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Clients and partners should expect a “more consistent underwriting approach”, with coordination on global scale, the insurer said.

“Allianz Commercial allows us to deliver the full value of Allianz’s scale and full set of capabilities for the benefit of our customers, brokers and shareholders,” said Chris Townsend, member of the Allianz SE board of management.

Allianz Commercial will feature one single lead in each country or region to represent its commercial businesses, a move it said is intended to simplify the experience of clients and distribution partners.

Its trading, underwriting, and customer delivery teams are expected to “work closely together” under the model, according to the press release. The legal entities conducting the insurance business and their leadership are expected to remain the same, Allianz said.

Restructuring its leadership and management team

ACGS has added two new members to its board of management while also updating the responsibilities of existing members.

Joachim Mueller will now lead the Allianz Commercial business as part of his role as CEO of AGCS SE, reporting to Townsend.

Jon-Paul Jones will assume the role as chief operating officer of AGCS, pending regulatory approval, replacing Betting Dietsche, who has already moved to Allianz SE as chief people and culture officer. Additionally, since February 1, Dirk Vogler has been working as the midcorp transformation officer.

Jones will oversee global business operations, IT, protection and resilience, corporate service transformation, global process management, the global data office and major IT transformation projects.

Vogler oversees the program office, which was also created to support the new collaborative model between AGCS and the mid corporate business of national Allianz OEs.

Other notable transitions

Besides these two appointments, various changes in responsibility have come into effect for current AGCS SE Board Members:

• Chief underwriting officer specialty, Renate Strasser, will move to a newly-created AGCS SE board role as chief technical officer, overseeing all global functions that focus on technical excellence in underwriting, pricing, portfolio management, risk consulting and reinsurance, as well as ESG/climate solutions.
• Shanil Williams will now take on greater responsibility for all nine AGCS global lines of business, both corporate and specialty, as chief underwriting officer.
• Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre will head the compliance, human resources and the ‘NEW AGCS’ transformation program office. She is also the new deputy CEO on the AGCS SE board, replacing Mueller.
• Alongside his role as CEO of AGCS SE, Mueller will also take responsibility for business in the United Kingdom, France and Australia. Each country has large Allianz MidCorp portfolios and are key parts of the integrated commercial AGCS/OE partnership.
• Other countries or regions will continue to report to either Henning Haagen, chief regions & markets officer 1, or Tracy Ryan, newly appointed as chief regions &, markets officer 2.

“I welcome Dirk and Jon-Paul to AGCS as new members to AGCS SE Board of Management, in addition to Tracy Ryan whose appointment we announced a few days ago” Mueller said. “With these new joiners and a new allocation of responsibilities for some current board members, we, as a leadership team, are ready to open the next chapter in AGCS’s corporate history: the realisation of the new collaborative model of Allianz Commercial.”

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What’s driving changing attitudes to innovation?

“When I reflect on what’s changed, I think, really, there are three things,” she said. ”The first thing is that our customers and clients demand something different from us as an industry. And people want to interact with us, how they interact with other things in their lives – whether it’s buying stuff online, or whether it’s communicating with their bank. So, I think there is a push from our customers.”

The second major change is that internal organisations across the insurance ecosystem appear to now have a greater willingness to adapt to technological change, Ladva said. She identified how quickly the industry shifted to online meetings during COVID as an example. Previously, that scale of change would have taken six months of training and workshops, etc. but almost overnight, entire workforces moved online – reflecting the lower barrier to entry and reduced resistance to technological change within organisations.

“And finally,” she said, “I think the things that technology can do now have changed. I think all those three things in the last five years have made a difference. But we haven’t quite caught up yet…. And to catch up, I would say we really need to focus and we need to execute. I think our Achilles heel as an industry is our ability to get stuff done and get stuff done quickly.”

How can insurance accelerate into the next generation?

During Ladva’s keynote address, host Louise Smith, chair of the UK board of the global financial services software firm Stripe, identified how the rest of the financial services sector generally views insurance as behind the technology curve, albeit with the ability to outstrip them in the future. But what are the barriers preventing insurance from making that leap? And what transitions will be required to accelerate insurance into the next generation?

For Ladva, the answer really comes down to having a “relentless focus on the customer or the client.” Different stakeholders across insurance will define that in very different ways, she said, but the industry is primed to overcome that barrier due to the bright, clever and incredibly forward-thinking individuals that make up the sector. She emphasised, however, how important it is for the insurance sector to celebrate its inherent creativity as well as its strong data and tech proficiencies.

People outside of the insurance industry don’t seem to recognise that creativity, she said, but it’s, “a fascinating part of what we do.” So, insurance should look to utilise and amplify that creativity to truly ensure that the customer is at the heart of everything it does and all the solutions it creates.

“Secondly,” she said, “I think the other barrier and challenge that we face – and it’s not unique to us, but I think it has a greater challenge for us  – is talent. Everybody in the world is after the same talent.”

How can insurance access the best talent?

Another company with a bigger brand name which is operating in a different industry probably has an easier time attracting great talent, Ladva said, and so the question for the insurance market is how can it encourage the best people to join the sector. And the answer starts with understanding why individuals are not currently attracted to the insurance market which goes back to importance of advertising the creativity to be found in insurance – but it’s also about finding creative solutions to plug that talent gap.

“The way I think about solving that is that first of all you have to look at who you already have,” she said. “Think about how do you repurpose, how do you retrain, and how do you create a real learning culture?… I think that’s the first thing. And then the second thing is how do we make what we do in insurance attractive for people to want to come and join us?

“And there, the thing I’ve realised is purpose. We have a real purpose in what we do in this industry. We talk about making the world more resilient but what does that actually mean? So when you explain to younger talent about how by using satellite imagery, you can predict supply chain risks they’re like, ‘really? Is that what you can do?’ So, it’s about creating a purpose out of our industry which attracts talent that sometimes would go elsewhere. I think those things are probably, as well as a focus for execution, things that concern me.”

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Specialty managing general agent (MGA) Optio Group has named Tom Kennett as its UK head of political violence and terrorism (PVT). Kennett will be based in London and will report to PVT global head Chris Kirby.

Kennett brings with him both broking and underwriting experience, with 12 years of class-specific expertise. His most recent posting was with Munich Re Syndicate, where he held the role of senior PVT underwriter. Before this, he held a number of senior positions, including PVT senior broker at both Aon and Marsh, where he focused on building a global partner network and sourcing new business opportunities within emerging markets.

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That said, both groups agree on the percentage of people who may experience a negative impact with hybrid work, with employers listing 6% and employees listing 7%. Both groups acknowledged that hybrid work is not a positive experience for everyone in the workspace.

GRiD noted in their study the importance of recognising that although a relatively small percentage of people overall view hybrid work as a negative impact in their careers, it still represents a large number of employees. The industry body stressed that while many people feel that a flexibility in working locations is beneficial, it’s important that employers don’t assume or change their workplaces or working practises in a way that could potentially harm their workforce.

“A slightly exaggerated view”

“Employers have a slightly exaggerated view of just how much hybrid working is benefiting the health and wellbeing of their staff. It’s clearly the case that many do find it a positive experience but employers should be careful not to assume this is a panacea for everyone. It’s important to note that health and wellbeing support will still be required for everyone, and particularly for those who have found the change in working patterns more difficult to cope with,” GRiD spokesperson Katharine Moxham said.

The study found that mental wellbeing was the area that employees felt was most improved for those who felt hybrid work’s positive effect, with 68% of respondents agreeing. This was followed by social wellbeing at 45%, financial wellbeing at 44%, and physical wellbeing at 43%.

The research noted that despite mental health being the largest beneficiary of hybrid working, in addition to reduced costs of commuting associated with financial health, it is of interest that social and physical benefits were reported by employees, too.

“Employers may have already seen the benefits to physical and social health by allowing staff to relinquish their journey to work, allowing employees to spend more time with family and friends and potentially using the time for fitness activities to improve their physical health,” Moxham said.

The research found that half of employees said they have a choice about whether to work from the office or at home, a figure which largely tallies with statistics reported by employers. Of employers surveyed, 22% said that they have given all their employees a choice about where they work from, and 34% said that they have allowed some but not all of their employees to make the same decision.

Despite the results tilting heavily in favour of its positive effects, employers must not consider hybrid work to be a benefit in and of itself. GRiD stated in its study that hybrid work is not a replacement for a comprehensive program of benefits to support health and wellbeing such as private medical insurance or group risk benefits including employer-sponsored life assurance, income protection, and critical illness.

It’s important to have a full suite of support available for when an employee struggles with a health or wellbeing issue. While working from home may help some, it’s not always suitable for all, and the report noted that it is not a fix when more serious issues come to light.

“Employers who fully support the health and wellbeing of their staff through a programme of employee benefits and other flexible policies, will be rewarded with a more engaged and more proactive workforce. Hybrid working can play a role but it’s not the silver bullet,” Moxham said.

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A Serious Crime Prevention Order was lodged against Sediqi at the same court Feb. 23. This order, a first for the IFED, means that Sediqi will be subject to a number of restrictions following his release from prison this month, to prevent him from committing further offences.

“An important milestone”

Under the order’s restrictions, which were set in conjunction with the Lifetime Offender Management Unit (LOMU) of the City of London Police, Sediqi will have limitations on the number of mobile phones and current bank accounts which he can hold. He will also be required to inform the LOMU of any changes to his address and other personal circumstances. Breach of the order is a criminal offence and punishable by up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

“This result not only represents an important milestone for IFED, but shows that repeat offenders will be dealt with robustly,” IFED detective chief inspector Tom Hill said. “Sediqi targeted legitimate businesses and used the identities of unsuspecting members of the public for his own financial gain. Thankfully, the Serious Crime Prevention Order handed to him will help ensure that he does not continue with this fraudulent activity, and prevent further innocent people from falling victim to his schemes.”

After a legitimate claims management company discovered that he had posed as its director and offered to refer claims to a solicitors firm in exchange for a fee, Sediqi was referred to IFED for investigations. In total, he made £26,070 in referral fees, and detectives found that he was also linked to the bank accounts that received the payments.

IFED and Aviva, the UK insurer that Sediqi defrauded, launched a separate investigation that linked him and two others to 62 fraudulent motor insurance claims. Sediqi and his partners operated by fraudulently opening bank accounts using stolen IDs or fictitious details to take out insurance policies with Aviva, resulting in a total of £200,000 in compensation defrauded from the company.

“This is a watershed moment for the insurance industry and something which Aviva welcomes and applauds. Sediqi is a career criminal who balanced significant greed against a likelihood of being caught and the potential outcome if convicted. He was willing to re-offend because he thought he knew the consequences. That has changed and, if breached, the Serious Crime Prevention Order carries an immediate term of imprisonment,” Aviva special investigations unit manager Carl Mather said.

Mather also said that Aviva has fully supported the investigation and the steps taken to secure the order. With the court granting it, insurance fraud impact on the general public has been acknowledged, while the restrictions imposed on Sediqi are specifically designed to prevent him from continuing to target insurers. In the future, it will also serve as a deterrent for others looking to dabble in insurance fraud.

“Aviva remains resolute in its determination to detect and prosecute fraud and in so doing will continue to protect our honest customers from paying for the criminal actions of others,” Mather said.

A recent Broker Pulse study from RSA Insurance found that brokers are increasingly concerned and are calling for additional support from the industry with regards to insurance fraud.

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From its foundation in 1968 by cardiologist Dr Thomas Frist, HCA has built a network of over 30 facilities in London and Manchester. Birmingham is its latest centre, with the location opening this year. The healthcare provider works with over 3,000 consultants, all of whom are experts in their respective fields and at the forefront of global clinical excellence.

“A strong voice in our industry”

“We are excited to join amii as a corporate member,” HCA UK vice president of corporate sales Soraya Chamberlain said. “amii has a strong voice in our industry and we genuinely believe we have a valuable and influential role to play in supporting intermediaries, insurers and corporates.”

Chamberlain said that the HCA UK will bring some value where it can and be part of the positive influence and leverage amii can bring to the market.

“There’s never been a better time to join the association,” she said.

The association saw a record-breaking expansion during 2022, with tracking for growth this year set to be equally strong. As the voice of intermediaries and insurance members, amii promotes and advises individuals and companies on health insurance, protection, and well-being services. Including HCA UK, amii now has over 135 members after welcoming 16 new intermediaries and four new corporates in 2022, the highest recruitment in a single year for the association.

“We are thrilled that HCA Healthcare has joined the amii family. It is great to see an internationally recognised healthcare provider join and in doing so recognise that the breadth and depth of amii reaches far beyond health insurance,” amii executive chairman David Middleton said. “As we enter 2023 on the back of record-breaking membership recruitment and a rebrand in 2022, we are confident that our rapid expansion will continue and we look forward to working with new associate organisations.”

Middleton was appointed to the post in 2021, succeeding Stuart Scullion.

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“When we look to computers or we look to technology to make an organisation more profitable and more efficient … some of these organisations have employed, in some cases, mountains of people to be able to do some of this work,” said Jeff DeVerter, chief technology evangelist, Rackspace Technology.

“Some of the low-level analyst work that used to be done in large spreadsheets, that used to be done in some specific tooling for the industry, maybe we’re finding now that AI and ML is actually able to do the work of a lot of those folks who were effectively manually doing work before.”

While DeVerter said he did not see the senior underwriter of the future being replaced by AI, he did predict an end to “armies of underwriters”.

“Should you worry? I’d redirect that and say, you have indispensable industry knowledge, but the job you have today is probably going to change, and so you’ve got to change with it,” DeVerter said.

“Detroit is a great example, in the auto industry you had companies make some changes as robotics came in, and had individuals changed their skilling, they would have been a lot better off, but you just can’t keep doing things the way we’ve always done them.

“The industry knowledge is indispensable, that’s needed to train models, it’s needed to move forward and needed to take those models and then figure out how we can monetise them even better in the future.”

The “smart individuals are reading the tea leaves and figuring out what skills they need to adopt”, DeVerter said.

Insurers face an AI talent challenge

Some insurers may be looking to reduce headcount as a result of AI and technology gains, but a talent and skill shortage in the area was seen as the “greatest challenge” where it came to adoption so far, cited by 67% of insurer respondents. Nevertheless, 90% of insurers said they had grown their AI and ML workforce in the past 12 months.

The businesses that are ahead have been looking at the technology for at least five years, DeVerter said.

Other challenges included a lack of new business use cases (58%), algorithm or model failure (52%), and lack of technology infrastructure (52%).

Eighty one per cent (81%) of insurer respondents said that AI and ML now led their IT and business strategy, compared to 63% for cybersecurity and 58% for cloud.

What benefits are insurers seeing from AI?

More than half (52%) of insurers said they had realised “substantial benefits” from AI/ML already, according to the Rackspace survey, with another 23% saying they’d seen modest benefits.  Meanwhile, 25% said it was too early to tell.  Insurers listed benefits as follows:

•            81% risk reduction, increased understanding of business/customers

•            79% increased sales

•            77% personalised marketing

•            75% increased productivity

•            73% increased revenue streams, operation cost reduction

•            69% improved customer satisfaction

•            67% faster time to profitability, reduced cost of new product development, ability to hire/recruit new talent

•            65% increased innovation

Insurer IT decision makers still face AI/ML pushback from within the business

Despite reported benefits, more than half (56%) of insurance IT decision makers said they had received some form of “pushback or scrutiny” over the penetration of AI in their business.

Reluctance could stem from a “collision of the business and IT”, DeVerter said. “IT get their feathers ruffled a little bit when business comes and says, here’s this new technology that you need to implement based on this other data and storage, do we have enough?”

On the flipside, an IT department may hit hurdles when pitching use of the technology to an organisation that could view them as “server jockeys”, DeVerter said.

Blockchain, IoT, and cloud technology were said to be more important than AI and ML in Rackspace’s survey two years ago, but these have since slid down insurers’ lists of priorities.

Do insurers trust AI?

• Over a third (38%) said they strongly trust AI and ML results, with more (42%) only slightly trusting the results.
• About as many (38%) strongly versus 33% slightly though there were enough checks and balances in place to avoid any negative consequences of AI/ML
• 44% strongly vs. 35% slightly thought there was sufficient governance in place to safeguard against AI and ML misuse

AI and ML a “systemic wave” across sectors

Insurers’ perceptions and use of AI and ML may be shifting, but the industry is not unique in this regard.

Adoption of the technology was described as a “systemic wave” by DeVerter.

“If you look at the benefits to these projects, it’s not like, ‘hey, we’re just trying to reduce costs and move to the cloud, hey, we’re just trying to be more cautious around security or risk’ – but if you look at where this is having an impact, it’s having an impact in risk reduction across sales, marketing, productivity, revenue streams,” DeVerter said.

“It’s not just impacting every market segment in every industry and every country, but every aspect of the companies as well, so it’s a pretty exciting place to be right now.”

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The quakes affected an estimated 14 million people, and more than 52,000 deaths have been reported, Inherent Risks said.

Total losses from the quakes have been estimated to exceed £20.9 billion. It is estimated that insurance losses in Turkey will reach about £1 billion, but underwriters and syndicates do not yet have a full grasp of which insured properties and assets have been affected.

While damage assessments can be conducted using satellite-based geospatial techniques, this is not a substitute for an in-person approach to confirm the data, Inherent Risks said.

Over the coming weeks, Inherent Risks response consultants will deploy to four of the most impacted regions to begin the task of locating insured buildings and assets, including aviation and maritime assets, the company said.

Read more: Turkey earthquakes: Industry insured losses to exceed $1 billion

“Having deployed to many regions around the world in the wake of natural disasters, I’m extremely conscious of not placing any increased strains on local resources, or placing our teams in any unnecessary danger,” said Dan Kaine, head of risk and crisis advisory at Inherent Risks. “There is a tremendous amount of proactive planning and preparation that is involved with a deployment such as this.”

The company will conduct risk assessments, including journey planning and itinerary tracking, for all its deployed consultants, and will continue to provide logistics, communications, medical and security support. Insurance will be provided by Hotspot Cover.

In the days following the earthquakes, Inherent Risks liaised with its clients that had employees based in or travelling in the region, including Turkey’s flag carrier, Turkish Airlines.

inherent Risks was founded in 2021 as a global advisory firm specialising in medical assistance and crisis response.

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In her role as chief people officer for AXIS, Noreen McMullan (pictured) has seen for herself what it means when an organisation truly understand that it is only as strong as its people, each bringing their own experience and expertise to the table.

“As such,” she said, “it remains a top priority to create an environment where people feel welcomed and empowered to be themselves and have the right opportunities and resources to grow their careers. This focus on talent and culture enables us to attract and retain top talent in our industry, which in turn allows us to better serve our customers, broker partners, and communities.”

DE&I – a journey worth undertaking

McMullan, who leads the global company’s human resources function and talent strategy – which includes everything related to people and culture, first discovered her passion for supporting people at work when she began her career in human resources. Starting as a recruiter, she said, she was entrusted with matching people with roles that best fit them and identifying top talent within organisations, while supporting them in their career development.

“I found that my passion was helping people find – and grow into – their careers,” she said. “When you’re passionate about supporting people, it’s not hard to find inspiration. Reflecting on the last few years, we’ve witnessed changes driven by the pandemic and the social justice movement in 2020. These events, among others, have put DE&I at the forefront of our society and challenged how businesses operate in a way that is making us better employers.”

How to expand your DE&I efforts

Looking to AXIS as an example, she highlighted how the business has significantly expanded its DE&I efforts, using a five-part approach: internal education and awareness; recruitment and mobility; career development to support diverse colleagues; industry advocacy; and measurement.

“We’ve also enhanced the overall workplace experience by shifting to a hybrid-work setup that we call Flex for Your Day,” she said. “We learned from the pandemic that our people appreciated the time at home but also missed in-person collaboration at the office. This hybrid approach was designed to help teams find that balance to drive productivity and enable our people to craft a schedule that best fits their lifestyles and needs in a more inclusive manner.

“Ultimately, it is the 2,000+ people at AXIS who inspire me and our team to continue finding meaningful and innovative ways to strengthen our culture, recruit and develop top talent, and further position AXIS as an employer of choice in our industry.”

How DE&I conversations are continuing to evolve

Touching on how DE&I conversations have developed and shaped the human resources landscape since she began her career, McMullan noted that when she first started working, DE&I wasn’t even part of the conversation. At most, it was something included in a report reviewed once a year and shelved the rest of the time. However, it’s heartening to see that organisations have come a long way since then, she said, albeit with the recognition that there is still a lot more work to be done.

“Today, more organisations including AXIS, subscribe to the belief that diversity of talent brings diversity of thought,” she said. “As a result, diverse organisations benefit from a wider range of knowledge and experience which contributes towards driving business results.

“At AXIS, DE&I continues to be a top priority and we approach this work with a bottom-line driven mentality. For example, we set a DE&I goal to achieve global gender parity in all levels of our workforce by 2025, as well as goals to increase ethnic and female senior representation.”

DE&I – an ongoing story

A DE&I journey is not about milestones or touchpoints but rather evolving and ongoing conversation and action. Looking back at her own trajectory, McMullan emphasised that more than any specific touchpoints, she’s proud of the culture that has been fostered at AXIS. It’s a culture built on mutual respect, she said, where people are empowered to share their ideas and perspectives.

“In fact, our DE&I programming was informed at the grassroots level by considering input from employees following surveys and listening sessions,” she said. This feedback provided the roadmap for our DE&I approach and is fully supported by the most senior leaders of the organisation.

“To help drive our DE&I program, we have a DEI Council comprised of employee volunteers representing a range of backgrounds and geographies. They are key agents in the employee feedback loop – engaging with colleagues across AXIS to ensure our programs resonate, represent a variety of voices, and that we continue to make progress towards our DE&I goals.”

In addition, she said, AXIS has five Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for members and allies of the following communities: ethnically diverse employees; LGBTQ+; parents and caregivers; veterans; and women. The global firm’s ERGs host events and awareness campaigns across the organisation, creating connections and building a sense of community.

“We take pride that our culture has been recognised as one of America’s Best Midsize Employers by Forbes for two consecutive years, that we were recognised in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for three years in a row, and that we were named one of Insurance Business UK’s Top Employers in 2023,” she said. “These recognitions affirm that we are on the right path, and I am energised to further our progress.”

As somebody on the frontlines of building a powerful company culture, McMullan recognises what makes a great culture stand out from the crowd – and from her perspective, it’s all built on the foundation of the individual employee.

“To me, it is when an employee is comfortable and confident enough to bring their whole self to work,” she said. “It is a culture where people can share ideas and know that they will be heard and respected – where everyone has a voice and is valued, that’s what we strive for at AXIS. We put our people first because we understand that without them, we can’t achieve our purpose which is to be there when our customers, partners, and communities need us most.”

Making this culture a reality is where initiatives such as the Dive In Festival come in. In insurance, risks are constantly evolving, and it is so easy to get caught up in your day-to-day work and life. Any time we can take time to stop and reflect on issues like DE&I is so valuable, she said, which is what the Dive In Festival provides – and AXIS is proud to be a long-time supporter and a Global Festival Partner.

“Improving DE&I is a challenge facing the entire industry – and initiatives like the Dive In Festival are great because they bring us all together in a unified effort,” McMullan said. “It’s imperative that we create forums where we can share best practices, learn from each other, and discuss topics that need to be acknowledged, despite how difficult it may be. Initiatives like the Dive In Festival will help us improve and become a stronger industry and a stronger society.”

Click here to catch up on any Dive In 2022 events you missed

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