Hello Friends!  It is almost the unofficial start of summer but no slow down yet.  This week we are following insurtech funding momentum, rebranding events along with market news and results.  Here are the three things we learned:

 [1]

Insurtech Funding Momentum

It has been awhile since we’ve used the term ‘unicorn’ in the context of insurtech funding events.  While there is capital flowing into the space it has been less frothy as of late.  This week however, we could be seeing some positive momentum.  SageSure, the specialty home insurer, secured a $250 million equity funding round led by AmWins and Flexpoint Ford.  They have secured over $700 million in equity and debt funding in the past two years from top financial institutions.  The investment will enable growth and expansion in underwriting capacity so they can target the challenging cat-exposed property market.  bolttech announced this week they were able to raise $196 million in its Series B round giving them a valuation of $1.6 billion.  The round was led by Tokio Marine and MetLife, two established and well known incumbent insurers.  This can be seen as a vote of confidence in bolttech’s leadership and innovative business model.  Embedded insurtech startup Obie has raised $25.5 million in a Series B round.  The company focuses on providing insurance to residential real estate investors and employs an embedded distribution strategy.  They have an instant quote process that utilizes data enrichment and analysis to assess risk and underwrite policies more efficiently.

 [2]

Rebranding at Markel and Everest

Markel Corporation will now be known as Markel Group Inc. with a new logo and colors.  They emphasized the ‘Group’ is made up of three engines: insurance, investments and diverse business in Markel Ventures.  Everest Re Group will now be known as Everest Group Ltd.  They had already gotten a new look and feel in November 2022 and now are creating a new brand identity go to with it.  In the Brand Video featured on their new site they unveil the new tag line ‘we underwrite opportunity’.  It would appear in both of these events that Markel and Everest are looking to be more than just specialty (re)insurers.  They are taking an approach to be financial services conglomerates with more diversified businesses such as Berkshire Hathaway and AIG.  Both companies are relatively young and have experienced healthy growth over the years.  They can use their strong balance sheets to create new opportunity but must be careful and maintain the right discipline.

 [3]

Solvency II, Result Trends & Layoffs

AXA and Zurich give first reports under new Solvency II / IFRS account standards.  Both companies are well above the target level of 160% AXA 217% Zurich 258% previewing what it may look like when other carriers begin using these standards.  Progressive has a better April than March improving from a $156 million loss to a $196 million profit with a combined ratio of 97.9% more in line with their target of 98%.  They continue to grow policies in force and DWP.  Allstate may have more work to turn things around, detailing they are expecting $799 million in catastrophe losses in April from storms in the Midwest.  They continue to raise auto rates due to factors like catalytic converter thefts which have increased since the pandemic.  Convex grew 43% from 2021 to 2022 and wrote over $3 billion in GWP last year.  They do not break down where the premium is written but could they be looking to gain bigger share in the US with opportunity in specialty market?  Kin is showing progress growing premium 75% from the previous quarter and turning in a positive operating income showing their expense management discipline and strong renewal book.  Not all good news, Pie laid off 66 employees and it is rumored that Lemonade also conducted a layoff.  Credit goes to Pie CEO John Swigart for being proactive and facing this unpleasant turn of events.   He put out a detailed blog post explaining why this was necessary and how it fits into their overall plans to become profitable.

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