Insurance

The change is effective Jan. 1, when Lyons will move to the newly created role of executive vice president, global chief actuary and head of portfolio management, the New York-based insurer said in a statement Monday.

At this point in the insurance sector’s lifecycle, change is inevitable. Now more than ever, especially with the rise of technology and insurtechs, competition in the space is cutthroat. And that is why first and cheap are no longer going to cut it.

Insurance blockchain working group The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative has partnered with Trustlayer to build out an insurance verification proof of concept.

Activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a new position in Willis Towers Watson Plc Thursday, and said it believes the insurance broker could nearly double its share price in the next three years.

Life insurers are warning Chile that they may have their day in court if a bill that allows people to demand early annuity payments is passed into law.

Deciding which transformation initiatives to tackle first should involve a careful examination of the dysfunction, importance and level of change resistance expected among stakeholders of any process that may be impacted.

The company sold as much as 162 million new shares, at 120 rubles each in Moscow, it said in a statement. The sale values the insurance group, controlled by investors led by Boris Jordan, at 66.8 billion rubles. The stake was smaller than initially planned, when the company said it could raise up to 25.2 billion rubles.

Digital Insurance spoke with Maroun Mourad, president of global underwriting and leader of the life unit at Verisk about life insurance technology and what’s ahead for the industry.

Insurers should enhance the capabilities and broaden the roles of claims professionals to reap the benefits of advanced tools while maintaining personal engagement at moments that matter.

The company said it has taken a majority stake in Cardif Pinnacle, a pet insurance-focused subsidiary of BNP Paribas SA, and is buying Chicago-based Figo Pet Insurance LLC, beginning a series of investments in the sector. The prices weren’t disclosed.

In other news: Algorithm calculates number of good health years; Hiro rebrands to Locket; Alliant launches diversity initiative.

The P&C industry has been on an automation path for many years. When the pandemic hit, it became a catalyst for accelerating automation and digital transformation.

Marshmallow, a car insurance app which recently became the U.K.’s second black-founded firm to reach a billion-dollar valuation, won’t be working from its current Old Street digs for much longer. It’s moving to a nearby office with triple the space after headcount grew more than threefold during the pandemic and as it plows ahead with expansion plans into Europe.

With so many touchpoints across the insurance industry, and so many potential use cases, there is a lot of room for innovation — and there is a lot of room for failure. As an early adopter of AI technology, Harmon shares some of his key insights.

Digital Insurance spoke with Angela Orbann, vice president of property, PI product management at Travelers about how technology can optimize a home insurance policy and how artificial intelligence and satellite imagery is helping insurers.

The partnership provides Lyft drivers with the opportunity to select an auto insurance policy that is built for rideshare drivers. Policyholders are also eligible to get money back with each ride using the Lyft platform.

This year’s 40% stock dive has cut its price-to-earnings ratio to just above 6, slightly more than the Shanghai Stock Exchange Property Index’s multiple of 5.7 and a far cry from the 20-plus commanded by insurance peers Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and AIA Group Ltd.

Old Mutual Group Ltd. plans to make acquisitions within the next five years to boost its market share in the West Africa region, where insurance penetration still has significant headroom for growth.

Armadillo was founded this year by two insurance industry executives. Matan Slagter, who was most recently with AIG, and Lansdon Robbins, a serial entrepreneur, recently launched the home warranty solution in 20 markets.

What’s driving your digital claims transformation program: COVID? Competition? Or cost? Whatever the answer, we could be in danger of leaving the customer out of the equation in the rush to digitize and automate insurance processes. It could be time to take a more user-centric approach, reimagine the customer journey and find out what customers actually want.