This week in insurance we are following strategic hiring, California demanding an auto premium rebate and views on the future of insurance. Here are the three things we learned this week:
- There is strategic hiring going on by major players in the industry. Google has hired Nigel Walsh from Deloitte to head up their insurance business in North America, though they maintain they are in the industry to partner not compete. AIG makes a strategic hire in Lincoln Financial exec Lisa Buckingham to oversee the divestiture of their life & health businesses, as previously announced in their Q4 earnings release.
- We have seen the personal lines carriers with large auto books report strong earnings despite CATs and COVID loss so California, a state that often takes matters into it’s own hands, is ordering insurers to give back premium, claiming they over-charged consumers. State Farm responds right away announcing they will give back $400 to California policy holders. This could be just the beginning.
- Finally, two interesting takes on the future of the insurance industry: one lays out 3 scenarios driven by modeling the growth and innovation currently driving the industry forward with an element of disruption being provided. The other view looks at how insurtechs are increasingly relying on ‘unlimited’ reinsurance quota share capacity to fuel their growth creating a ‘tragedy of commons’ scenario.
Thank you for continuing to follow us. Your feedback is always welcome on topics and insights you would like to hear. We will be continuing to scan the industry and send these updates weekly. Please schedule a meeting with us if you would like to discuss anything further. Stay tuned, stay productive!