The Future of Insurance

Magdalena is a Senior Director and Global InsurTech Innovation Leader at WTW’s Insurance Consulting and Technology (ICT). She leads ICT’s inorganic growth strategy as well as its interaction with the external insurtech ecosystem globally. She joined the firm as a Senior Economist at Watson Wyatt’s Research and Innovation Center in 2005. She has 20+ years of experience in R&D and international strategy consulting and was WTW’s Global Head of Research and Analytical Services. Magda holds a M.Sc. in math. Finance and a PhD in Quantitative Economics and Finance. She also holds a professional certificate on Innovation from the MIT Professional Education Program.

For the past 10 years she has been solely focused on innovation and strategic consulting for the Insurance Industry, especially around digital transformation, advanced analytics, blockchain, emerging risks and #insurtech.

She was among the first to publish and discuss blockchain in the context of insurance and has focused almost exclusively on helping the insurance industry to understand and deploy new technologies since 2014. She is a well-recognized thought leader in insurtech and the implications of new technologies for the risk transfer industry. She has been a prolific public speaker in the past 10 years and in the past couple of years alone, Magda has had over 100 public speaking engagements specific to insurtech and blockchain at various international conferences and summits. She has also published multiple articles, blogs, interviews and audio/visual media on the topic. She sees herself as a blockchain and technology governance crusader and devotes significant time to educational activities, ranging from workshops for executives to sessions at elementary schools and trainings to empower #womenintech.

Her main areas of expertise include blockchain, technology and innovation, advanced analytics, MNC internationalization and innovation strategies, emerging markets, global governance, macroeconomic and socio-political risks. 

Further, Magdalena has 14 years of teaching experience at European (Germany, UK) and Latin American universities. She also led many research projects for multilateral organizations on microinsurance, financial inclusion and innovation, including pre-2009 projects on alternative currencies.

Highlights from the Show

• Note

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

Wesley is CEO and Co-Founder of Sola Insurance based in Atlanta, GA. Wesley comes from a tech background and jumped into the insurance industry at a flood insurance startup where he was tasked with working on the data side with private and FEMA flood maps. Realizing this data was telling us exactly where the damage is, Wesley became obsessed with how data can be used to automatically trigger an insurance claim payout. Sola is starting with supplemental tornado coverage for homeowners but plans to expand into every type of natural disaster to help people cover their deductible and immediate expenses. Sola has already been approved in 15 states as the first ever admitted personal lines parametric product, is fully reinsured through Lloyd’s of London, and has partnered with hundreds of insurance agencies across the Midwest and Southeast.

Highlights from the Show

• Wesley came on the show in Season 5 to share more of Sola's story, so be sure to listen to that for more background
• They recently launched a Wind & Hail product that like a hybrid Parametric/Indemnity proiduct in that it is data-triggered, but has validation of the loss through on-site inspection
• Their product speaks directly to an issue many insurers and homeowners are facing where providing traditional coverage is no longer financially viable yet homeowners are struggling to afford even high-deductible offerings that leave them excessively exposed – and mortgage lenders aren't comfortable with the coverage gap being created
• Sola's Wind & Hail product is cheaper than the money most homeowners would save by increasing their Wind & Hail deductible if they live in a hail-prone area, meaning they can get back to more complete coverage while saving money over what that coverage would have cost otherwise

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

Dennis is general manager of insurance at Intuit Credit Karma, where he oversees the company’s fast-growing business unit that encompasses auto, life, home and renters insurance for Credit Karma’s more than 120 million U.S. members. Dennis joined Credit Karma through the acquisition of Zendrive, which will enable Credit Karma to accelerate Karma Drive, the company’s usage-based insurance product. At Zendrive, Dennis served as CEO where he oversaw the team and company strategy in pursuit of making roads safer through the power of data and analytics. Dennis is a seasoned technology professional, having held leadership roles at LiveRamp, Bertram Capital and Google X. Dennis holds an MBA from Stanford Business School and a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech. 

Highlights from the Show

• Dennis joined Intuit Credit Karma through their acquisition of ZenDrive, where he was CEO
• With credit being such a huge part of Auto insurance, it makes sense for a business like Credit Karma to be focused on the space, and help consumers manage their auto insurance rates and coverage as their credit score changes
• Credit Karma is not exclusively set on Auto insurance, but thinks instead of areas where consumer education and support in navigating something complex can yield better outcomes for them, so there are other possibilities for the business in insurance down the road
• One key thing to manage will be the issue of Privacy, which has been especially fraught in telematics and IoT-based coverage; Credit Karma thinks transparency and clarity are critical to be sure consumers always know where they stand when it comes to their data 

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

Bobbie is Chief Insurance Officer at Coterie - prior to this role, she was Coterie’s first VP of Distribution, and Chief Growth Officer.  At Coterie, Bobbie oversees underwriting, capacity, distribution, marketing and agency experience.  Prior to Coterie, Bobbie was the VP of Strategic Distribution at Grange Insurance, cultivating successful strategic partnerships with established, new and emerging distribution partners – with a strong focus on strategy and innovation.  Bobbie started her insurance career as a Commercial Lines underwriter and manager at Society Insurance, and held leadership positions at QBE, SECURA, and Grange Insurance. Bobbie holds a BBA in Marketing & Human Resources from the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh.

Highlights from the Show

• Coterie is a Small Business-focused MGA offering core P&C products via agents, founded by David McFarland, who was on the show earlier in their journey to share their story
• Bobbie Collies joined to lead up distribution, and her responsibilities expanded into her current position as Chief Insurance Officer
• She gave an update of Coterie's business, including:
  • Evolved distribution efforts that are more focused, scalable and effective, with them now having onboarded 40,000 agents
  • Success in deploying APIs throughout the process, with 50% of transactions happening over API today (and growing)
  • The continued use of AI and ML in their business, which has always been very data and analytics-focused, but they look at new and better ways to evaluate risk and operate the business
  • Growth in average premium from $800 to $1800 over the past couple of years
• ITC is a great chance for Coterie to meet with a lot of their agent partners to talk about planning for the year ago and to keep a pulse on new technologies and innovations that could move the market and support their business going forward.

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

David Embry, CEO of Mylo, a digital, independent insurance broker that uses AI and people to connect clients with the right coverage for their needs. He is responsible for the overall vision and financial performance of the business as well as developing strategic partnerships. As a seasoned entrepreneur with 20+ years of experience leading financial and insurance companies, David brings deep expertise and innovation to Mylo. Previously President of SelectQuote Benefit Solutions and Managing Director at J.P. Morgan.

Highlights from the Show

• Mylo is a digital broker that was built from within a big, national broker, and today uses technology to match small business and individual insurance customers with coverage
• They currently write about $4m in premium per month; 65% being small commercial, and the rest being personal lines, plus benefits for small businesses
• They use AI to keep up with changes in coverage and appetite in real-time rather than having to manually recode their algorithms through some regular review process

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

After ITC Vegas 2024, I had to do a quick recap of the themes that stood out to me, and what I took from it.

Highlights from the Show

• The winner for most-talked about buzzword? AI, obviously
• The focus, however, was on AI for efficiency
• An AI-enabled data company talked about the difficulty they have talking about improving UW results, so they only talk about efficiency when meeting with carriers, or they lose the audience (even though they have proof of positive L/R impact)
• As an industry, I challenge all of us to actually push on the core of the business and not just go for the "easy" sell of efficiency 

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

While the show is on a break for a few weeks, I wanted to be sure you knew two things about ITC Las Vegas 2024:

• You can save $200 on registration thanks to the deal I scored for my listeners! Just visit http://www.future-of-insurance.com/itc for the discount code and a link to register
• If you're an insurance company executive, drop me a DM on LinkedIn if you'd like to be a guest on the show while I record in-person episodes at ITC on October 16th

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

In this quick episode, I share that I need to take a break from releasing episodes for a few weeks as my schedule hasn't allowed me to do any new interviews, and, in place of a new episode, I recommend a show you need to be listening to - "What's the Scenario?" with plrb.   To be in the insurance industry means understanding what insurance is all about and how complex the idea of coverage can be. Every week, the team at PLRB disucsses a coverage issue that came to them from across their members. The issues are really interesting, the discussion is rich and easy to follow, and it all just gives you a much better understanding of and appreciation for the work we do in insurance.   You can listen to "What's the Scenario?" with plrb on your favorite podcast platform (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon, etc) or watch it on YouTube.   This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

I'm joined my Insurance and Underwriting veteran and thought leader, Nick Lamparelli, for this episode as we discuss the ideas in the new white paper I'm publishing, "The Economic Viability of Insurance," available starting today for free at http://www.future-of-insurance.com/profit.

Highlights from the Show

• The approaches we have been using to stresses on underwriting profit historically have been cutting costs (focusing on expenses), taking rate, pulling out of markets or segments
• These approaches proved insufficient to deal with the scale of macro-level pressures insurers faced in 2023, and I would argue will continue to face going forward, like
  • Severe Convective Storms (SCS, or, mainly, hail) and other Natural Catastrophes driven by Climate Change
  • Social Inflation
  • Supply Chain and Labor Constraints
  • Inflation
  • and more
• We should be looking at new approaches, including
  • How we think about and respond to risk – tools we use to understand risk, select it intelligently to compete on, and harden it when we do choose to offer coverage
  • Move to next-generation approaches to rating that are more dynamic, allowing us to stay ahead of the need for rate change rather than respond far too late and insufficiently
  • Rethinking the products we offer to cover what have been come extremely different exposures from the ones our current products were designed for
• These solution can take the form of insurtech software or services; E&S/non-admitted product development; Parametric solutions to coverages no longer viable as indemnity products; and so much more
• Now is the time to really engage in the idea of doing things differently as we are seeing increasing difficulty in aligning prices that are affordable to buy coverage at with prices that are economically viable to sell it at, meaning the market may begin to fail to clear
  • If that happens, other capital can come in and solve for the need for coverage, increasing the pressure insurers have seen on the decreasing percent of risks that are insured against (measured by NatCat losses that are insured vs. not), as one method)
• Download the paper today, and share it with your network to get more people talking about how we can push our industry ahead.

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.

I shared some thoughts triggered by a recent conversation with an executive at an InsurTech solution provider who was voicing frustration with his perception that there seems to be a lot of talk that we are perfect or don't need to look to improve at many carriers. He was curious if this was my observation, as well, and what I thought we could do about it. One thing I know I can do is to talk about it, and help inspire all of you to push your organizations to be humble and honest so we can get back to truly achieving what's possible.

Highlights from the Show

• The biggest danger to our industry is hubris - the sense that are are good enough where we are, or that we're so great, we don't need to open our ears, eyes and minds to feedback and insights from customers, employees, partners and peers
• I'm seeing more of this than I think we have a right to show, and it's holding the industry back
• I liken it to a bank robber who robbed 10 banks last year, and 5 this year, holding up their great achievement as if that was an acceptable end state
• Remember that we can and should respect our progress and improvement, but should never confuse that with being good enough to seizing on the true opportunity in front of us
• Get $200 of new registrations for ITC Vegas 2024 using code 200ITC1291 at vegas.insuretechconnect.com/register

This episode is brought to you by The Future of Insurance thought leadership series, available globally from Amazon in print, Kindle and Audible audiobook.

Follow the podcast at future-of-insurance.com/podcast for more details and other episodes.

Music courtesy of Hyperbeat Music, available to stream or download on Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music and more.