Sp Ep Graham Elliott CEO Crux Underwriting: Seeking Alpha

23 snips

Jan 3, 2025

Graham Elliott, CEO of Crux Underwriting and former stockbroker, dives into the revolutionary intersection of technology and insurance. He discusses the rise of MGAs and how AI is reshaping underwriting processes for efficiency. Elliott highlights the strategic management of political risks and the importance of real-time data. The conversation also covers the evolving dynamics of insurance partnerships, data challenges, and the entrepreneurial spirit crucial for innovation in the industry.

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ANECDOTE

Career Transition

Graham Elliott's career transitioned from stockbroking to insurance after democratization of data disrupted his industry.
He found success in insurance through roles at Oxygen, RKH, and Azure, focusing on technology integration.

INSIGHT

Asymmetrical User Experience

Crux Underwriting aims to provide a seamless user experience for brokers while delivering comprehensive data to carriers.
This "asymmetrical user experience" uses a simplified front-end interface with complex data enrichment at the back end.

ADVICE

Speed and Efficiency

Prioritize speed in insurance sales, as there's a correlation between quick responses and winning business.
Implement systems that can differentiate between small and large risks to optimize efficiency.

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Today’s episode is an absolute blast. That’s because the person I am talking to is unique.

And I think that’s because he spent quite a large proportion of his career a long way outside insurance and discovered our sector relatively late.

But the crucial point is that it wasn’t that late.

Graham Elliot CEO of Crux Underwriting had enough experience outside the sector not to be too dyed in the wool and full of industry preconceptions, but he has been with us long enough to have had time to have already made a serious entrepreneurial impact on our sector at Oxygen Insurance Brokers, Aqua Underwriting and Azur Group.

I first met him about eight years ago at the beginning of the insurtech boom and found him incredibly valuable as someone who was very eloquent and adept at explaining the benefits of technology to a traditional insurance audience in words it could understand.

Graham’s latest venture is Crux Underwriting, a new Lloyd’s MGA he has set up with experienced Political Risk and Political Violence underwriter, Mike O’Connor.

But this podcast is way broader than Crux’s opening line of business. Our talk is an incredibly wide-ranging tour of the most advanced thinking around how global wholesale and specialty insurance and reinsurance is set to develop in the digital age that is currently dawning.

AI, algorithmic trading, genuinely realtime digitised underwriting systems and the reasons behind the boom in MGAs are all discussed in great detail.

If you still haven’t quite got your head around where the market is likely to be heading after our digital big bang is finally reached, I recommend this talk as a wonderful place to start.

Graham is charismatic and charming and I guarantee it won’t be long before your imagination is sparked and you are swept up in the positive appreciation of some of the enormous opportunities that are available to smart entrepreneurs in today’s market.

This is a great way to start the year.

LINKS
We thank our Special Episode sponsor Stephens Rickard:
https://www.stephensrickard.com/