At the forefront of change
Bermuda companies are using technology in myriad ways to change the way re/insurers do business. On the following pages we highlight some of the most interesting developments in the sector.
The re/insurance industry is often criticised for being slow to adapt to changes in technology. Those critics will present images of employees endlessly reworking spreadsheets or constantly reinventing the wheel with contracts and forms.
Such criticisms can be overdone. As with any industry, there will be trailblazers and laggards, while anyone who has been through the adoption of a new set of software can attest to the pain that comes with it—especially when it does not deliver the results that have been promised.
But as the following pages demonstrate, the industry is changing, and changing fast.
One of the most encouraging signs for Bermuda as a whole is the news that Google will be using the Island as a hub for its transatlantic cable between Portugal and the US East Coast. This is exciting news on its own, but more importantly it could be a harbinger for Bermuda to become the hub for a web of cables spreading across the Atlantic. That will bring technical expertise to the Island and could also lead to cheaper broadband rates for Bermuda.
Our interview with Jose Seara, the founder of DeNexus, brings together a number of threads in the re/insurance marketplace. The company has developed software that can track cyber attacks on industrial companies in real time, helping a fast-growing sector of the Bermuda insurance market. DeNexus is using the Bermuda Monetary Authority’s regulatory sandbox, which is proving to be an important laboratory for insurance innovation.
“The industry is using advances in technology to make re/insurance easier and more efficient.”
The ideal place
Nowhere is the BMA’s role clearer than at the intersection between fintech and insurtech. Companies such as Relm, Nayms and Chainproof have been able to use the insurance and fintech regulatory frameworks to provide support to crypto companies and to use cryptocurrencies as a means of exchange in insurance transactions.
The companies say Bermuda is one of the few places in the world where this kind of crossover can take place and, while these businesses are still developing, the ability to experiment and test is essential.
Our interview with Lloyd Fray, chief executive of CCS, highlights the importance of technical expertise in the industries that support re/insurance. CCS has grown from a business that laid down the computer cable networks for companies to a service provider that helps businesses with all of their information technology needs.
The business of underwriting could not happen without service providers such as CCS who help re/insurers keep up with the rapid pace of technological change.
One of those changes that is causing global debate is artificial intelligence (AI). Inver Re’s Oliver Mapp explains the difference between predictive and generative AI and the effect it is already having on the risk transfer business.
Re/insurance may still have its tech laggards, but as these stories show, the industry is using advances in technology to make re/insurance easier and more efficient, while exploring news ways of doing business.
“Bermuda is one of the few places in the world where this kind of crossover can take place.”
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