Innovation remains a priority for Hiscox

Innovation remains at the top of reinsurers’ lists of priorities as firms battle to stay relevant, Ben Love, head of business development at Hiscox Re, told Monte Carlo Today.

“Innovation is a key issue for us at the moment,” Love said. “We’re keen to develop risk aggregate products to maintain spend in the market.”

He noted, however, that many new products have an extensive gestation period, and therefore require the investment of a lot of time and thought to create worthwhile value for customers.

“It’s important to understand relationships with all aspects of clientele at the moment,” he said. “We’re focusing on maintaining efficiency in buying through these products, although we see this trend of businesses retaining more as somewhat of a permanent fixture.”

Love is confident that Hiscox Re has enough firepower to stay on the front foot with innovation.

“We’re also responding in a positive way to trends in the ILS market, offering large cat bond placements to supplement a healthy blend of traditional and convergence capital,” he explained.

“Innovation for us is a source of competitive advantage. We’re seeing results in improved risk and capital management, leading to enhanced margins and optimised capital deployment.”

Love noted that the challenge is identifying the likely game-changers and integrating them into your operations smoothly and quickly. “In doing so we expect new business opportunities, improved margins, and growth in shareholder value,” he said.

“It takes dedication. A company has to accept a higher resource commitment and a bit of uncertainty. The results do tend to justify the internal anguish, however,” he concluded.