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Hi All! The dog days of summer are upon us and we hope you are staying productive or enjoying a break before the end of the season. This week we are following the Hippo IPO, Earnings and Policybazaar. Here are the three things we learned this week: |
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Hippo Goes Public in $5B SPAC Merger Hippo, the homeowners insurtech, went public this week in a SPAC merger valuing the company at $5B. As the article mentions, prior to this event, 80% of their capital was pulled by by investors. The stock went down the first few days unlike many IPOs which see an initial spike. The market has been volatile this week and HOOD is a new meme stock capturing the imagination of many. So not much can be read from the first week but instead looking to the future to see how they mature on fundamentals and increase commercial presence. |
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We Read Earnings So You Don’t Have To There was a slew of insurer earnings this week; we read through them and drew up a few themes. Commercial rate increases helped profitability at places like AIG , Markel and CNA who had to overcome a cyber ransom hit. People are driving again and accident frequency hit Progressive hard, while Lemonade is not yet in auto because they are taking their time to get things right. Established companies are showing strength while new entrants continue to post losses and grow at all costs. |
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Policybazaar IPO India-based insurance comparison marketplace, Policybazaar filed to go public. The established company was growing rapidly prior to the pandemic and is going for a valuation less than similar peers who have shown slower growth. Are they established enough with good fundamentals to take this step? They operate in the underserved market like many US peers where there appears to be abundant opportunity to offer financial protection and savings. |
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