The Voice of Insurance

Ep126 Jonathan Zaffino President, Ascot Group: We don’t believe in big bets

Jonathan Zaffino, President of Ascot Group is one of the industry’s great thinkersAscot is one of the Lloyd’s Market’s most successful underwriting outfits of the last 20 years and Jonathan is leading that group’s expansion into the key US market.But his style of expansion is not an aggressive kind that pursues growth by taking big bets. It is a far more nuanced and subtle approach and one that recognises some of the big secular changes that have taken place in the insurance market over the last two decades. Behind the detail in our discussion lots of big themes are lurking. I enjoy how our conversation can start with specifics on trends in areas such as delegated authority but quickly change gear and end up encompassing much loftier themes such as the disaggregation of the insurance value chain as a whole and the advent of new far more mercurial forms of capital provision.Ascot is a business with a strong identity and market presence and we talk about how the firm is looking to distil and preserve that culture as it grows, evolves and seeks new ownership in a fast-changing market. Listening back the most common word Jonathan uses in this podcast is Candidly.And that is apparent all the way through our discussion. This is what he really thinks about the challenges and opportunities in the market today.Learning what the market’s finest minds really think about the world is what this podcast is all about, so I can highly recommend this episode to anyone seeking inspiration and enlightenment. LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank this Episode’s advertising supporter Oxbow Partnershttps://oxbowpartners.com/

Ep 125 Jonathan Turner CEO of Gallagher Specialty UK - Every insurer is talking about growth

Today’s guest is someone I first met almost thirty years ago. In the intervening time he has had a glittering career, most of which has been on the underwriting side of the fence with senior roles at QBE, Brit and most recently at Gallagher’s Pen Underwriting MGA.But now Jonathan Turner is the CEO at Gallagher Specialty UK, he is firmly on the broking side of the box for the first time in his career. In this lively podcast we get to the heart of what is a really vigorous and fascinating market. A market which is managing to be both very hard and very competitive at the same time, depending hugely on line of business and territory.This is also a newly confident market that is in growth mode and not lacking in capital resources in any meaningful way.Gallagher was an early mover in the long wave of London Market wholesale broking consolidation, the highwater mark of which we have been seeing lately, and we discuss how this phenomenon has affected market dynamics.We also reflect on what an underwriter’s experience can bring to running a broker, along with the prospects for market modernisation, not just in technology but in cultural and behavioural change too.Jon’s really smart and is very straight talking throughout our encounter.As a consequence, there are an awful lot of really good things packed into a relatively short period of time. LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank this Episode’s advertising supporter Oxbow Partnershttps://oxbowpartners.com/

Ep 124 Tom Hoad Head of Innovation TMK: Innovation is really about doing stuff

Innovation. We keep reading about it. We keep getting harangued at conferences to do more of it. We also keep getting told that Innovation is really hard to do in insurance. But is it? After all, innovation used to happen perfectly naturally and organically in the past.It’s only in the last decade that we have started to take the business of innovation seriously and given it its own department and made people responsible and accountable for making it happen. What have we learnt so far? Meet today’s guest, Tom Hoad. Tom is Head of Innovation at Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) and has been in the role since late 2015. That’s a lot of accumulated knowledge about how to go about implanting new ideas into insurance. Tom is bursting with energy and enthusiasm and this podcast packs a huge amount of learning into a very short time. We start the conversation by running through one of TMK’s latest product launches in the clean energy space. This is a really great sounding idea and is what brought Tom to my attention again recently and reminded me to get him on the show.But soon the discussion develops into a really broad one that harnesses all that Tom has learnt about the art and science of bringing exciting new insurance products to market. It’s full of mind-expanding and very useful bits of knowledge that Tom has learnt from six-and-a-half years at the bleeding edge.Anyone who wants to improve their innovation hit rate will find this a fascinating and really useful listen. NOTESI let BAU slip through the Abbreviation filter. This stands for Business As Usual.We talk at the beginning about the Altelium battery warranty insurance deal. Here is the announcement in full We also mention Parametrix cloud outage insurance. The Episode with George Beattie of Beazley is Number 117. I’d recommend listening to these two episodes in conjunction with each other. LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/

Ep 123 Ryan Mather CEO Ariel Re: Meet the New Guard

Today’s guest is someone very respected in the industry but who hasn’t spent much time in the limelight – until recently that is. Ariel Re’s CEO Ryan Mather now represents part of the significant new capital that has come into the sector since the global market turn accelerated in the last couple of years. Ariel Re is a specialist looking to be an expert and add value wherever it decides to deploy its capital. It is also highly diverse with divisions insuring clean energy, cyber and professional lines as well as operating in the more traditional property cat arena.What seems to set it apart is a willingness to move towards risks that others are running away from. This obviously takes an open mind and the confidence to invest in the sort of expertise that will give the firm the comfort to issue terms where others won’t. That all points to a business and a leadership team that is very much out of the ordinary.I think this podcast will give you a good idea of how Ariel Re sets about this difficult task and help you start to get to know someone whose industry profile is likely to rise significantly in coming years.Ryan is clearly very smart but he’s far from being dry or academic. He’s very amiable and refreshing company and I can highly recommend a listen
NOTESOne abbreviation that slipped through is SBF, which is Lloyd's shorthand for Syndicate Business Forecast, and an essential part of the market's planning process.LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank our advertiser Anaplan and Conor Donohoe and Daniel Ellis for coming on the show to explain what Anaplan's platform does for the insurance sector. Email contacts: conor.donohoe@anaplan.comdaniel.ellis@mentattechnology.co.uk

Ep 122 Dan Trueman: The only way to be in Cyber is to be an expert

Today’s guest is one of the elder statemen of the Cyber insurance market and a returning guest to the show. Way back in Episode 10 of the Voice of Insurance AXIS’s Global Head of Cyber Dan Trueman made a prediction that the Cyber market was on the cusp of big change and that Cyber insurance would never be sold more cheaply than it was back then. Two years and 111 Episodes later and the hard Cyber market that followed Dan’s comments has rarely been out of the news.I’d use today’s episode as a really good example of the difference between a podcast and a recorded interview. That’s because, instead of being just a series of questions and answers, this encounter is very much a conversation, and a lively one at that! Anyone looking for an update on the highly-pressurised cyber space should look no further.We talk about the re-pricing the sector has gone through and when this might end, loss trends and what cyber criminals are getting up to as well as advances in modelling systemic risk and the potential for unlocking the capital the class is definitely going to need if it is going to meet rising demand without starting to hit supply constraints. LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank our advertiser Anaplan and Conor Donohoe and Daniel Ellis for coming on the show to explain what Anaplan's platform does for the insurance sector. Email contacts: conor.donohoe@anaplan.comdaniel.ellis@mentattechnology.co.uk

Ep 121 Johan Slabbert CEO MS Amlin: Sustainable profit before growth

Today’s guest runs a very large Lloyd’s business that in the past seven years has perhaps been the poster child for many of the problems in the London market as a whole. This is a previously star business that lost its way.It has had to retrench, contract and remediate to re-discover itself in the past three years. Johan Slabbert is the CEO of MS Amlin and has been at the Lloyd’s carrier for two years and in the CEO role for 18 months. He is a seasoned executive, into his third decade of experience and gives the impression of someone who is a very solid and safe pair of hands. He is also very likeable, very transparent and exudes trustworthiness.Our discussion is very frank and sometimes almost blunt. I find this really healthy, and feel lucky that we can have this conversation at all.Now that MS Amlin is beginning to emerge from darker times and has posted a profit for the first time in many years, Johan permits himself an occasional glance towards potentially better prospects ahead. But the roots are very firmly planted in the ground. As a consequence I don’t think you will hear a more honest assessment of the state of the market and the opportunities and challenges it presents anywhere else.LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/
We also thank our advertiser Anaplan and Conor Donohoe and Daniel Ellis for coming on the show to explain what Anaplan's platform does for the insurance sector. Email contacts: conor.donohoe@anaplan.comdaniel.ellis@mentattechnology.co.uk

Special Episode. The Data Council: Standards, not Systems

Today’s episode brings together a trio of London Market leaders. Sheila Cameron is the CEO of the Lloyd’s Market Association (the LMA) and was the guest on the very first Episode of the Voice of Insurance. Clyde Bernstein is the Head of Broking Technology at WTW, as well as being its Head of Broking in Great Britain. Clyde appeared in Episode 63, which was all about the broker of the future. Completing the line-up is someone who I have wanted to get on the show for a long time as he is a strong, really well-known exceptionally bright and eloquent executive who always has an interesting view of the market. Paul Jardine is an Actuary, the former Chief Actuary and Commutations Director of Lloyd’s run-off vehicle Equitas and was one of Stephen Catlin’s top executives for over 15 years. He currently has multiple interests, the most prominent of which is that of Non-executive Chairman of Lloyd’s turnkey Managing Agency Asta.But what unites my three guests is that they are all members of the recently formed Data Council, chaired by Sheila, which has been brought together by overarching London trade body the London Market Group (LMG) to drive the digitisation of the Market.This episode gets to the heart of what the Data Council is and what it is tasked with doing It also dissects the Council’s first major achievement which has been to codify the Core Data Record (or CDR) which will be the building block for making London Market contracts fully computable. Sheila, Clyde and Paul are a lively group and this podcast is a really good way to get up to speed for anyone who may sometimes find the reform process in the London Market difficult to follow.Enjoy the PodcastNOTES and THANKSSheila used an abbreviation, the GRLC, which I should have clarified at the time. This stands for global digital insurance data standards body ACORD’s Global Reinsurance and Large Commercial standard.There is also a mention of the Rushlikon Initiative, which is a longstanding global standards and process efficiency drive backed by ACORD, WTW, Swiss Re and many other major market participants. We thank today’s sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/

Ep 120 Michael Millette: The best market opportunities for 20 years

Today’s guest is someone I have been meaning to get on the show since this podcast started over two years ago.That’s because he is one of the smartest and most eloquent executives anywhere in the sector. We overuse the word pioneer but Michael Millette has made a career out of innovating at the highest end of our business. He and a handful of others created the ILS market out of nothing in the mid-1990s. Then after two incredibly successful decades at Goldman Sachs, in 2016 he launched Hudson Structured Capital Management.Hudson Structured is a pretty unique business because it is combining alternative asset management and finance with venture capital. I can’t think of another business in insurance with such eclectic tastes. It can get involved in the sector from so many angles and at so many points in the value chain.It’s fascinating and very liberating. Mike has an incredibly broad and deep understanding of the insurance and reinsurance sector, all the way up from the first dollar of personal lines premium to the last cat bond bought by a long-term investor.He is also fun and outspoken and is never afraid to take an unambiguous view on topics. In this podcast we cover a huge variety of subject matter, from the mid-year cat renewals to ABC which is Mike’s shorthand for ‘All But Cat”!For me he’s one of those people who make you feel like your IQ just went up a few points after you have spent some time in their company. So I won’t come between you and enlightenment any longer. Enjoy the podcast NOTES I let one abbreviation get through the interview unexplained. That was CR/I, which is short for Catastrophe Reinsurance.LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank our advertiser Anaplan and Conor Donohoe and Daniel Ellis for coming on the show to explain what Anaplan's platform does for the insurance sector. Email contacts: conor.donohoe@anaplan.comdaniel.ellis@mentattechnology.co.uk
 
The views expressed reflect the current views of Hudson Structured Capital Management Ltd. (“HSCM”) as of the date hereof and HSCM undertakes no responsibility to advise you of any changes. Neither the podcast nor any of the information contained herein constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security or instrument in or to participate in any trading strategy or investment vehicle.
 Past performance is not indicative of future results. There can be no assurance that any objectives can be achieved or are realistic in any given market condition.
This podcast may contain forward-looking statements; such statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements reflect our views as of such date with respect to possible future events. Actual results could differ -- perhaps materially -- from those in the forward-looking statements.
For more information about HSCM, including risks and other disclosures, please refer to www.hscm.com.

Special Episode: Being everywhere multiple times a day with Stephen Lathrope, Global Head of Insurance, ICEYE

Wow. Wow is not a word we use very much in insurance. But this special episode is full of moments where the perfectly logical response is to say “Wow!”For instance:Did you know the insurance industry had a fast-growing fleet of private satellites at its disposal, capable of giving 100% global coverage? Wow.Did you know those satellites can see in the dark and through cloud, smoke and dust? Wow.Did you know they orbit the earth multiple times a day, giving you near real-time information and they can also make incredibly accurate measurements down to the millimetre? Wow.Did you know that the physical and intellectual property behind this network has been developed and is owned by ICEYE itself? Wow.Over the past couple of decades we have become used to applying satellite imagery in property insurance. We also all knew that satellite technology had come a long way because of miniaturisation and a massive reduction in cost. But until now I don’t think we had realised quite how far things had progressed and what possibilities this could open up for the insurance sector.Today I am talking to Global Head of Insurance Stephen Lathrope about micro-satellite and data and insurance insights and solutions business ICEYE and its plans for the industry. A few minutes into our chat and it is clear that the applications for this new tech are almost limitless and ICEYE has only just begun scratching the surface of what is possible. Persistent monitoring of static objects is one clear application and the use cases for flood and many parametric covers also stand out. Windstorm, wildfire, hail and tsunami are also on the list. But it quickly emerges that it is the blending of ICEYE’s extraordinary satellite data with other data sources, forecasts, maps and models that is going to add the most value.That’s where you come in. It’s fairly obvious from a listen that I really enjoyed my time chatting to Stephen.So I think you should Listen to the podcast for the sheer pleasure of it and let some of the wow moments sink in. Then in time let all the ideas for new products percolate up to the surface and then get in touch with ICEYE and tell them how you would use their technology. Because the final link in the chain is the insurance industry itself. Enjoy the podcast.NOTES AND LINKSLearn more about ICEYE's Solutions here, or download their latest Flood Briefings hereICEYE has a webinar series starting soon, explaining the value of SAR Technology. Sign Up hereAnd any late 1970’s low-budget Brit Sci-Fi fans, just Google ‘Blake’s 7’ and see what Stephen and I were talking about!

Ep 119 Scott Purviance CEO AmWins: A Market built for Creativity and Response

In this podcast I’m talking to the top broking CEO in the most interesting segment of the insurance market anywhere in the world. Scott Purviance is the CEO of Amwins, the largest of the big three US wholesale insurance brokers. Because of this he has the best view of the trends affecting the world’s largest insurance market. And because wholesale is such an responsive escape valve for the market, any pricing, coverage or capacity pressures are immediately picked up by his organisation. His business also connects directly to the wider international markets and is a major producer of income for all concerned. Scott is relaxed, charming, and engaging. He’s also really smart and has an ability to both analyse and articulate the long-term trends that are affecting the market.In this interview we dissect all the hotspots and crunch points in the US and get a sense of where things might be heading. We also discuss the fast-growing `hybrid carrier phenomenon, broker M&A and why he doesn’t see Amwins stock heading for the public markets any time soon. LINKSWe thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com/We also thank our advertiser Anaplan and Conor Donohoe and Daniel Ellis for coming on the show to explain what Anaplan's platform does for the insurance sector. Email contacts: conor.donohoe@anaplan.comdaniel.ellis@mentattechnology.co.uk