Ariel Re, Hiscox cyber consortium; Gen AI assistant from Swiss Re: Insurtech news

April 29, 2024 4:45 PM

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Ariel Re and Hiscox announce new cyber consortium

Ariel Re and Hiscox Re launch a cyber catastrophe consortium, CyberShock. The consortium will offer up to U.S. $50 million of per-program capacity and event-based protections for cyber insurers.

Daniel Carr, head of cyber at Ariel Re, said in a statement: "Cyber catastrophe risk continues to be a major concern for the (re)insurance market, with a lack of scaled, sustainable solutions for systemic risk holding back growth in the market. Ariel Re is an established market for property catastrophe risk and has taken a lead role in the development of Cyber Catastrophe reinsurance products in recent years – increasing our reach in this area made sense. We wanted to find another leading reinsurance market to support engagement and involvement across the wider market, and Hiscox Re & ILS was the perfect partner given their long-standing cyber expertise."

Liberty, Safehub expand parametric earthquake insurance offering

Liberty Mutual Reinsurance (LM Re), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, on April 23 announced a partnership with Safehub, a seismic sensor and risk management technology provider. Liberty clients globally will get a building-specific, sensor-based, parametric earthquake reinsurance product through the partnership.

Liberty and Safehub previously conducted a pilot of the program at 23 strategic locations in Mexico City, facilitating rapid, accurate payouts to policyholders.

"This partnership underscores our dedication to delivering innovative reinsurance solutions that address the evolving needs of our customers. Our goal is to provide policyholders with a comprehensive solution, offering quicker access to indemnification in the face of seismic events," said Jean-Christophe Garaix, Head of Agriculture and Parametrics at LM Re.

"With this partnership, clients gain access to building-specific data, enabling a more precise alignment of reinsurance payouts with losses, while also supporting emergency response efforts," said Andy Thompson, CEO of Safehub.

Swiss Re launches Gen AI underwriting assistant

Swiss Re launched an augmented version of its Life and Health underwriting manual Life Guide with Swiss Re Life Guide Scout, a Gen AI underwriting assistant that supports underwriters in risk assessment. The underwriting assistant was developed by Swiss Re and integrates Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service.

Julien Descombes, Swiss Re's chief underwriting officer L&H Re, said in a statement: "We are excited to bring Generative AI to our clients who can now leverage this new feature to improve their underwriting process. Our ambition is to provide insurers access to the risk perspective we have built into Life Guide in an even more efficient and user-friendly way to help them continue to write sustainable business and deliver on their promises."

Chubb acquires pet insurer

Chubb acquired Healthy Paws, a pet insurance managing general agent, from Aon. The financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Chubb has been the exclusive underwriter of Healthy Paws since 2013.

John Lupica, vice chairman, Chubb Group and president, North America Insurance, said in a statement: "Together, we will be able to extend the reach and amplify the impact of this esteemed pet insurance brand in a vastly underpenetrated market. As part of Chubb, Healthy Paws will empower more pet owners to fund medical care and navigate the rising costs of veterinary care."

Arbol spins off Lilypad to insure for climate risk

Arbol, a climate risk technology platform, has launched Lilypad Insurance, a subsidiary focused on home and property insurance in coastal regions of the U.S. that have greater climate risks.

Lilypad will begin operations in Louisiana, and is acquiring Centauri Specialty Insurance Company and Centauri National Insurance Company, which had withdrawn or limited its coverage in Florida.

In addition, Lilypad named Ricardo Espino, former CEO and co-founder of Centauri Insurance, as its CEO. "We established Lilypad as a direct response to the growing insurance coverage gap in catastrophe-prone areas," Espino said. "By leveraging advanced climate data and technology infrastructure, we are uniquely positioned to offer tailored insurance solutions to address the risks and challenges of coastal living. We aim to ensure homeowners in coastal regions can access dependable and competitively priced coverage, thus safeguarding their properties and financial futures."

A Lilypad press release stated that operations and policies for Centauri Specialty Insurance Company and Centauri National Insurance Company will continue without interruption, and Lilypad remains committed to continuing the excellent standard of service for Centauri's clients.

Munich Re and Clareto launch EHR summarizer

Munich Re Life and Clareto, a Munich Re company that operates a health interoperability network, launched Automated Electronic Health Record (EHR) Summarizer.

"Automated EHR Summarizer helps life insurance carriers further align with customer expectations by enabling fast and accurate decision-making," said June Quah, vice president, integrated analytics, Munich Re North America Life, said in a statement. "This product leverages our leadership in risk assessment, technical expertise in data analytics—including artificial intelligence and natural language processing techniques--and access to an unparalleled EHR network to push the boundaries of digital transformation in the industry."

Genesis launches credit insurance application

Genesis Global launched its Genesis Credit Application Platform (CIA), a solution that automates bank processes for offsetting credit risk in lending and financing businesses and helps build or manage global portfolios of credit insurance and risk participation agreements.

"Developing scalable, auditable applications to replace spreadsheets in critical business processes is a key way we help financial firms transform their technology and operations," said Tej Sidhu, chief technology officer at Genesis Global, in a press release statement. "CIA shows how technical and business components in the Genesis platform deliver the integrations, specialized workflow, analytics, visualization and controls that drive performance and efficiency."