When David Bowie was
making a name for himself in the early 70s he looked like any other pop singer
with long hair. Then he changed dramatically. The person responsible was Suzi
Ronson, a hairdresser peripheral to the music business. For Bowie, becoming
Ziggy Stardust was not without risk, and it wasn’t easy for Ronson to achieve
either. It took many attempts to get the dye colour right, and a lack of
suitable product meant improvising to make the hair stand up.
As an artist, Bowie
recognised he had to change in order to differentiate himself, appeal to more
people and remain relevant over time. Ronson, who collaborated with Bowie as
his stylist for several years, had a parallel personal motivation: “I knew if I
created something that needed touching up every two or three weeks I was in. I
saw the dangers of being someone’s wife or girlfriend. I wanted to be on the
bus, not waving at it”.1
Invitation to an
Incredible Curious Adventure
At Gen Re, we
invite you aboard our bus for an incredible curious adventure. We recognise the
need to embrace change and understand the demand for profitability and top line
growth. We know that many of the ways insurance does things are under
reconstruction and changing rapidly. The opportunity to bring new digital ideas
to old solutions is too tempting to pass up. That means joining the dots from
the entrepreneurs, through our business and yours, and onward to the end
customer.
As a reinsurer, we have
a singular approach. With our core strengths lying in actuarial science,
underwriting and claims, we won’t be owners of tech companies anytime soon or
run an incubator to find the next best thing. We approach anything we do for
our clients in a collaborative, open and direct way, and we apply the same
principles to digital. Our decentralised business allows us to develop local
solutions while our research capability brings global insight and access to
companies we have hand-picked. Our collaborations link up complimentary skills
and expertise - from blockchain to claims management to new ways of
underwriting risk.
A Collaborative
Approach to Developing Digital Solutions
Gen Re invests
intellectual capital into working relationships with companies preparing
digital solutions that fit with the jobs we need to do. Thousands of new
companies are appearing in the insurtech space so we choose carefully. Many
choose us. We collaborate with companies that have a primary interest in life
and health insurance - ones that recognise our industry has a special momentum
and requires a patient approach. We look for commercial solutions that have
spun out of academic research or those that are scientifically proven to
improve clinical outcomes. We prefer startups whose ideas attract external
investment, allowing them the independence to grow and to scale. We work with
established firms, too.
At Gen Re we know
the power of data and understand the landscape of digital. We are ready to
engage in action that develops both of these domains into meaningful solutions.
While the pace of change in life and health insurance has been slow, we can fix
this. With your help. We want to support clients that want to try new things.
To do this means we collaborate with some tech companies.
Unlocking the
Potential of Digital
Innovations that offer
new ways to cover risk or ones that embed oracles as trusted claim processors
may catch the eye. Elegant service solutions for home renters or cancelled
flight coverage highlight the potential for similar innovations in life and health
insurance. There’s more to digital technology than counting steps. There are
new ways to get the job done.
Smartphones collect
millions of data points that can be translated into personalised health and
lifestyle improvement plans or used for developing predictive risk capability.
Camera technology allows for movement tracking to identify musculoskeletal
weakness or injury, with apps that deliver powerful and personalised exercise
and physiotherapy plans. Apps and platforms that allow users to build physical
and mental resilience can ultimately help prevent claims or provide support
quickly and cost-effectively when health goes wrong.
Let’s not dismiss
blockchain. Most people know blockchain allows cryptocurrencies to operate and
lets multiple parties agree on a common record of data. Blockchain has other
features that enhance privacy and data security, and reduce fraud and cost. New
insurers are using it to increase transparency and pay claims faster with smart
contracts. Imagine making life and health pay-outs autonomously, based on
diagnostic certainty and without the need for tedious form filling. Eventually,
a disintermediated marketplace will emerge where consumers meet insurers
differently. It’s likely that this complex disruption, with its multiple counterparties
sharing sensitive personal data, will be underpinned by blockchain.
In Tune With Bowie’s
Drive for Change
To reprise the musical
leitmotif, the guitarist Carlos Alomar was David Bowie’s musical director for
nearly three decades. He co-wrote “Fame” the singer’s first American number
one, in 1975. The LP featuring the song represented a huge departure for the
artist into soul music. Coming from a blues background, Alomar found this
challenging: “The new methodologies, the free thinking that I was exposed to,
it changed me. He was a very restless person, he didn’t like being
comfortable…it was change, change, change”.2
Bowie is a metaphor for
change and a genuinely transformative figure. We are living in world of
exponential disruption that is changing the commercial playing field in ways we
could have never imagined. This presents a real opportunity for a new framework
within which to create and compete. In this sense, it’s a timely wakeup call to
our industry. The startups and tech businesses peripheral to the life and
health (re)insurance business already sense an opportunity. Joining the dots to
them is our challenge.
The established ways of
doing business continue to serve us well, and are not so simply replaced, but
it’s time to embrace the forces of disruption and ride the rising wave of
opportunity. As a capability, innovation must become the new normal, and
digital solutions must quickly become part of business as usual. This is
challenging to achieve but it is the core of Gen Re’s digital strategy and
focus. We’re ready to talk to you about digital, so call your local
Gen Re office or get in touch with me directly. Don’t be too comfortable.
Don’t miss the bus.
Endnotes
1. Jones, D. (2017)
David Bowie a Life, Preface Publishing. London.
2. Ibid.
http://www.genre.com/knowledge/blog/digital-technology-and-insurance-joining-the-dots-between-us-en.html?utm_campaign=Subscription%20Management%20Center&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=69427097&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--yQwAQQFgwUkOXcgFNoypyMGEsGe4Tgwe35M_O-DHnlmSasFdv_m4hyhWFINi7bNcj0Cte6tr0COZT568oJXoEzaFSvw&_hsmi=69427097
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