Douglas Shillito
This week, following its unveiling of a new strategy, Lloyd’s confirmed it will invest in Layr, a cloud-based commercial insurance platform for small businesses, following a successful trial in the Lloyd’s Lab, which last week welcomed a second cohort of 12 InsurTech start-ups.
Layr, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, participated in the first cohort of the Lloyd’s Lab and used the opportunity to test their cloud-based solution for providing faster access for small businesses looking to purchase liability insurance. The InsurTech company has secured an investment from Lloyd’s to develop its solution further. Layr is also exploring potential distribution opportunities with several Lloyd’s syndicates.
According to Willis Towers Watson's latest InsurTech Briefing, InsurTech investors worldwide executed the highest number of transactions, the highest number of property/casualty transactions, and the highest volume of Series B and Series C funding rounds during the first three months of 2019. 85 deals with a total value of $1.42bn were announced in Q1, 2019, marking the third-straight quarter to deliver more than $1bn in funding.
Meanwhile, the leading well-established insurance software companies are also trailblazing-Guidewire's InsurancePlatform new release was announced which enables insurers to optimize operations, be more digital, use data in new ways, and innovate more quickly, whilst FRISS, a leading provider of AI-powered fraud and risk analytics for the P&C insurance industry, revealed its partnership with the US-based Coalition Against Insurance Fraud. European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published its report on Big Data Analytics in motor and health insurance.
Growth of the ILS market continued to slow in the first quarter of 2019 according to Willis Re Market Update. DBRS looked at Bancassurance trends with the US still lagging behind Europe and Asia, and UK motor insurance brands can now compare customer engagement performance to their competitors, following the launch of a new index from data analytics company Consumer Intelligence.
Insurance Europe said there is no justification for new macroprudential measures for EU insurers, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) opened its 49th Session in Kyoto, Japan, where it is considering an update to the methodology used by governments to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions and removals.
It was a busy week for first quarter financials and trading updates, including AIG, Direct Line, RSA, Sun Life Financial, Zurich, Beazley, Enstar, Everest Re, Greenlight Capital Re, Hannover Re, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, Munich Re, RenRe and Skuld.
Full articles on the above topics may be found on the Insurance Newslink and Financial Newslink global trends database services at www.onlystrategic.com