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EC News (29 August 2019)

  • Publish Date: Posted over 4 years ago
  • Author:by Alan Jarque

Round-up of the weekly news and developments from the global (re)insurance market with stories from ERGO Germany, Liberty Specialty Markets, Skuld and more.

ERGO Germany partners with AI-powered InsurTech FRISS to improve claims process

ERGO Germany, a division of reinsurer Munich Re, has announced the partnership and the successful implementation of the FRISS solution, to fasten ERGO’s claims management process and optimise their portfolio using artificial intelligence (AI).

InsurTech FRISS is a provider of artificial-intelligence based fraud and risk solutions for the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry.

The new implementation from FRISS will allow ERGO Germany to leverage AI in order to fasten its claims management process in the personal motor, property and liability lines of business and provide its customers with a better service. This has followed on from the successful FRISS projects at ERGO in Austria, Greece and Lithuania.

Nicola Virzi, general manager FRISS DACH, said: “It is fantastic to see that our long-term partnership with ERGO added a new chapter to our cooperation. Their vision of supporting the honest customer in the best possible way with state-of-the-art digital initiatives is a perfect match with FRISS. We are delighted to contribute to their digital transformation program and speed up the claims management process with our AI powered risk assessment solution for their claims departments.”

Liberty Speciality announces promotion of Garside to head of Bermuda property

Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM), a member of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group has promoted Nicholas Garside to head of Bermuda property, effective 1 September 2019.

Based in Bermuda, Hamilton, Garside will report into Steve Horton, president of LSM Bermuda.

Garside has 15 years insurance experience and joined Ironshore Bermuda as senior vice president in 2018 before LSM rebranded. Prior to that he worked for Novae Bermuda as deputy head of direct and facultative property and brokered property risks for Willis in London, Sydney and Bermuda.

Horton said: “Nick is an exceptionally capable executive who’s amassed considerable experience in both the Bermudian and international property markets. His skills and in-depth knowledge will be of tremendous value.”

Skuld teams up with InsurTech Concirrus to improve Marine loss prevention

Global marine insurance provider, Skuld has partnered with InsurTech Concirrus to implement a behaviour-based data analytics platform called Quest Marine.

Skuld is the first Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club to integrate Quest Marine with its business systems. The new platform will be able to identify suspicious loss behaviour, develop risk monitoring insights, and advise members on ways to reduce risk based on a behavioural risk scoring system jointly developed by Skuld and Concirrus.

Quest Marine will be able to deliver proactive risk management services through the analysis of historical and real-time marine data to uncover new behavioural factors that impact loss events.

The insights can then provide underwriters quick access to a detailed view of risk for a specific account or fleet, to improve renewal efficiency.

Ståle Hansen, Skuld CEO, comments: “The future of marine insurance involves digital tools, and Quest Marine will enhance our risk understanding and loss prevention, as well as supporting our focus on strong personal relationships and service for our members and clients. Technology will increasingly play an integral role in improving loss ratios and loss prevention measures. This partnership with Concirrus is an important strand in our development of an end-to-end digital process and will provide us with proactive risk management capabilities and insights across multiple areas of our business from underwriting to sanctions, as well as legal and loss prevention.”

Andrew Yeoman, Concirrus CEO, said: “Skuld is well respected in the market, the team are at the forefront of the digital age and to have the business choose Quest Marine across Skuld P&I and Skuld Hull is a fantastic endorsement. Skuld joins other leading organisations across the risk transfer market, all of whom have chosen Concirrus to provide a common set of data that supports the insurance community and drives profitability.”

HDI Global SE appoints Stephanie Ogden as director of distribution for UK & Ireland

HDI Global SE, the industrial lines insurer of HDI Group has named Stephanie Ogden as its new director of distribution for UK & Ireland operations, effective 2 September 2019.

Ogden’s new role will see her have responsibility for distribution strategy, broker and client relationship management and marketing across the business.

She will also become a member of HDI Global SE’s UK and Ireland executive committee.

Ogden joins the firm from Lloyd’s of London where she was and oversight manager with responsibility for leading relationships between Lloyd’s and 20 syndicates in the market. Before that she worked for ten years at Allianz UK in a number of underwriting, trading and operational roles.

Claire McDonald, managing director of HDI Global SE’s UK and Ireland operations, said: “I am delighted to be welcoming Stephanie to HDI Global SE. Stephanie’s varied experience and expertise in building successful trading relationships will play an important role in the strategic development of our portfolio.”

Aon creates global Accident, Health & Life reinsurance division

Global (re)insurance broker Aon has launched an Accident, Health & Life practice group in its Reinsurance Solutions business to help insurers take advantage of growth opportunities in the sector.

Roger Smith, who has worked at the firm for the past 20 years and was previously head of Accident, Health & Life for Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) will now become chairman of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions business.

Smith and the team will have the responsibility for scaling opportunities on a global basis, building on Aon’s global network and working closely with its property and casualty brokers.

Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions business and executive sponsor for the practice group, commented: “Whether tackling evolving healthcare regimes, negotiating annuity deals to free up capital or managing unpredictable catastrophic events, we are ready to help insurers grow in a competitive environment and help them develop capital strategies to embrace emerging opportunities.”

TransRe promotes Andy Taylor to CUO EMEA & Asia Pacific

Transatlantic Holdings (TransRe), has announced the promotion of Andy Taylor as Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) for its London, Europe, Middle East, Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific businesses.

The promotion comes as part of its recent leadership announcements, and to further support underwriting consistency. For the past three years Taylor has been CUO of TransRe London, a role that he will retain and in which he will report to Louise Rose, CEO of TransRe London.

He will lead the strategic direction of TransRe’s regional chief underwriting officers, and provide support and oversight to ensure consistency of underwriting processes and decisions across the network of offices.

In this oversight position he will now report into Paul Bonny, president of TransRe EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Taylor has been with Trans Re since 1999, when he joined as a property treaty manager in London.