Insurtech Insights 2023 recap: Unlocking the power of data for insurance pricing

Last week, we attended the Insurtech Insights 2023 conference in London. With over 5,000 attendees, this was Europe's largest gathering of insurance executives and industry members. The hyperexponential team had an amazing two days of networking with attendees and learning about the challenges they are facing in pricing today. 

The highlight of the event for us has to be our panel session, "Unlocking the power of data for insurance pricing", hosted by Tom Chamberlain, hyperexponential VP of Customer and Consulting. Held in the beautiful Clipper Bar at the Intercontinental Hotel with the dramatic London city skyline behind our panellists, Sima Ruparelia, PartnerRe Chief Actuarial and Risk Officer, Niranjan Nathan, EY Partner, and Amrit Santhirasenan, hyperexponential CEO and Co-founder, this was one to remember.  

The panel kicked off by looking at the proliferation of data in today's world and its potential impact on insurers. By 2025, the volume of data created, consumed, and stored in the world is expected to reach 181 trillion gigabytes, with just over 60% of the world online and industrial internet of things (IoT) devices only just gaining popularity.  

With insurance being one of the most data-heavy sectors, Tom asked the panel, "how can insurers leverage this data ubiquity to drive business impact?" 

Amrit's view was that the insurance industry has always leveraged data for decision-making; however, not at the scale required to effectively make decisions in today's ever-changing risk landscapes. Insurance companies, and hence reinsurers, are hindered in their ability due to a reliance on tools built in 1985 to price 21st-century risk.  

"Insurers must find alignment across all lines of business in terms of data storage, governance, and systems, building the right data strategy to enable better, holistic business decisions." - Niranjan Nathan. 

Siloed data systems can cause data to be lost, and when relevant data is not captured, it is challenging to track the decisions being made across the company and reuse information where appropriate. "It has never been easier to integrate data systems than it is now", Amrit shared. "API connectivity is accessible, with systems being connected in less than a month, a process that historically took years."   

The panel went on to discuss the emergence of non-traditional players in the insurance industry. Tom talked about how large tech companies like Amazon and Apple are starting to participate in the industry, with Amazon launching its home insurance store and analysts expecting Apple to launch a health insurance product in 2024.  

With access to trillions of data points and capital, these tech companies are expected to take a customer-centric angle and provide rich, personal-lines-focused services. Niranjan laid out the challenge, stating that traditional insurers need to rise to the competition and leverage technology to deliver best-in-class services to customers in order to compete with this new breed of insurers.  

Tom invited the panel to discuss the findings from hyperexponential's analysis of the annual reports of 13 leading insurers in the UK, revealing pricing transformation as the number one priority for these insurers. He asked the group – "What's driving this increased focus on pricing?". 

"Insurers aren't making the returns they need, so they're looking at their data and pricing to enable better business decisions," Sima shared. Amrit added, "In today's world, insurers with the perfect combination of skilled underwriting talent and the right pricing technology are best positioned to lead the market."  

We can see an overlap in the availability of technology solutions to improve pricing and the market's interest in taking the necessary steps to modernise processes. "Insurers were already utilising Excel to achieve results. Now, imagine what's possible when they use technology designed specifically to help them make better decisions faster", Amrit said.  

hyperexponential's analysis also found talent attraction and retention to be a growing priority for insurers.   

Sima observed that digital transformations are a key factor in enabling the insurance industry to compete on a level-playing field, attracting more technologically savvy talent. "Insurance has an ageing workforce, and tech can help the industry attract data science talent that would otherwise work for large tech companies like Google or Amazon," she shared.  

Insurers must also embrace a data-driven culture across the organisation, recognising that modern underwriters and actuaries are exposed to different tools and practices than older counterparts. "If we don't modernise our underwriting thinking, skilled underwriters that have been in the game forever run at risk of getting left behind," Niranjan added. 

We’d like to thank our superb panel for their insights. To learn more about how data and analytics are transforming specialty pricing, join our webinar with leaders from Swiss Re, Everest Re and hyperexponential on March 22, 2023. Register now to save your spot.

About hyperexponential 

At hyperexponential, we're enabling the future of insurance with our next-generation pricing tool, hx Renew, enabling high-growth insurers to unlock insight from data, refine actuarial and underwriting processes, and enable automation at scale. Our customers have generated real business value across multiple business lines and have enabled their teams with technology for a better work experience. 

Reach out to us to learn more about how hx Renew can enable data-driven pricing agility at your company.