InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

Matthew and Robin wave goodbye to 2021 by reflecting on some of the key insurance, insurtech and innovation themes from the past 12 months. Their Partners’ Chat - New Year special includes thoughts on a record year for insurtech investment, why now is a good time to be an MGA, and predictions for data and technology developments in 2022. Talking points include:  Unicorns, angels and securing early-stage funding The decline of incubators and accelerators Embedded insurance and educating customers about risk How data ingestion and extraction became a top business priority Why brokers remain a key part of the value chain If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. All we are up to www.instech.london Sign up to our newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Understand the challenges around securing early-stage funding Learn why embedded insurance is becoming attractive to customers Learn why data ingestion and extraction is important to insurers If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 171 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

InsTech London was really pleased to be involved in a panel discussion on Allyship in the workplace hosted by The Camelot Network’s Inclusion & Diversity Think Tank and sponsored by Genasys. The diverse panel explained what Allyship is, how to action it and the impact it can have in creating a truly inclusive society. The speakers include: Rebekah Bostan – Director of Research and Insight, InsTech London Lethabo Motsoaledi – Co-founder, Creator and CTO, Voyc Dr Joanna Abeyie MBE – Founder and Director, Blue Moon Paul Jardine – Chairman, Asta and Chaucer The discussion was moderated by Miriam Reason, Founder at Reasonful. Talking points include: What is Allyship, and why should you care? Why is Allyship the most powerful thing you can do at work? Why is the future of work about intersectional inclusion and Allyship? What do all the relevant terms mean? For more information on The Camelot Network, go to thecamelotnetwork.com. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.  Sign up to our newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Describe what Allyship is Summarise why Allyship is an important part of the workplace Explain how you can action Allyship and the impact it can have If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 170 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

The global pandemic and the shutdown of the Suez Canal in March highlighted the importance of the global supply chain and the risks involved in shipping goods around the world.  Tracking what happens at sea is a major challenge, however, innovations in data and technology are now allowing insurers and businesses to track ship and cargo movements from start to finish.  Matthew is joined on Podcast 169 by George Devereese and Turloch Mooney from IHS Markit, a global data provider and the primary source of information on vessels being used for international trade.  The conversation covers how technology is being used in the real-time monitoring of vessels and the data and analytics IHS Markit provides to marine insurers to assist with underwriting, risk allocation, and claims investigation/mitigation. Talking points include:  The main risks involved in container ship journeys How sensors are being used to track individual cargo containers Using data to forecast global supply chain delays Partnering with insurers and accessing IHS Markit data  The next steps in supply chain and marine insurance innovation If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.  Sign up to our newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Describe how maritime shipping data can be used in insurance Compare some of the possible ways to track containers Identify some of the additional uses of maritime shipping data If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 169 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

In October 2021, Getsafe extended its Series B funding round to $93 million, including investment from Swiss Re. The start-up is now a fully licensed insurer in Germany and operates as an MGA in the UK, targeting younger generations with personal lines insurance products. Robin talks to co-founder and CEO Christian Wiens about how Getsafe has scaled since being founded in 2015, the company's plans for expansion, and innovation trends to watch. Talking points include: How to sell insurance to first-time customers The benefits of being a full-stack insurer Distribution channels for personal lines insurance Changes in CEO responsibility as start-ups scale Venture capital trends in Europe and the US If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.  Sign up to our newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Describe how a CEO's responsibilities develop as a start-up grows Identify some of the dynamics of the venture capital market Explain how the UK and Europe compare to the US when it comes to innovation To learn more about digital insurance, visit the Getsafe's InsTech London profile page. If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 168 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

This week, we’re bringing you the highlights from our recent live event featuring companies providing and using near real time hazard data to speed up claims handling, reduce costs and provide more accurate underwriting. Data is only any good if it can be easily embedded in the workflow - so we get practical and specific with all our guests to explore real case studies and challenges they have overcome.  Matthew leads off talking to CEO and founder of ICEYE Rafal Modrzewski and Head of Insurance Solutions Lisa Wardlaw. Extracts follow from: Forbes McKenzie, CEO, McKenzie Intelligence Services Alun Jones, Chief Commercial Officer, Addresscloud Andrew Smith, Chief Operations Officer, Fathom Jonathon Hopper, Claims Manager, Atrium Underwriters Colin Masson, Head of First Party Complex Claims, Beazley Gethin Jones, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Skyline Partners Talking points include: Using radar satellite imaging technology to assess flood depths at individual building level Tracking climate risks and risk movements in near real time The potential and future role of parametric insurance for property risks How new data and technology is improving climate change models Using real time data to make faster claims payments If you would like to hear more about the companies featured on this episode, click the links above to see additional content on their InsTech London member profiles. Additional podcast episodes are also available for ICEYE, McKenzie Intelligence Services, Fathom, Atrium Underwriters and Skyline Partners. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn.  Sign up to our newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Understand some of the ways that innovation is changing the claims process for climate risk Compare sources of hazard data and uncover its importance in the claims process Learn how better monitoring of hazard data could help improve the customer experience If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 167 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

When it comes to innovation, claims technology has not always got the level of focus it deserves. That situation is changing though with several companies, including this week’s podcast guest, providing new technology solutions to speed up and improve claims processes. Matthew talks to Jeremy Hyams, CEO and founder of Claims Consortium Group, about building a claims service provider, innovating at speed during Covid-19, and how its Synergy Cloud platform is helping the AA to manage home insurance claims in-house. Talking points include: Claims handling technology in practice Building technology for third parties The growth in remote claims assessments Linking partners and customers through platforms Validating claims using real-time weather data If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Explore why only a small proportion of investment by insurers goes into claims Understand what claims handling technology is Compare some of the trends around remote claims assessment technology If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 166 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Descartes Underwriting, founded in 2018, has scaled quickly to provide parametric insurance against climate risks to corporate clients around the world. Co-founder & Head of Underwriting Sébastien Piguet joins Matthew on Podcast 165 to discuss trends in parametric insurance and Descartes' experiences with its clients. Talking points include: Why some corporates are replacing indemnity policies with parametric Educating brokers and risk managers about parametric Insuring solar and wind farms Data sources for natural perils The potential for parametric cyber insurance Descartes Underwriting was featured in our report Parametric Insurance - 2021 outlook and the companies to watch, which is available to download for free to InsTech London members. If you want to keep up-to-date with the latest parametric insurance news and developments, sign up for our Parametric Post newsletter. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Understand the value of parametric insurance Explore the role parametric insurance can play in climate change mitigation Compare some of the data sources for parametric insurance If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 165 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

Start-ups looking to sell insurance products often struggle to secure the insurance capacity from incumbent (re)insurers they need as a managing general agent (MGA). Ensuro is piloting an alternative source of insurance capital: using cryptocurrency funds from investors, locked in smart contracts on a blockchain, to underwrite risks. Founder and CEO Marco Mirabella joins InsTech London's Henry Gale on Podcast 164 to discuss the opportunity for cryptocurrency to be used as insurance capital and how Ensuro's technology works. Talking points include: The crypto market and decentralised finance (DeFi) The regulatory landscape for crypto insurance Applications of parametric insurance An insurance use case for NFTs (non-fungible tokens) InsTech London's latest report, Demystifying Crypto: the insurance opportunities and challenges, sets out what the insurance industry should know about crypto in more detail.  To learn more about Ensuro, you can read an insight article we wrote about the company earlier this year, Cryptocurrency - the next capital pool for parametric insurance? If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Understand how crypto can be used as a source of capital in insurance Explore some of the regulatory landscape around crypto Identify an example of how NFTs can be used in insurance If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 164 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

The Managing General Agent (MGA) model has become a successful way for many insurtech startups to establish themselves, but the subject of this week’s podcast is a bit different to other MGAs in the marketplace. Pen Underwriting was created by bringing together 12 companies in 2014. Its work covers claims, pricing, and distribution with more than £650 million in gross written premium per year. Chief Business Development Officer Nick Wright joins Matthew on Podcast 163 to explain how Pen Underwriting supports its partners and why investing in innovation is a key part of the company’s approach. Talking points include: Advantages of the MGA model Creating products for insurer partners Monitoring the market and looking outside of insurance The growth of parametric and usage-based insurance Using telematics to mitigate risk More information on Pen Underwriting is available from the company’s InsTech London member profile page. If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Identify some of the benefits of innovation in insurance Understand what is unique about MGAs and some of their advantages  Determine how telematics can be used to mitigate risk If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 163 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.

We're bringing you the highlights and key insights from our property risk event at The Steel Yard in London. ‘Property Risk - What’s New and What Works?’ brought together experts in flood forecasting, digital twins, rebuild costs, remote assessment and more, to discuss new data and analytics solutions that are helping insurers understand the physical characteristics and risks of properties. The episode begins with Robin in conversation with Todd Rissel, Chairman and CEO of event sponsors e2Value, and is followed by interviews with:  Mark Cunningham, WhenFresh Olivia Iltcheva, Convex Anthony Siggers, Archipelago Jonathan Newbery, Zurich and Jonathan Jackson, Previsico Jay Gentry, SafeGraph Bob Frady, HazardHub (acquired by Guidewire) Anthony Peake, Intelligent AI Laurent de la Porte and Antonin de Benoist, Allphins Talking points include:  What is important for insurance companies when looking for property-related data What information has been hard to get, but is now available How information for the US varies from the UK What are some of the major sources of data from outside of the insurance industry What are some of the data hubs and platforms now being used If you would like to hear more about the work our guests and their companies are doing, click the links above to visit their respective InsTech London member profiles. Further podcast episodes are also available featuring Todd Rissel (Podcast 153), Mark Cunningham (Podcast 111), Archipelago (Podcast 145), and Bob Frady (Podcast 135). If you like what you're hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use, or contact Matthew Grant on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech London newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning. Continuing Professional Development - Learning Objectives InsTech London is accredited by The Chartered Insurance Institute (CII). By listening to any InsTech London podcast or reading the accompanying transcript, you can claim up to 0.5 hours towards the CII member CPD scheme. The Learning Objectives for this podcast are: Understand the potential for data to transform the understanding of property risk for insurers Explore some of the existing platforms and solutions available  Identify the factors that insurers should consider when selecting a property data partner If your organisation is a member of InsTech London and you would like to receive a quarterly summary of the CPD hours you have earned, visit the Episode 162 page of the InsTech London website or email cpd@instech.london to let us know you have listened to this podcast. To help us measure the impact of the learning, we would be grateful if you would take a minute to complete a quick feedback survey.