster recovery.

07 Jerry

Raised: U S$75mn in a Series C round Leading participants: Goodwater Capital Although primarily invested in the car ownership market, Jerry also offered digital insurance products.

Described as a “mobile-first car ownership super app” Jerry was launched in 2019 providing an AI- and machine-learning based car insurance comparison service.

The company currently provides services for an estimated one million US customers and has been lauded by its user base for offering a swift and efficient service.

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06

Marshmallow

Raised: U S$85mn in a Series B round Leading participants: Undisclosed The UK-based insurtech Marshmallow launched by twins Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham and David Goates, announced the results of its groundbreaking funding round in September. The startup insurtech, which provides a fresh approach to car insurance, has also claimed unicorn status and has a valuation of US$1.25bn as a result of the fresh investment.

05

Embroker

Raised: US$100mn Leading participants: FTV Capital Launched in 2015, Embroker describes itself as an “intelligent insurance platform that makes it easy for businesses to get tailored insurance at the best price.” Based in San Francisco, the insurtech has raised more than $140mn to date through funding rounds and has an impressive number of fintech investors. In 2016, the company became the first insurtech globally that enables businesses to apply for all types of commercial insurance online and manage their policies through a modern cloudbased portal.

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TOP 10

04 Insurify

Raised: U S$100mn in a Series B round Leading participants: Motive Partners Founded in 2013, Insurify is an American insurance comparison shopping website headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The insurtech has experienced impressive growth, seeing it's a new and recurring revenue increasing six-fold since it closed its Series A funding in the 2019 fourth quarter. Since 2019, Insurify has achieved a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 151%, according to co-founder and CEO Snejina Zacharia.

03

Guideline

Raised: U S$200mn in a Series E round Leading participants: General Atlantic, Generation Investment Management, Propel Ventures The leading retirement insurance provider for SMEs in the US, the California-based insurtech was founded in 2015 by Jeremy Caballero, Kevin Busque, and Mike Nelson. Guideline provides an all-inclusive 401(k) technology designed for growing businesses.

The company manages all plan administration, including set-up, participant enrollment and education, recordkeeping, investment management, compliance, and reporting.

02

TOP 10

Bought By Many

Raised: U S$350mn in a Series D round Leading participants: EQT Growth, Munich Re Ventures, Octopus Ventures,

Founded in 2012 by Steven Mendel and Guy Farley, Bought By Many was initially a marketplace service finding quotes for niche cover. In 2017, the company diversified into pet insurance, launching their own branded policies, underwritten by Great Lakes Insurance, a part of Munich Re. When the pet market in the UK boomed during 2020, Bought By Many was already leading the pack as the first digital-first pet insurance provider in the UK and Europe.

The company now has a pre-money valuation exceeding $2bn.

Co-founder Steve Mendel, “The most frequent question I am asked is ‘When is your IPO?’ My answer is clear. We have too much to do right now to be able to find the time for that.”

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Hair

TOP 10

wefox

Raised: U S$650mn in a Series C round in June 2021 Leading participants: Target Global, Gsquared, OMERS Ventures

“ Now we have a great opportunity to strengthen our business in partnership with our new investors, which is part of our strategic plan for further global expansion” - Julian Teicke

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November 2021

This dynamic, full-stack, and global leading insurtech broke the world record for the biggest funding round ever achieved by an insurtech. Led

by CEO Julian Teicke, WeFox, which is based in Berlin and is the biggest insurtech in Europe, is moving from strength to strength. Just weeks after breaking the funding round record, the company went on the list publicly and promptly made every staff member a shareholder in the company.

TOP 10

Wefox CEO Julian Teicke on CGTN Europe on June 1st 2021

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RINGLER

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November 2021

RINGLER

Winning IT formula

for the future

WRITTEN BY: JANET BRICE

PRODUCED BY: JAKE MEGEARY

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RINGLER

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November 2021

RINGLER

Innovative IT strategy for Ringler the largest US settlement planning company who has put the customer first for 45 years - will ensure “Everybody Wins”

Butch Knowlton, Executive Vice President & CIO

B

ridging the gap between business and technology is Butch Knowlton, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Ringler - the oldest structured settlement planning company in the US. For more than 45 years it has designed hundreds of thousands of settlement plans with premiums in excess of US$3bn.

Stepping into his role at Ringler, Knowlton is driving innovation by leading the digital journey to expand its competitive edge and create additional value for clients. “We are working towards innovations that will be more scalable, more secure, will deliver strong analytics, and will have greater integration capabilities.”

Ringler is renowned for its message “Everybody Wins,” highlighting a tradition of helping clients succeed at the settlement table by providing products and services that create the best settlement solution for all parties involved. The team of 150 structured settlement consultants work in 65 offices nationwide to collaborate and design the best settlement plan for injured people, attorneys, and insurance professionals.

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RINGLER

Ringler: Winning IT formula for the future

With previous career expertise in managing virtual teams at Aon Hewitt, the fact that Knowlton joined Ringler at the height of the pandemic wasn’t ever a concern. From his office in Powell, Ohio, he was able to quickly be up and running, hiring seven new staff members, and overseeing a US$3mn IT budget with the goal of accelerating Ringler’s digital transformation.

Curve of the digital journey “We are on the curve of a digital transformation which is the foundation to accelerate innovative products and services,” said Knowlton who points out that during the pandemic, Ringler focussed on digital housekeeping, comparing it to a spring clean. “At a time when business was slow we focused on our internal security data and technology. This is testament to our Board of Directors and our CEO who chose to make investments internally to support our continued path of growth and innovation.”

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Knowlton’s long-term digital strategy for Ringler includes: • Cloud adoption - which will allow for scalability • Digital Application Sales Hub (DASH) • Creatio CRM • Focus on cybersecurity and zero trust • Data-analytics to drive future decisions internally and for our clients • Voice of the Customer • Artificial Intelligence

“ Today’s business solutions end up being a technology solution” BUTCH KNOWLTON

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, RINGLER

RINGLER

“I’ve always been solution-focused, and my interest in technology has evolved over time. Today’s business solutions often end up having a technology component.

Although I’ve never coded, I’m able to bridge the gap between business and IT and I’m a strong advocate for integrated IT-business partnerships.”

By thoroughly understanding business strategy, Knowlton is able to be agile in his approach and pivot technology to match Ringler’s business goals. “For an IT organisation to be successful you have to understand the business goals and show your peers how technology can be enabled. Success comes from understanding and using the technological tools available. As CIO I manage a myriad of pieces to support the business. When technology dictates to the business or hamstrings goals, this is where you have a lot more difficulty in delivering strategy,” said Knowlton.

Ringer helps to bridge the settlement process to create the best outcome for all parties involved, with the main focus on the injured party. Our consultants look to provide the best solution to ensure the injured party has the funds they need, now and in the future. “Our company values are woven into every settlement we create and is the heart of what we do,” said Knowlton.

TITLE: EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CIO INDUSTRY: INSURANCE LOCATION: COLUMBUS, OHIO As Chief Information Officer for Ringler, Butch Knowlton is responsible for setting and overseeing the strategy for the data and technology and for defining how Ringler manages information across the organisation.

As a senior strategist and IT architect, he plays a key role in helping Ringler expand its competitive advantage to serve its clients and improve profitability.

During his accomplished 30-year career, Knowlton has navigated that unique space between business and technology – sometimes steering toward business roles, sometimes more focused on IT.

EXECUTIVE BIO

Scalability offered by cloud Knowlton highlighted how he has overcome legacy architecture and why he has prioritised cloud services (Microsoft Azure’s cloud computing platform) for Ringler’s digital journey. “We're in a heavily regulated space and have security requirements that we need to meet for different state requirements, federal requirements, as well as client expectations.

BUTCH KNOWLTON

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WHAT IS A STRUCTURED SETTLEMENT?

“ For an organisation to be successful you have to understand the business goals, strategy and show your peers how technology can enable that” BUTCH KNOWLTON

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, RINGLER

DID YOU KNOW...

“As Ringler deals with multiple clients one of the things we're building out within Azure is an enterprise gateway so that we'll have a RESTful API architecture that allows us to quickly and easily integrate with any client that we may engage with.”

API architecture is the process of developing a software interface that exposes back end data and application functionality for use in new applications.

“When we think about the expectations of our clients and regulatory agencies, as well as where we need to go for innovation and scale, we felt the most economical and

At the heart of a Ringler settlement plan is an annuity which is a financial tool that provides a tax-free solution to maximize their settlement dollars and is exclusively for injured people called a “structured settlement.”

Instead of taking all of the money a client receives from a personal injury claim as one lump sum, they can choose to put some or all of that money into a structured settlement. Regular payments are then made over a specified period of time to match your future needs and goals. The financial advantages of a structured settlement are: • Guaranteed • Tax-free • Customised • No risk, no fees • Eligibility Structured settlements apply to a wide variety of injury cases regardless of how much money is involved.

Structured settlements are used for any personal injury claim including workers’ compensation or medical malpractice cases involving: • Long-term medical needs • Temporary or permanent disabilities • Minors or the mentally incompetent • Severe injuries that result in brain damage or shortened life expectancy • Surviving spouse and/or dependents The money can be distributed as future lump sums, over a set period of time; in level or increasing payments; or in some combination of these options.

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RINGLER

DID YOU KNOW...

HOW “EVERYBODY WINS” WITH RINGLER

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Objectivity combined with expertise, experience and a reputation for collaboration is how Ringler helps everybody win. Rather than representing the interests of just one party, Ringler is responsive to the needs of everyone involved in settlement negotiations.

• Attorneys - by providing them with the information and recommendations they require to analyse how a settlement plan and structured settlement will meet the needs of their client.

• Insurance professionals - in bridging the gap between a lump-sum offer and the need of the injured party for funds for future medical expenses.

• Injured people (and their loved ones), knowing a plan is in place that will provide future financial stability and peace-of-mind.

“We know every injury and every negotiation is different, which is why Ringler consultants specialise in designing custom settlement plans that explore all the options,” said Butch Knowlton, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Ringler.

November 2021

RINGLER

secure solution was in the cloud. In order to accomplish that plan, we had to update some ageing technology. We congegrated our data centres into one location, and in doing so, we addressed potential security risks and reduced our overall online footprint,” said Knowlton.

Ringler is now turning its focus to delivering a new proprietary application suite, DASH (Digital Application Sales Hub) which will combine their five currently used applications (an accounting app, two case management systems, and a proprietary quoting application) into one experience.

This new application will be used to support consultants, clients and internal employees.

“We know every injury and every negotiation is different, which is why Ringler consultants specialise in designing custom settlement plans that explore all the options.”

BUTCH KNOWLTON

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, RINGLER

“DASH allows us to put all five into one application experience. In order for us to be able to do that we are building everything in the cloud, within Azure This approach allows us to scale as necessary, manage our staffing costs, maintain best in class security and confidently interface with our many partners and clients. It enables our organisation to utlise modern technology - which was one of our goals,” comments Knowlton. insurtechdigital.com

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RINGLER

QUICK FIRE QUESTIONS...

Focus on cybersecurity To ensure sensitive data is protected, Ringler uses a virtual information security officer from All Covered, who offer a layered approach to security services.

“We consistently perform monthly vulnerability scans, periodic penetration testing, and 24/7 monitoring with SIEM and SOC services. But the biggest security threat we have is our people,” said Knowlton. “90% of security breaches come from an individual who has broken protocol like clicking on a phishing scam,” said Knowlton who points out they work with security education specialist KnowB4 to help train their team for spotting security threats. “Going forward, we will continue to focus on security awareness and following protocols.”

Butch Knowlton, Executive Vice President & Chief Information Officer of Ringler What technology trends do you see shaping the industry in the future?

“I think organisations who can make data-driven decisions and take advantage of the tools associated with that, will be the organisations still here in 10 years time.”

How effective are your podcasts on Ringler Radio for reaching out to your clients?

“Incredibly effective! With more than 10 years in the podcast space, we have created a terrific following. Our marketing strategy connects all of the tools to provide insights to our followers. Our new CRM capability is also focused on continuing to find new ways to share our podcasts and information provided in them.

Ringler Radio will help to create awareness about the structured settlement industry as this is quite a niche area and help our clients better understand the industry. “With our digital transformation, we now have more tools like podcasts that we can seamlessly incorporate into our marketing material to provide value to our clients,” said Knowlton.

RINGLER

“DASH allows us to put all five into one application experience. In order for us to be able to do that we are building everything in the cloud, within Azure This approach allows us to scale as necessary, manage our staffing costs, maintain best in class security and confidently interface with our many partners and clients” BUTCH KNOWLTON

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, RINGLER

Power of partnerships “The costs from a development and Ringler works with an ecosystem of partners new project perspective are substantially to ensure they offer the best service for their smaller because we're starting with a base customers. These include long-standing application capability. Creatio has bent partners Creatio, Microsoft, Ascydent (a over backwards to work with us on the Columbus-based consulting customisation. At the end partner), and All Covered of the day, we're able to STATISTICS (Ringler’s security partner). configure our outcomes.

Knowlton highlighted We have someone on our the fact that working with • 1975 the year Ringler team who has trained in Creatio gives Ringler a “lowas founded that Creatio space to allow code, no-code solution” • 65 offices us to really manipulate the that allows them to • 150 individual application in a supremely configure their CRM. “One settlement consultants unique way,” he said. of the challenges I have as • US$3mn budget for the Looking ahead, Knowlton CIO is the decision to build digital transformation said Ringler is focused or buy. Creatio has allowed • Hundreds of thousands on organic growth. “We us the happy medium of settlement plans with already own 33% of the between buy, or build and premiums in excess of market and our goal is come up with a solution $33 billion since 1975 always to improve that that allows the smooth • US$3MM investment in market share. We're always execution of our application technology transformation looking for opportunities suite,” said Knowlton. to improve our services “We ended up with a and customer experience proprietary solution for Ringler that isn't being and the work we are doing today is the replicated anywhere else, yet we were able foundation for future growth.” to use the out-of-the-box capability from Creatio to start us off and then configure toward where we wanted to go with our goals. insurtechdigital.com

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