We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • The Insurance Renaissance: 6 Minutes of 2016 History: Blog

    December 22, 2016 by Majesco Blog: Ashwin Rodrigues

    Click HERE for original blog by Majesco:

    December 23, 2016 — We knew that 2016 would be big. To capture the flavor of the pace and magnitude of change, I wrote a series of blogs where I likened the dramatic shifts in insurance technology to what happened during the original Italian Renaissance when education, money, art and science combined to create quantum leaps forward and redefined trade and the economy, the social

    December 23, 2016 — We knew that 2016 would be big. To capture the flavor of the pace and magnitude of change, I wrote a series of blogs where I likened the dramatic shifts in insurance technology to what happened during the original Italian Renaissance, when education, money, art and science combined to create quantum leaps forward and redefined trade and the economy, the social scene, and technological advancement.

    So here we are at the end of 2016, and I think we can make a case that 2016 was not only pivotal and groundbreaking, but it was historic on the scale of a Renaissance. At no time in the history of insurance can we find one year that includes this many game-changing events AND a rapid pace of ongoing advancement.

    My thinking is that if the 525,000 minutes of 2016 were actually historic, then perhaps they deserve their own 6-minute look back. To keep things short, I’ve split the 2016 trends into one-minute discussions.

    InsurTech — From Independent ideas to Industry-wide imperatives

    Do you remember where you were when you first heard the term InsurTech? Its first connotations were regarding those out-in-the-stratosphere ideas from independent tech and insurance startups as an extension of FinTech regarding important-but-not-disruptive ideas in insurance. You may have heard the term InsurTech in 2015, but it certainly went mainstream in 2016 as its own vertical focus separate from FinTech.

    Conversations around InsurTech grew, but more importantly, the influx of capital that advanced the proliferation of startups and greenfields based on new tech capabilities and business model disruption were unprecedented — bringing InsurTech from its FinTech roots into a completely mainstream, independent, industry-wide wave of innovation.

    Many traditional insurers and reinsurers hopped on the InsurTech wave and showed interest in capturing their own slices of the creative pie. From accelerators like the Silicon Valley Insurance Accelerator (SVIA), Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA) and Plug and Play to the first InsurTech Connect meeting in Las Vegas in October with over 1,500 executives in attendance … InsurTech became the “hottest” thing in the industry, giving insurers of all sizes and lines of business pause to consider their strategies.

    Even S&P recognized the impact of InsurTech as having “a complementary place in the traditional insurance world, despite remaining uncertainty in the industry about how it will function on a wide scale.”

    The insurance industry may never have had this much activity, excitement, and concern on the promise and potential of insurance disruption and reinvention. From the launch of Lemonade, Slice, Haven Life and more insurers and MGAs … the shift is to a customer-centric rather than product-centric view creating a customer experience not unlike the Amazon experience. 2017 will continue to see existing insurers and reinsurers looking to stand up a new brand and business model to capture the next generation of customers and position for growth.

    Emerging technology engages insurers

    What emerging technologies are we seeing as having made an impact in 2016 with real operational impact? There is Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. There are new sensors and their ability to capture the unseen aspects of operation and life. Protective technologies in vehicles, property, and health are growing. Live streaming data and video from smartphones and drones. Data’s organizational and visual capabilities are improving with new tools. We could drone on.

    But the reality is that the mobile, connected and ethereal digital world is using real-time data to gain insight and manage, reduce or eliminate risk in the physical world to a greater degree than ever before. There used to be “an app for that.” Now there’s a sensor for everything on the Internet of Things. The world itself is fast-becoming an omnichannel portal into daily life. The distance from “emerging technology” to mainstream tech usage is measured in months … not years, shattering Moore’s Law.

    Emerging technologies span a diverse realm for insurers if you consider that new technology can be worn on a wrist, flown pilotless through the sky, or operate entirely within the digital networks of processors and servers. It’s no wonder that an Insurance Renaissance is in full swing.

    Digital technologies have penetrated previously untapped mines of data, allowing machine failure to be predicted and prevented, a human risk to be captured and calculated, and insurer risk to be managed, mitigated and eliminated … creating a new value proposition, new products and new services for customers.

    New and innovative businesses launches

    Disruption makes use of plug and play ideas and technologies. Traditional insurance organizations were tightly wound balls of string, operating everything within that ball. Connections were immovable. Processes attempted to be neat and tidy, but were always struggling with the “messiness” of adaptation. Today’s InsurTech resembles Legos in its ability to fulfill conceptual opportunities. Imagine a pile of sensors, another pile of devices and a “pile” of data streams. Then ask yourself the question, “What can your mind dream up today?” In 2016, businesses were busying dreaming up enough disruptions to disturb the sleeping giants of insurance.

    The space age has given way to the digital age, where it seems like anything may be possible … it just takes imagination, creativity and thinking outside the traditional box.

    Slice made a mobile app that integrates with a hybrid homeowner/commercial product. Lemonade used an Artificial Intelligence (AI) bot to act as agent on a peer-to-peer insurance platform. Haven Life (actually launched in 2015, but entered 33 new states in 2016) reconsidered how data streams could improve the life underwriting experience for term life. And then there were new distribution options with companies like Ask Kodiak, Insurify, and Policygenius to name a few … deconstructing and redefining the insurance value chain / business model.

    Just like building with Legos, there seems to be no end to the combinations of startup and greenfield businesses that can launch using new business models, technologies and great ideas across all aspects of the insurance value chain meeting new customer needs, expectations,and demands. This is one area where 2017 will certainly trump 2016 — we may only be seeing the beginning of the innovation wave — but expanding from venture capital backed to existing insurers standing up their own greenfield and startup businesses.

    Reinsurers invest in InsurTech and startups

    With the reinsurance market having excess capital, reinsurers took big moves to be major players in Insurtech … from investing in technology companies to new startup insurance and MGA businesses. In addition, many are looking at all the disruption around and within insurance, developing, incubating and testing new insurance products to take to market … either directly or through customers or partners.

    Consider reinsurer’s investment in Trov, Lemonade, Root and Slice; Munich Re’s investment and focus on mobility and autonomous vehicles; or XL Group and the establishment of XL Innovate, a specialized venture capital fund pursuing investments in financial technology, new opportunities for insurance underwriting, and related analytics, globally. Swiss Re, Hannover Re, Odyssey Re, Maiden Re and others are rapidly making moves as well. Consistently, these investments are in new operational models, new products or meeting new risks … creating a path to underserved or new markets.

    As noted in a recent article, all of this InsurTech activity is raising the expectation on the importance of reinsurance capital to support new business models and back technology start-ups. In the process, InsurTech start-ups are looking to disrupt the risk to capital value-chain in insurance by deconstructing and collapsing the value chain, and cutting out primary carriers or brokers, as well as costs, and placing the risk directly with reinsurers, leveraging unused capital.

    We expect to see increased activity from reinsurers that will likely begin to look at partnering with existing insurers / customers to collaborate on new products, emerging technologies or standing up a new brand or greenfield … continuing the deconstruction of the traditional insurance value chain.

    Cloud goes mainstream

    In 2016, the case for core system platform in the cloud reached the tipping point … from nice to consider to a must have. Its logic has grown as capabilities have improved and cost pressures have increased. Though cost is a consideration and modern functionality is important, rapid industry change is fueling a Renaissance in insurance models. The startup insurer or the greenfield insurance concept needs a system solution built for rapid deployment. New products often need new processes, making cloud capabilities a catalyst for creative product development. Nothing can make an insurer feel more cutting edge than moving from idea to rollout in the short timeframes that cloud solutions provide.

    Many insurers are taking advantage of the same Pay-As-You-Use principles as consumers themselves. They are sharing system solutions with cloud-based technology. They are paying as they grow, with agreements that allow them to pay-per-policy or pay based on premiums. They are using data on demand relationships for everything from medical evidence to geographic data and credit scoring. They use technology partners and consultants in an effort to not waste downtime, capital, resources, and budgets.

    They are rapidly moving to a Pay-As-They-Use world, building Pay-As-They-Need insurance enterprises. This is especially true for greenfields and startups, where a large part of the economic equation is an elegant, pay-as-you-grow technology framework. They can turn that framework into a safe testing ground for innovative concepts without the fear of tremendous loss, while having the ability grow if the concepts are wildly successful. The window of opportunity is open to insurers that wish to prepare their business models, products, processes and systems to embrace the Pay-As-You-Go culture

    This makes cloud a nearly-universal solution, fitting the needs of both startups and traditional insurers with plans for growth and expansion. In 2016, cloud became a mainstream option — an imperative for insurers needing a competitive edge.

    Perspectives on the Pace of Change

    Two weeks ago, the world lost John Glenn, a famous American astronaut, and longtime United States Senator. Glenn was born in 1921, only 18 years after the Wright Brothers tested flights at Kitty Hawk. He lived to pilot jets, was the first person to orbit the earth in a spacecraft, then later flew on two Space Shuttle missions at the age of 77. His life is a great example of the growing pace of change — in a world that moved from mechanization to digitization.

    Yet as much as changed in Glenn’s lifetime, today’s advancements are eclipsing all of them in pace and disruption. The systems that create knowledge through data and analysis are truly powerful forces that will ignite perpetual improvement and a new world of connected living. Insurance, once concerned with risk management on a large scale, is now focused on learning and understanding risk down to an individual policy-level, with a craving for more knowledge as it becomes available. If 2016 proved to be an Insurance Renaissance fueled by InsurTech, it is very likely that 2017 will provide us with an even greater shift in the midst of an industry rebirth. How much will change? We have all of 2017 to find out!

     

    – See more at: http://www.lifehealth.com/insurance-renaissance-6-minutes-2016-history/?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=e-newsLink&utm_content=rsli#sthash.KJzoLEjm.dpuf

    Originally Posted at Advisor Magazine on December 22, 2016 by Majesco Blog: Ashwin Rodrigues.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency