INSURANCE INDUSTRY NEWS

Cognition+ to Launch Cognition+ Cloud
Cognition+ is pleased to announce the launch of a cloud-native version of its industry-leading enterprise insurance software, the next step in the evolution of the Cognition+ platform into a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering. Read more.

SMA's Top 10 Predictions For P&C Insurance In 2023
This year promises to be another interesting one for the P&C insurance industry. A new SMA report features 10 predictions for the P&C industry in 2023, developed by the partners at SMA and ReSource Pro Consulting. The predictions, which are organized in the report by the impact on insurance firms, whether outside-in, inside-out, or a mix of both, are expected to further accelerate change in 2023 and beyond. Read more.

Insurers Shift Focus To Improving CX, Operational Efficiency
As marketers face increased scrutiny over their operations, Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top five predictions that marketing leaders must incorporate in their strategies in 2023 and beyond to drive results and regain the confidence of business leaders. Read more.

Climate Change, La Niña Drive 2022 Natural Disaster Losses
2022 has officially joined the recent run of years with high losses, according to Munich Re. Overall losses were close to the average for the last five years, while insured losses were significantly above average. The continued high level of insured losses is impacting insurers at a time when they are having to deal with both high inflation rates and a shrinking capital base due to rising interest rates. In contrast, the positive effect on investments from higher interest rates will only come in time. Read more.

Embedded Distribution Could Exceed US$ 70bn in Premium in the U.S. By 2030
Embedded insurance is poised to make significant inroads into both personal lines and small commercial insurance business, according to a new report by Conning. Read more.

Westland Insurance Acquires RiskTech Insurance
Westland Insurance, Canada's largest independent insurance broker, is pleased to announce that it has acquired Edmonton brokerage RiskTech Insurance Services, effective January 1st. Read more.

Ardonagh Specialty Joins Brokerslink Network
Global broking business Brokerslink is pleased to announce it has added Ardonagh Specialty to its international network. Three businesses within Ardonagh Specialty are existing Brokerslink partners; the new move brings in the entire Ardonagh Specialty business into the network as partners. Read more.

Blink Parametric Teams Up With Firemelon
Blink Parametric and Firemelon Limited are pleased to announce a strategic partnership to offer ease of access to Blink Parametric real-time parametric solutions and assistance to all travel insurance providers served by Firemelon's Magenta Insurance System platform. Read more.

Cover Genius Partners With HomeToGo
Cover Genius, the leading InsurTech for embedded protection, is pleased to announce it is partnering with HomeToGo, the marketplace with the world's largest selection of vacation rentals, to simplify the short-term rental experience with comprehensive embedded protection. Read more.

CIAA Launches Claims Specialty Portal
Over the last few years, the P&C insurance industry has been saying Claim Specialists are the future of the Independent Adjusting profession, and 2021 polling found an overwhelming majority showed a strong interest in member services in the area of specialties. Read more.

Beazley Launches Specialist Hybrid Event Cancellation Solution
As sporting events, conferences and exhibitions return, hybrid physical-virtual events remain an important part of both planning and increased audience participation. Beazley's Hybrid Event Cancellation solution offers US companies protection against these multiple, complex threats in a single simple policy. Read more.

Brokerage Giant Partners With Top Broker On Joint Venture Acquisition
Billyard Insurance Group is pleased to announce its new partnership with Hunter Insurance Inc. operating as My Hunter. Rebranded with a fresh look and feel, My Hunter brings a new perspective to the insurance landscape. Read more.

In the InsurTech Spotlight this week:

Brickeye
Brickeye works with insureds and insurers to reduce risk and protect margins by enabling technology-driven risk mitigation on high-rise and multi-family building construction projects. The company's platform provides advanced Internet of Things (IoT) job site monitoring, real-time alerts, and valuable reporting and analytics across an array of construction risks related to noise, micro-weather, water leaks and infiltration, mass timber, concrete, building interior, and fire watch. Learn more.

Calling all InsurTechs! Click here to participate.

From Doug The insurance media is awash with beginning-of-year trends and predictions. Joanna England's "Six InsurTech Trends To Disrupt The Insurance Market In 2023" caught my attention in particular. One of her six predictions is that this year, “we will see a growing focus on true innovation in insurance.” We have experienced years of “innovation” – for some to capture market share, for others to remain competitive through: • An “Agility” culture; • Being operationally more efficient with process improvements; • An intense CX focus – now encompassing UX for customers, partners and staff. True innovation, changing insurance itself, will usually be dependent upon a combination of modern connectivity and relevant quality data. Examples include: • On-demand; • Embedded; • Straight-through processing. Product design, pricing and underwriting will: • better reflect the risk; • facilitate uninsurable risks to be insurable; • improve risk management and loss mitigation. Innovation is growing, but don't equate InsurTechs with startups. Incumbents are rapidly becoming InsurTechs too (many have already) and are quite capable of participating actively in the next rounds of innovation. Doug Grant, CIP Partner Insurance-Canada.ca