In this second episode about Fraud in Insurance, Robyn Wallner, Underwriting Solutions in the US, and Paul Blyth, Head of Underwriting Claims & Propositions in the UK, discuss innovative solutions with host David Ferguson, Underwriting and Claims Development Manager from the UK. Innovative technology, trends analysis, databases, heat maps, artificial intelligence, and more are being used to identify fraud in underwriting and claims to stay ahead of the fraudsters using many of the same tools. Part 1 of this series discusses fraud risks and mitigation and is available here.

Host David Ferguson

David joined SCOR in December 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience in life and health reinsurance in the UK and Irish market. He has worked for different insurers across a range of roles including premium administration, underwriting and claims, research and development and automated rules development for claims engines.  

His current role as Underwriting & Claims Development Manager is to support the implementation of SCOR’s underwriting and claims strategy and framework for Life underwriting and claims best practice.  He has an interest in advances and innovations in medical tech and their impact on the Life and Health industry. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and holds both the Institute's Underwriting and Claims diplomas. He is currently Chair of the Digital Technology and Innovation Practitioner Group at the Investment & Life Assurance Group.

Guest Paul Blyth

Paul is Head of Underwriting & Claims Proposition in the UK and Ireland at SCOR. His key responsibilities are maintaining and enhancing relationships with SCOR’s key clients in both Underwriting and Claims in the UK and Irish markets. With 20+ years’ experience in claims, he develops and delivers training to clients on a regular basis, coordinates the UK team's webinars and newsletter, SCORacle, where he has contributed a number of articles over the years, some of which have been translated for other markets including Korea and Japan.

He has represented SCOR many times when presenting at various industry events such as FOCUS (where he was vice chair), Health Insurance Society, Select 74, Health Claims Forum, and the Health, Care and Protection Conference. He has a particular interest in cancer and neurology and has issued a number of publications over the years, which include topics such as Proton Beam Radiation Therapy, Immunotherapy, Rare Cancers, Neurodendocrine Tumours (NETs)/Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs)/Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PM) and many more.

Guest Robyn Wallner

Robyn Wallner works at SCOR in the role of Vice President, Underwriting|Partnerships. She has more than three decades of insurance and financial services experience including individual life and disability income underwriting, underwriting guideline development, compliance oversight, product development, reinsurance, technology development/underwriting rules/engines development, vendor negotiation, claims review and analysis, underwriting representation for litigation, quality oversight, co-creation of solutions with distributors, carriers, TPAs, and insurtechs, new business administration and underwriting leadership, and Chief Underwriter.

Robyn has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from College of St Benedict. She also holds the Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU); Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations as well as Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) certification. In her free time, Robyn enjoys volunteering as an EMT and Alpine Ski Patroller, playing pickleball, golfing, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Steve, and three children, Paige, Megan, and Matthew.

How big is the global insurance fraud problem and how can we mitigate the fraud risk? The latest SCOR Innovation Podcast episode features David Ferguson, Underwriting and Claims Development Manager from the UK, interviewing Robyn Wallner, Underwriting Solutions in the US, and Paul Blyth, Head of Underwriting Claims & Propositions in the UK. Join us to hear a comparison between the fraud issues on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, as the experts discuss fraud trends, factors constituting fraud in different markets, and more. 

Host David Ferguson

David joined SCOR in December 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience in life and health reinsurance in the UK and Irish market. He has worked for different insurers across a range of roles including premium administration, underwriting and claims, research and development and automated rules development for claims engines.  

His current role as Underwriting & Claims Development Manager is to support the implementation of SCOR’s underwriting and claims strategy and framework for Life underwriting and claims best practice.  He has an interest in advances and innovations in medical tech and their impact on the Life and Health industry. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and holds both the Institute's Underwriting and Claims diplomas. He is currently Chair of the Digital Technology and Innovation Practitioner Group at the Investment & Life Assurance Group.

Guest Paul Blyth

Paul is Head of Underwriting & Claims Proposition in the UK and Ireland at SCOR. His key responsibilities are maintaining and enhancing relationships with SCOR’s key clients in both Underwriting and Claims in the UK and Irish markets. With 20+ years’ experience in claims, he develops and delivers training to clients on a regular basis, coordinates the UK team's webinars and newsletter, SCORacle, where he has contributed a number of articles over the years, some of which have been translated for other markets including Korea and Japan.

He has represented SCOR many times when presenting at various industry events such as FOCUS (where he was vice chair), Health Insurance Society, Select 74, Health Claims Forum, and the Health, Care and Protection Conference. He has a particular interest in cancer and neurology and has issued a number of publications over the years, which include topics such as Proton Beam Radiation Therapy, Immunotherapy, Rare Cancers, Neurodendocrine Tumours (NETs)/Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs)/Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PM) and many more.

Guest Robyn Wallner

Robyn Wallner works at SCOR in the role of Vice President, Underwriting|Partnerships. She has more than three decades of insurance and financial services experience including individual life and disability income underwriting, underwriting guideline development, compliance oversight, product development, reinsurance, technology development/underwriting rules/engines development, vendor negotiation, claims review and analysis, underwriting representation for litigation, quality oversight, co-creation of solutions with distributors, carriers, TPAs, and insurtechs, new business administration and underwriting leadership, and Chief Underwriter.

Robyn has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from College of St Benedict. She also holds the Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU); Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations as well as Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) certification. In her free time, Robyn enjoys volunteering as an EMT and Alpine Ski Patroller, playing pickleball, golfing, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Steve, and three children, Paige, Megan, and Matthew.

Behavioral economics research has shown that small details can have a large impact on how a person behaves. As life insurance transitions to using digital and streamlined processes, we must rely more on application form responses. However, traditional application forms can be complicated, confusing, and difficult for applicants to answer easily. Behavioral science concepts applied to redesigned application form questions create a better customer experience and improve the accuracy and honesty of information disclosed. Join us for this episode of the SCOR Innovation Podcast to hear how the research results support the business case for innovating policy application questions to promote better disclosures in life insurance applications. See the full research results in this report. Access the interactive dashboard to explore detailed results data.

Katherine McLaughlin
Katherine McLaughlin is VP, Pricing and Innovation. She works with clients to stay ahead of changing market conditions and new product developments while crafting solutions that achieve their business objectives. Prior to this, she has held various actuarial roles including Data Analytics, Client Solutions, Experience Analysis, and Pricing. She holds a BSBA in Actuarial Science and Finance from Drake University and has been with SCOR for 15 years.

Aisling Bradfield
As Head of Behavioral Science with SCOR’s global research function, Aisling focuses on improving our understanding of policyholder behavior and applying behavioral economics research to gain insights into customer interaction with insurance at all points of the customer journey. Aisling graduated from University College Dublin, receiving a bachelor’s degree in actuarial and financial Studies. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, having qualified as an actuary in 2014. Aisling completed an executive education course in behavioral economics at London School of Economics in June 2019. Aisling is based in Ireland and started working in pricing with SCOR in 2010, later moving into policyholder behavior.

In this episode, SCOR longevity specialists, Ruth Damian and Phil Curtis, explore the threat posed by longevity risk and the reinsurance solutions available to insurers and pension schemes.

BIOS:
Phil Curtis, Head of Longevity Business Development 

Phil is Head of Longevity Business Development for SCOR. Based in London, UK, he has 15 years’ experience working in pensions and life insurance. Since joining SCOR in 2021, Phil has helped secure multibillion-dollars’ of longevity risk for clients and insurers, and is responsible for developing longevity solutions and client relationships globally. Prior to joining SCOR, Phil was a specialist consultant at Aon, advising pension scheme stakeholders on how to secure their longevity risk in the Pensions Risk Transfer market.   

Ruth Damian, AVP, Longevity 

Ruth is an Assistant Vice President on the Longevity team in the Americas. She has been in Reinsurance for 26 years with the last 21 working on financial reinsurance solutions. She joined SCOR in 2022. Most recently, she has been working with the Longevity team in the UK as the adviser and contact person to SCOR Longevity clients in the United States.  Prior to SCOR, she provided her expertise in different positions within reinsurance at RGA, MetLife and Brighthouse Financial. She earned her bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Anahuac University in Mexico City.

There’s an App for That: Skin Cancer Prevention

Skin Screener, developed by Austrian startup medaia, is a mobile app that assesses the risk of skin cancer via photos. Easy to use, cost effective and widely available now in Europe, the app helps users detect skin cancer earlier, when intervention is likely to be more successful. Learn how the innovative, AI-supported algorithm is a new tool in the fight against cancer. SCOR Innovation Podcast host Thomas Trompetter interviews medaia CEO Albin Skasa about Skin Screener.

BIOS:

Albin Skasa
CEO medaia GmbH
After attending commercial school and a reserve officers training, Albin finished his master in law at University of Graz. He began his professional career as a legal trainee but soon he switched to auditing. After almost four years he was hired as an investment manager by the local state government providing Venture Capital and Private Equity to Styrian companies. During this work he got in touch with medaia, the company behind SkinScreener where he was asked by both founders to become the CEO.

Thomas Trompetter MBA

Head of Client Services&Portfolio Solutions/Central Europe

Thomas is Head of “Client Services & Portfolio Solutions” and responsible for Underwriting, Claims & Prevention and Portfolio Solutions for the Central Europe Region. 
He started his career in a primary insurance company in Germany and entered the reinsurance business in 2000. He has more than 20 years of experience in different areas of the reinsurance business for different international markets, especially Europe and the Middle East. 
Thomas and his teams also have been exploring in the past years innovative approaches for prevention of cancer and mental disorders.

SCOR Global Agile Coach Al Mele discusses the innovative mindset and the importance of courageous, open-minded collaboration within today's workplaces with Angela Bolduc, a Principal and Managing Director for the Milliman IntelliScript practice. This Life and Health episode of the SCOR Innovation Podcast explores why a culture of innovation requires employees feeling safe and unafraid to try new things, asking questions, and speaking their minds.

HOST:

Al Mele, CSPO, CSM

Senior Vice President, Global Agile Coach

SCOR.com 

Al started his career in Information Technology, where he worked as a software engineer in life insurance illustration software. He joined SCOR in September 1999 as a programmer/analyst working on reinsurance administration systems. As the Global Head of Agility for SCOR, Al is using his previous experience leading Underwriting Innovation teams in the US Life market to help the organization deliver predictably, efficiently, and transparently. Al is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM).

GUEST:

Angela Bolduc, MBA 

Principal and Managing Director

Milliman IntelliScript

rxhistories.com| milliman.com

Angela is a Principal and Managing Director for the IntelliScript practice. She has been with Milliman since 2007 and leads IntelliScript’s Relationship Management, Partnerships, Recruiting and Talent Management, IT and Operations teams. Angela gained her expertise by working with insurance carriers since 2001. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Vassar College and earned her MBA from Northeastern University. In her free time Angela loves spending time with her family and coaching youth field hockey.

In this episode, we welcome Michel Krenzer, Global Head of Energy, and Nicholas, a young 6th grader curious about his environment.  They were both recently featured on our series on “Hydrogen” which you can also find on the channel.

Today, Michel will have a conversation with Nicholas to try and debunk its negative views on plastics. They will also go over the basics and origins of plastics, while answering the question “What do diamonds and plastics have in common?”

Michel Krenzer has over 25 years experience in the insurance sector. After working for Foster Wheeler in Paris as a Chemical Engineer, he joined UAP Large Corporate Risks as a Loss Prevention Engineer. He then moved to Oil & Gas underwriting at Sorema in 1995.

He moved to London in 1999 to start up a facultative branch office for Sorema before joining SCOR in 2001. He started at SCOR UK as Senior Energy Underwriter and has had various managerial positions within the Large Corporate Risks division of SCOR Global P&C. 

He was appointed Onshore Energy Manager for Paris and London offices in 2009 and was then appointed Global Leader - Onshore Energy in 2018. He holds the position of Global Head of Energy since 2023.

TAL, Australia’s largest life insurer, offers life insurance, critical illness, total and permanent disability insurance, and income protection coverage. They are using SCOR’s award-winning VClaims solution, powered by technology partner Adviser Connect in Australia and New Zealand, to revolutionize their entire claims experience. Digitalization, automation, and simplification in their claims processes is helping eliminate human errors while enhancing the human touch across their life insurance portfolio with personalization, optimization and specification to each claimant’s unique journey and needs. Ryan Gailey interviews Jackie Pemberton in this episode.

NOTE: Vclaims received “Innovation of the Year” award during the 7th Annual ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards in 2024.

BIOS:
Jackie Pemberton is currently serving as the Process Improvement and Automation Manager at TAL for Life Insurance Claims. Having worked in Life insurance for 6 years, she has experience in all areas of claims, proudly identifying as a "claims nerd." Jackie is an active member of YALUCA demonstrating a passion for industry growth and development.

Ryan Gailey is a technical specialist and the claims automation lead at SCOR. He has more than 20 years of experience in life insurance, over 15 of those in leadership roles across technical, operations, learning, compliance, data, and change.

BIOS:
 
Olivier Armengaud is a Senior Manager in the SCOR Life & Health Digital Solutions team. He joined SCOR in 2015 as Investor Relations before pivoting to Life & Health Ventures in 2021. Before joining SCOR, Olivier was an Associate at Brunswick, a leading strategic consultancy working on various M&A and IPO transactions. Olivier is a graduate from EDHEC Business School, Paris IX Dauphine and the University of Texas-Pan America (UTPA).

Amir Kaplan is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at ifeel. Over the years Amir led the company strategy, go-to market, fundraising and commercial activity to position ifeel as a leading solution for global brands in 26 countries.
Prior to founding ifeel, Amir gained managerial experience as a combat commander in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and worked with publicly traded companies as a senior consultant at KPMG. 
Amir holds a certified public accountant certificate, studied economics and holds an MBA degree.
Today Amir is leading ifeel's global strategy through partnerships with insurance companies, healthcare and employee benefit organizations around the world and is vocal about mental health and technology as the driver of a better future.
In his private life Amir likes diving, surfing, skateboarding, motorbiking and traveling to new countries. He is a proud father of 2 kids and a dog. 

PODCAST SUMMARY:

During this second episode of our two-part series presented by SCOR’s U.S. Underwriting Solutions team, we introduce SCOR Monitoring & Acceleration Reporting Tool, or SMART. The SMART tool uses visualizations from our data analytics platform to provide rigorous monitoring of accelerated underwriting programs and to identify actions to improve programs quickly when needed. Moderator Michelle Spevak interviews James Atkins and Thomas Ballweg about SMART, its pricing implications, and its use as a benchmarking tool against peer companies and industry standards.

BIOS:

Michelle Spevak, Director, Underwriting Research, is responsible for assisting with proposals, answering client-related underwriting requests and monitoring accelerated underwriting programs. She advises the pricing process and works closely with SCOR’s Client Solutions teams. Michelle joined the company in 2015 in Underwriting. She obtained her bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is past president of the Nebraska Home Office Life Underwriting Association.

James Atkins, Vice President, Underwriting Data Innovation & AUW Analytics at SCOR, is based in Leawood, Kansas. James has 25 years of experience in the life insurance industry, having started his career working in customer service for Americo Life Insurance and later as a line underwriter for Transamerica in Kansas City. 

In 2002 he moved from the direct side into the reinsurance side where he underwrote complex and large face amount risks for Generali USA, Transamerica Reinsurance and SCOR. James later transitioned into an auditor role within SCOR, conducting both internal and client audits. 

James and his team are currently responsible for analysing and reporting on monitoring data obtained from the various accelerated underwriting programs that SCOR reinsures. James also served on the board of the Texas-Wide Underwriting Conference from 2015-2019. 

James earned a bachelor of arts degree in mass communication at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is a Fellow, Association of Life Underwriters and Fellow, Life Management Office.

Thomas Ballweg, Assistant Vice President, AUW Analytics, analyzes accelerated underwriting reporting provided from clients to monitor program performance.

Prior to this since 2017, he assisted Underwriting management in performing various internal and external reporting, evaluating client change requests and completing the underwriting review on requests for proposals (RFPs).

Before joining the company in 2014, Thomas worked as an underwriter for a number of life insurance companies since 1996.

He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, having earned a bachelor's degree in actuarial science and mathematics.  He is a Fellow, Association of Life Underwriters and Fellow, Life Management Institute.