Climate/Change/Sustainability/ESG
Executive Viewpoint: Reason Over Rhetoric - David A. Sampson, President and CEO, APCIA
Some environmental activists have turned to demanding insurers immediately stop underwriting and investing in fossil fuel projects, believing this will help solve climate change.
This is once again misleading and inaccurate—as a lack of insurer investments will not prevent projects utilizing oil and gas from moving forward, and renewable energy would not swiftly enough fill the gap. In fact, insurers’ role is essential as we transition to a lower carbon economy, including supporting risk mitigation and investing in and insuring climate and renewable energy technologies.
David A, Sampson, APCIA, President and CEO of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA).
Research
Vehicles most likely to be totaled in 2023
Slideshow: Vehicles most likely to be totaled in 2023
- No. 5: Ford Fusion - The Ford model was involved in 15,874 accidents in 2023, with 14.10% of the vehicles totaled.
- No. 4: Dodge Challenger- The Dodge coupe was involved in 4,125 accidents in 2023, with 14.20% of the vehicles totaled.
- No. 3: Chevrolet Silverado LD - The four-door pickup was involved in 5,314 accidents in 2023, with 14.50% of the vehicles totaled.
- No. 2: Ford Focus - The Ford compact car was involved in 13,289 accidents in 2023, with 14.50% of the vehicles totaled
- No. 1: Ford Mustang - The Ford legend was involved in 4,521 accidents in 2023, with 14.60% of the vehicles totaled.
Any non-driving activity behind the wheel is a potential distraction and increases the risk of crashing, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Distracted driving includes talking or texting on the phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in the vehicle, and working the stereo, entertainment or navigation system.
Joe Toppe
Commentary/Opinion
Crisis Averted? | Insurance Thought Leadership
The expected disaster in commercial real estate looks far more benign than expected for insurers, despite their $900 billion of exposure.
When I edited a magazine on digital innovation during the first internet boom, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, we had a motto: "Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, never in doubt."
In that spirit, I'm going to offer a judgment that goes against a lot of what I've seen in the press lately: I think the insurance industry will largely escape the crisis facing commercial real estate.
I realize that life insurers have $900 billion invested in loans for commercial real estate, or 17% of their investable assets, so they're not going to escape unscathed from the tumult that will play out for years, perhaps even a decade. But there are growing signs -- at least to my eye -- that they'll be able to avoid big losses to their portfolios.
I'll explain.
Paul Carroll, editor-in-chief, Insurance Thought Leadership
US manufacturers hit by soaring property insurance costs
James Kirsh expects the cost of the property and casualty insurance for his family-owned foundry in Wisconsin that makes cast iron parts for tractors and other equipment to at least double when it's up for renewal this fall.
He’s been told it could triple.
The problem is that his long-time insurer - Acuity - has told his insurance agent it no longer wants to cover factories like his, which handles molten metal. So they'll need to piece together coverage from multiple, higher-cost alternative providers.
"It’s a mess for the whole industry," said Kirsh, the company’s president.
A spokesperson for Acuity declined to respond to questions about its plans to stop providing insurance to the foundry industry.
The cost of insuring everything from homes to cars in the U.S. has surged in recent years, driven by factors including rising costs of car and home repairs and more storm damage amid climate change.
Auto insurance, for instance, has seen its biggest increases since the 1970s over the past year - and is even cited by economists as an outsized factor in the inflationary wave the Federal Reserve has fought to tame with interest rate hikes beginning in March 2022.
The Human Element of Claims Automation: Managing the intersection of technology and employee well-being
[Ed. Note: Important and insightful white paper]
Insurance is probably one of the most underappreciated and misunderstood industries, and its highly manual processes, which rely heavily on data and human capital, are being modernized significantly through the application of technology.
Insurance organizations boast a wealth of assets encompassing financial strength, strong branding, exceptional talent, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, and modern core systems to name a few. Yet among these assets, talent stands out as particularly unique. Employees bring a distinct set of skills, creativity, and expertise that is difficult to replicate.
Talent plays a pivotal role in providing customer empathy, innovation, problem-solving, and achieving the overall success of the organization.
Michael Anderson MBA, Guidewire Software and Steen Wung-Sung, Tryg.
Telematics, Driving & Insurance
A View Into the Future of Car Insurance: When Driver Scores Replace Credit Scores
Offering a view into the future of auto insurance, the leader of a mobility data and analytics firm said during a recent interview that he foresees a time when drivers will know their driving scores and proudly share them.
“I believe that in the future, people will be taking their great driving score and they’ll be shopping it around to insurance companies,” Gary Hallgren, president of Arity, told Carrier Management, drawing comparisons to the availability of credit scores.
Arity, a B2B company with a mission of making transportation safer, smarter and more economical, does not currently provide scores it develops based on the frequency of distracted driving, speeding, sudden breaking or time of travel directly to customers. Instead, it uses driving behavior data to power services promised by third-party apps like Life360, a family driving network, offering crash detection, and GasBuddy, offering personalized features to optimize fuel consumption and map out efficient driving routes based on past driving behavior. Arity also delivers driving data insights and actual driving scores, derived from a customer’s actual driving data, to insurance companies under certain conditions.
Susanne Sclafane, Executive Editor, Wells Media Group
A Telematics Future: Don’t Forget Insurance Agents
During a recent interview, Matteo Carbone, director of the IoT Insurance Observatory, described a new set of approaches, modeled on the success of South African insurer Discovery, which U.S. auto insurers should consider adopting for their telematics programs.
Referring to them as “friendly approaches,” Carbone advocates a system of mea
Susanne Sclafane, Executive Editor, Wells Media Group Inc.
AI in Insurance
Insurance industry lags in GenAI adoption, says BCG
According to a recent report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the insurance industry is lagging behind other sectors in adopting generative AI (GenAI), with 40% of insurance companies showing minimal or no use of this technology.
The report includes a GenAI maturity index to evaluate company adoption levels. Based on their implementation across ten business functions, companies were categorised into four groups: little to no adoption, low maturity, mid maturity, and high maturity.
Tech companies are leading, with 62% classified as mid or high maturity. Banking, retail, industrial goods, and healthcare follow, with 32% to 39% of companies reaching similar levels. In contrast, industries like energy, travel and tourism, and insurance are trailing, with at least 40% of companies in each showing little to no adoption of GenAI.
Although BCG’s analysis shows that the insurance sector is behind other sectors when it comes to GenAI adoption, the technology is expected to have an impact on numerous parts of the industry. A recent poll by Reinsurance News found that re/insurance market participants expect AI to have the biggest impact in risk modelling and analysis.
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Houlihan Lokey Announces $180-Million Acquisition of Waller Helms Advisors
Los Angeles-based investment banking and advisory firm Houlihan Lokey Inc. announced a $180-million acquisition of Chicago-based Waller Helms Advisors on August 6.
Los Angeles-based investment banking and advisory firm Houlihan Lokey Inc. announced a $180-million acquisition of Chicago-based Waller Helms Advisors on August 6.
According to data from LSEG, the new combined group ranks as the top global advisor for M&A transactions for 2023 in the insurance sector, the asset management sector (including wealth management) and the financial services sector (excluding depositories).
Founded in 2014, Waller Helms advises clients on mergers and acquisitions, private capital raising and valuation services. Many of its clients are in the insurance and wealth management industries. It has advised on more than 230 transactions with an aggregate value of over $40 billion over the past decade and has offices in Chicago, New York, Miami and the Atlanta metropolitan area.
The acquisition will add Waller Helms’ nearly 50 financial professionals to Houlihan Lokey’s financial services group. James Anderson, chief executive of Waller Helms, will join as a managing director and global co-head of the financial services group alongside Houlihan Lokey’s Jeffrey Levine. In addition, Waller Helms co-founders John Waller and David Helms will join as managing directors.
Thoma Bravo to exit Trader Corp to H&F-backed AutoScout24
Thoma Bravo has agreed to sell Trader Corp, a Toronto-based digital automotive marketplace and software provider, to Hellman & Friedman-backed AutoScout24.- H&F to make an incremental equity investment in AutoScout24
- Thoma Bravo acquired Trader in 2016 from Apax Partners
- The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024
- H&F will make a “meaningful” incremental equity investment in AutoScout24 in conjunction with this deal.
AutoScout24 will extend its presence outside of Europe and strengthens its market position with this acquisition, according to a release. It also expands AutoScout24’s service offering into automotive dealer software and lender services through Trader’s offerings, the release said.
Thoma Bravo worked with Trader to expand its product portfolio through both organic investments and strategic acquisitions to better serve its growing customer base, the release added.
Thoma Bravo acquired Trader in 2016 from Apax Partners in a deal valued at about C$1.57 billion.
“Through the application of our software expertise and M&A strategy, we helped transform Trader from an online automotive marketplace to a market leading platform of digital retail solutions for consumers and automotive dealers in Canada,” said Holden Spaht, a managing partner at Thoma Bravo, in a statement.
H&F initially invested in AutoScout24 in 2020.
“Bringing Trader into the AutoScout24 family significantly enhances our ability to leverage our global scale and common technology platform to invest in innovation that will better serve consumers, dealers, and our other partners,” said Blake Kleinman, partner at H&F, in a statement. “The additional equity investment from H&F in this transaction demonstrates our long-term vision of building the leading global automotive classifieds platform.”
Events
ITC Vegas 2024 - The world’s largest gathering of insurance innovation
Insurtech Consulting and our ‘Connected’ newsletter are proud media partners of ITC Vegas 2024
Event Date: Tuesday, October 15 – Thursday, October 17, 2024** Event Location: Mandalay Bay Convention Center 3950 Las Vegas Blvd S Las Vegas, NV 89119
ITC Vegas combines unbeatable networking with what’s new and next, ensuring your time will be spent meeting more people, sourcing more solutions, and creating valuable partnerships.
Discover solutions to your biggest challenges, gain access to unique and meaningful education, and meet the insurance industry’s best and brightest. Join the insurance event that doesn’t just bring the industry together – it moves the entire industry forward.
The future of insurance is here – at ITC Vegas. If you aren’t here, you are missing out on the conversations that are propelling the industry forward
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Fraud
A Tech Bridge for the Talent Gap in Insurance Claim Fraud Detection
Executive Summary
This article is the second in a series examining the pressing issues confronting SIU decision-makers and the transformative potential of emerging technologies.
The property/casualty insurance industry faces a critical staffing challenge when it comes to uncovering fraud in claims, while also enabling swift claim processing to meet customer expectations. With more than 4.1 million Americans turning 65 every year from 2024 through 2027, a significant portion of the industry’s most experienced fraud investigators and SIU professionals will retire.
Executive Summary This article is the second in a series examining the pressing issues confronting SIU decision-makers and the transformative potential of emerging technologies. As these seasoned experts retire, insurers face a growing challenge in attracting and training new talent to fill the widening skills gap. In our recent survey of SIU decision-makers, 25 percent of these leaders ranked the talent shortage as their most pressing concern.
Shane A. Riedman is vice president and general manager of Verisk Claims Solutions, where he leads innovation and development of the anti-fraud products portfolio.
Helena Cornell is vice president and general manager of anti-fraud analytics for Verisk.
Announcements
CLARA Analytics targets insurance claims optimisation
CLARA Analytics, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology for insurers, has announced the launch of Claims Document Intelligence Pro, a new product designed to revolutionise insurance claims optimisation.
The introduction of Claims DocIntel Pro (formerly CLARA Optics), represents ground-breaking advancements with its deeper contextual analysis of legal demands and medical records.
It combines best-in-class generative AI with proprietary AI tools that identify crucial details, assess the risk of escalation, and provides actionable recommendations to claims managers.
“Claims DocIntel Pro is a game-changer because it’s designed and built by casualty insurance industry veterans. It’s specifically aimed at helping professional claims adjusters to be more efficient and more effective,” said Heather H. Wilson, CEO of CLARA Analytics.