The Voice of Insurance

Ep258 Mark Wheeler: Not capital-lite

I really enjoyed recording this podcast. That’s probably because since I last spoke to Mark Wheeler, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Mosaic Insurance, a full three-and-a-half years ago, he has been able to execute and begin to reap the rewards of all the plans he laid out in Episode 99. There’s nothing like a sub-80 combined ratio to put a spring in your step and validate the vision you had when you founded the business, particularly when it comes relatively early in a start-up’s life.Mosaic has now built out its global platform and wrote over 660 million dollars in gross premiums in 2024, with that number set to grow as the group continues to scale. This interview distils the group’s highly-specialist added-value underwriter-led philosophy in excellent detail.But at its core, this podcast is really all about a real Lloyd’s expert making the most of all the advantages of the market’s unique syndicated underwriting and capital platform. It’s about the deep understanding of risk and the many shades of diversified capital that that risk can be connected to to create a sustainable ultra-specialist insurance business.Mosaic has its own capital, third-party capital, specialist reinsurance relationships and a large group of syndicated insurance partners underwriting alongside it. It is highly diversified and is set to diversify more. It’s capital-efficient, but certainly not capital-lite. Today this is an almost unique model but at the same time it will be a very familiar one to anyone who knows Lloyd’s longer-term history.As the market splits into leaders, followers and data-heavy portfolio managers, here’s as good a summary of the 21st century lead underwriter model that you are likely to hear anywhere.Mark is a charming guest and this is one of those interviews that just crackled along of its own accord, without prompts. I can highly recommend a listen.NOTES: Mark Mentions a Toby. This is Toby Smith, Mosaic’s CEO of the AmericasHe also mentions Burkhard, which is Burkhard Keese, former CFO of Lloyd’s.FAL (Pronounced as a word) = Funds at Lloyd’sCISO = Chief Information Security OfficerLINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep257 Kevin Gill, Chairman of IRLA: Just scratching the surface

When I meet someone to record an interview they often ask me how long the podcast is going to be. My stock answer is that it entirely depends upon them. Some people talk more than others and some people pack an awful lot into a lot less time, while others take longer to fully express themselves.You also never quite know where the conversation is going to go and that is a huge variable. Today’s podcast is lively, fun and gets straight to the point. That’s because it entirely reflects our interviewee. Kevin Gill is the Chairman of IRLA, the Insurance and Reinsurance Legacy Association.IRLA is the UK trade body that represents insurance and reinsurance legacy management professionals and this interview will bring you right up to date with everything that is happening in this increasingly mature and sophisticated segment of the marketplace. As legacy becomes ever more embedded as an essential, trusted service provider and capital partner for the live market we discuss how that relationship is evolving and where it might end up in the long term.The legacy market also has its own cycles independent of the live market and so we look at the relative state of the two markets and how this affects dealmaking.We also take the temperature of how the legacy sector feels about some of the more problematic recent live underwriting years, as well as looking at emerging loss trends and prospects for the application of emerging technology such as Ai to the sector.The portrait that emerges is of a confident, professionalised and vibrant segment  that is ready to trade and is looking at interesting growth opportunities as some of the soft-market underwriting years begin to mature.  Kevin is a breath of fresh air and there are no subjects left off the table. My bet is that you’ll finish this episode wanting more. NOTES:ADC = Adverse Development CoverLINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep256 Steve Arora: You need to have sizzle

Today’s Episode is special and completely out of the ordinary. Regular listeners will know that in most episodes I will talk to senior insurance and reinsurance executives and focus on what they have just done and what are about to do. Today’s no different in that respect, but it’s a far richer encounter because of who my guest is and what he has been doing since the summer of 2023.Until very recently Steve Arora was the co-founder of Alpine Re, a new balance sheet reinsurer looking to tap into a disrupted reinsurance market.Alpine Re didn’t end up materialising, but only after an intense 20-month period of activity in which investors of all shapes and sizes were contacted and canvassed. All this means that Steve is currently better qualified than even the best investment banker to talk about what investors want from the reinsurance industry. Once you have left no stone unturned you get to see the real layout of the bedrock below and in our interview Steve goes really deeply into the appetites, hopes and fears of each investor type. We also examine in great detail the optimal design of the model reinsurer of today. If you had a blank piece of paper and could start a new reinsurer from scratch, where would you be domiciled and how many underwriting locations would you have? And what would you be looking to write? Would you be a specialist or a generalist and what would your relationship with technology be? Understandably Steve has been thinking very hard about all of these questions and his insights are highly valuable.This episode is a great illustration of how no experience ever goes to waste. Steve is on excellent form and the interview has great pace and intensity. In our world very few people try something genuinely entrepreneurial more than once in their careers and in this meeting you’ll learn all of the lessons that Steve has learnt from time out spent a long way out of his comfort zone. It’s clear to me that the next role or venture that Steve becomes involved with will benefit immeasurably from this recent intense experience.In the meantime I can highly recommend a listen.NOTES: During our conversation I couldn’t remember when Steve was first on the podcast. It was on Episode 8, way back in 2020 when he was CEO of Axis Re: https://thevoiceofinsurance.podbean.com/e/ep8-japan-florida-and-casualty-renewals-preview-steve-arora-axis-re/LINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep255 Charlie Langdale Humanity Insured: Insurance Magic

At a fundamental level we all know that Insurance is a force for good in the world. You pay a relatively small premium and if your house burns down, an Insurer will help you rebuild it. But I’m sure most of us will at some time in their careers have felt that what we do day-to-day in our insurance jobs has become increasingly removed and disconnected from those basic principles.Well today I’m talking to someone who is trading a highly successful career in our insurance world for a new career concentrating 100% on the good that the deployment of the knowhow and structures that the insurance industry has developed can have on the poorest across the globe.Charlie Langdale is CEO of Humanity Insured, a charity that deploys its funds to subsidise insurance premiums for communities in low-income countries.
The Aid and Development community is very reactive and only tends to arrive and try and pick up the pieces after a major loss event has happened. This podcast goes right to the heart of the economics of aid and development. In it Charlie shows how Insurance can be a force for good and help lift people out of poverty and eventually convert them into growing insurance customers of the future – all because of a little pump-priming from organisations like Humanity Insured.In a world filled with gloomy headlines it’s easy to despair and feel that some of the problems facing humanity are simply insurmountable. I guarantee that half an hour with Charlie will inspire you and put a spring in your step. For not only does he believe that the problems can be solved with the economic resources we already have at our disposal, but that it’s our industry that has already developed a lot of the solutions the world is going to need. Whether its responding to extreme weather or even saving endangered species, Charlie has a story to tell about how insurance is already helping hundreds of thousands of people.NOTES & ABBREVIATIONS: The FCDO is the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development OfficeLINKS:https://humanityinsured.org/Do get involved. New ideas can be as important as funds.We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep254 Emily Apple & Andreas Wichmann Alpha Insurance Analysts: Loyal Capital

Today’s guests work at a Lloyd’s Members’ Agent. Their job is to give advice and guidance to Names, the high net worth individuals providing underwriting capital to Lloyd’s Syndicates, and their clients provide just under a billion pounds of capacity to the market. There was a time around 20 years ago when such a role might have been seen as perhaps a little quaint – one of those odd quirks that the Lloyd’s Market seems to specialise in. Back then the brave new Lloyd’s was focused almost exclusively on corporate capital provision and private capital seemed to be condemned to a managed long-term relative decline.A lot has changed since then.These days Director and Head of Syndicate Analysis Emily Apple and Andreas Wichmann Business Development Director at Alpha Insurance Analysts are busy assessing a strong pipeline of both continuing and new business opportunities in the market as entrepreneurs rediscover the attraction of engaging a loyal and dedicated source of meaningful underwriting funds as part of their capital mix. New forms of tenure for Names are also helping make them a more attractive source of capital to Managing Agents, while investors seem finally to be gaining more awareness of the many capital and fiscal advantages of underwriting as a private individual.Emily and Andreas are hugely experienced, highly knowledgeable and great company.They have a great overview of the Lloyd’s market and its prospects for ventures new and old and this podcast paints a detailed picture of the opportunities in the market from an investors’ perspective.You’ll learn a lot and if you’ve ever wondered what it takes to become a Name and how the whole process works, this episode will give you all the information you need.LINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep253 Sheila Cameron LMA: Stick to your Values

Today’s guest was the very first interviewee on this podcast over 250 episodes and five years ago. She’s been on since as part of a multi-person episode, but it’s great to get her back on the show one on one. With a new Lloyd’s Chairman, CFO and CEO all now announced and either just starting or about to start their tenures, the timing couldn’t be better. The Lloyd’s Market Association (LMA) represents the interests of underwriting businesses at Lloyd’s and Sheila is a very effective leader, spokesperson and focal point for that hugely important constituency. In this interview she sets out the LMA’s priorities as the Lloyd’s baton is passed to a new team.Sheila is crystal clear on what her members want and this interview is a Tour de Force. We cover everything from the LMA’s top ask of the new  regime all the way through to the future of underwriting and capital provision in the market. Sheila’s very direct and our conversation doesn’t duck thornier topics such as the market’s frustratingly slow technological reform process, and the difficult-to-navigate cultural reform agenda. By the way, we made this recording a few days before the unveiling of Patrick Tiernan as the next CEO of Lloyd’s, but the messages for the incoming leader are loud and clear and still current.The LMA is an essential and vibrant trade body and Sheila is its equally essential and vibrant voice. And I think the result is essential listening for anyone with an interest in the future direction of the Lloyd’s Market.NOTES:We mention a report on Enhanced Underwriting. This was penned by the LMA and Oxbow Partners and is entitled:The Growth of Enhanced Underwriting in the Lloyd's Market: The New Normal?The Executive summary and full download links are here: https://www.lmalloyds.com/LMA/lma/News/Blog/Enhanced_Underwriting_Report.aspxLINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep252 Michael Price & Kean Driscoll, Dellwood: One plus one is three

I love having insurance entrepreneurs on the show explaining their ideas and outlining the ambition they have for their business. It’s a great way to discover the best opportunities that are out there in the marketplace.And when the guests are highly experienced, with great track records, it just means that we should pay even more attention what they are seeing.That’s why I’m delighted that Michael Price CEO (pictured Left), and Kean Driscoll (Right), President and CUO of Dellwood Insurance Group were able to spare time out of their busy schedules to appear on the Voice of Insurance.
If you had the chance how would you go about attacking the best business opportunities in the Insurance industry today?For Michael and Kean it’s all about exploiting the increased flow of business that is finding its way into the US Excess and Surplus Lines market. The advent of improved technology means that lots of Small Commercial insurance and even some personal lines are now able to take advantage of the more dynamic, responsive and entrepreneurial underwriting environment to be found outside Admitted Lines. Michael and Kean are applying the lessons learned from full careers in insurance and reinsurance to serving areas of high demand in the largest insurance market in the world. Dellwood is a start-up working at a fascinating time, where Insurance distribution is being remoulded and new technologies such as AI are really beginning to come into their own, just as dislocation and large shifts in demand are being experienced in many segments of the market in both property and casualty.Building a brand new player, with no financial, technological or indeed cultural legacy at a time like this looks like a very exciting move, allowing Dellwood to move fast to fill in the gaps and allow capital access to hopefully sustainably profitable pools of risk. Michael and Kean are laser-focused on the job in hand and this podcast is full to the brim of their wisdom and expertise as they look to capitalise on a career business opportunity and build a new premium insurance franchise.If you ever wanted to climb inside the minds of top insurance thinkers and practitioners in full flight, this is your chance.LINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Ep251 Tom Quy Acrisure London Wholesale: Opportunity Everywhere

Today’s podcast is another really vibrant and forward-looking addition to the Voice of Insurance canon.I think that’s because it’s with one of London’s most recently-appointed wholesale broking leaders, Tom Quy Managing Director Acrisure London WholesaleAcrisure London Wholesale is a little different from many of its peers. Yes, it handles most of the same sort of high-end specialist placements that any other London wholesaler does, indeed it sources 70% of its business from outside the Acrisure Group.But it is the scale of the opportunity that it has by being attached to Acrisure’s impressive retail network that is particularly interesting. Acrisure has a 5% share of US commercial insurance but unlike most of its top-10 global insurance broker peers, 90% of its clients have less than 100 staff. These are clearly not the sort of businesses that would historically have come to London for their insurance. But here’s the interesting and exciting part. As tech brings unit costs right down and allows risk to be packaged in new and more efficient ways, the London Market and some of its more differentiated product might be brought to smaller and smaller original clients in ways that benefit underwriters, clients and the brokers connecting them. That’s the opportunity that Tom and is team are getting to grips with and that’s what makes this such an enlightening and forward-looking discussion. Tom’s challenge mirrors that of the entire London Market – if  it can keep driving unit costs down through digitisation while at the same time keeping product quality, relevance and innovation high, it will have hit upon a rich winning formula that its brokers will be able to export around the world.And if it can’t, the consequences don’t much bear thinking about. Tom’s great company and is a very strong and open communicator and this Episode is highly recommended for anyone interested in the best opportunities in the global wholesale insurance markets.LINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com

Sp Ep Risto Rossar CEO Insly: The future is already here

Todays’ Episode is an invigorating catch-up with someone who was last on the podcast over two years ago.Risto Rossar is CEO of Insly and is a really rare combination in that he is an insurance business builder who realised that helping the insurance industry fully digitise would be a better and more scalable business proposition than continuing to grow the highly successful digital Baltic insurance broker that he had founded. Insly continues to grow at speed, serving fast-growing segments of the market such as MGAs that need full end-to-end insurance software, but are unlikely to be on the radar of the largest vendors.Risto really gets tech and insurance – but he is also a very strong communicator who tends to tell things the way he sees them. This is where we come to the invigorating part that I mentioned at the beginning.Risto’s trademark is no-nonsense, down-to-earth analysis of what technologies are and are not likely to be genuinely disruptive to the insurance industry. He is good at seeing through hype and puncturing bubbles.So when someone in his position, with his level of understanding and natural sense of healthy scepticism starts getting genuinely excited about AI, we all need to sit up and listen. What follows is one of the most interesting and credible conversations about the likely long-term disruptive effects of AI on the insurance sector I have had on the show. If you think AI is just going to be nice productivity tool that removes all your dull admin tasks, you need to think again – it will do that but an awful lot more besides.The opportunities to be seized here are enormous but are difficult for those of us used to a very slow-moving status quo to get our heads around. Risto is on exceptional form and is clearly feeling energised and excited for the future – listen on and I think you will too.LINKS: https://insly.com/

Ep250: Adrian Cox Beazley: Managing the grey areas consistently well

Todays’ podcast is another really positive and uplifting meeting with someone right at the top of their game. Fresh from posting record annual profits of over $1.4bn on a top line that exceeded $6bn for the first time, it was perhaps understandable to find Adrian Cox, CEO of Beazley in excellent spirits. Whilst the market may be peaking in terms of pricing, speaking to Adrian it certainly doesn’t seem to be peaking in terms of profitable opportunity, and much of this podcast is a dissection of global specialist insurance opportunities in the world and how a top-tier progressive underwriter like Beazley is positioning itself to make the most of them. Whether it be fast-emerging new classes of insurance relating to the decarbonisation of the economy, burgeoning new geopolitical risk and complexity, the rise of parametric covers, the application of artificial intelligence or indeed the fast-changing dynamics of how insurance is transacted, this encounter reveals positive new thinking and investment in abundance.Listen on for all this and more.I think if you listen closely enough you can hear a distillation of Beazley’s distinctive culture coming through, not just in what Adrian is saying about the issues of the day, but in the way he is saying it. It seems that it is possible that rigour and discipline combined with worldly curiosity and a willingness to allow controlled experimentation in the understanding that not everything will go to plan can all form key parts of a successful business culture. This is another good episode to file away for when you’re in need of a morale-booster. Adrian’s enthusiasm and good humour are infectious and I think you’ll enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed recording it  LINKS:We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo:https://www.advantagego.com