Investments

We want insurers to transform from premium collectors to lifelong protectors. And technology is at the core of helping them achieve this.

The pandemic rollercoaster continues to rattle the insurance industry as we ride into 2022. One of the bright spots for our industry was the acceleration of technological innovation. All the uncertainty and changing consumer habits are fueling substantial changes in how insurance is marketed and sold by independent agencies.

As 2022 gets under way, insurers have opportunities to boost their visibility beyond simply increasing their marketing spending.

In other news: Online embedded insurance, Bubble launches; Obie partners with Munich Re company; Nintex, Insuresoft team up on digital transformation.

The fintech startup is working with advisers on a potential deal and is in early talks with Catcha Investment Corp., the special purpose acquisition company set up by internet entrepreneur Patrick Grove, said the people, who asked not to be named as the process is private.

Having raised nearly 20 billion yen ($175 million) in an offering that was priced at the top of its advertised range, got off to a bad start -- the biggest first-day decline in more than two decades for a company that raised at least $150 million. Daiwa Securities Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. were the lead managers for the listing.

As the wave of SPAC mergers crested in the past two years, startups that chose this path found it difficult to keep up with more established companies and investor expectations. The insurtech companies that went this route are not exempt from experiencing that strain.

A total of 63.6 million shares were sold for C$22 apiece, the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a release late Wednesday, the top end of the range it had targeted. The company is also selling another C$700 million in shares in a private placement to the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Swiss Re.

A list with the names of about 100 global investors has been shared with the 10 banks working on the deal and the institutions will approach different sets of investors, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named as discussions are private.

The to-do list for the electric-vehicle maker will be funded in part by its IPO -- the sixth-largest in U.S. history. Rivian shares soared 22% Thursday in their second day of trading, creating a stock-market value of more than $100 billion. Two months after delivering its first pickups, largely to employees, Rivian now has a market valuation exceeding that of General Motors Co.

The shares will be priced in a range of C$19 to C$22 apiece and will be listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “DFY,” Waterloo, Ontario-based Definity said in a statement Monday.

The funding round was led by AIA Insurance Inc. as Tiki looks to expand into life insurance and plans a U.S. initial public offering.

Lemonade Car, a telematics auto insurance product, is now live in Illinois and will roll out across the U.S. soon.

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.

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.

Renaissance Insurance, Russia’s largest online policy provider, is trawling the country’s traditional insurers for acquisition targets as it prepares for a possible initial public offering.

Kotak Mahindra Capital Co., JM Financial Ltd., Citigroup Inc. and Nomura Holdings Inc. are also on the shortlist, based on their technical and financial bids, after 16 investment banks presented their pitches to the government on Thursday, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public.

Allowing FDI in LIC would permit so-called strategic investors such as massive pension funds or insurance firms to participate in the initial public offering, which is slated to be India’s largest ever.

The owner of the SoftBank Group Corp.-backed startup has submitted initial documents with the market regulator for what would be the third-largest Indian debut of 2021.

Firms using the fintech will lose support on September 6.