Q&A with James Read, Principal – Keyhaven Insurance Consultants

A. It certainly has! The pandemic has forced people to expedite plans to digitize and those that were built digital by default are now pulling ahead. I think these days, insurance is all about three things: data, technology and a religious focus on solving customer problems. Those that have a judicious focus on these three things will be the ones to watch and those that do not have a grip on data especially and are still battling with a myriad of legacy systems will truly struggle. Being nimble is a factor and that means modern adaptable technology otherwise without a clean and efficient CX / UX, especially in insurance, people just won’t follow you.

A. If you consider it as a continuum, of course, at one end of it you find the insurtech and fintech companies who, in their early days, are flying by the seat of their pants and live or die by their ability to solve customer problems at scale. Further into the continuum, you see companies who have invested in technology as a mainstream strategy and use their seasoned underwriting knowledge and years of experience to adapt customer problems to new technology and then, I guess, at the far end of the spectrum you find distributors of insurance such as banks who look to the insurance world to solve these problems and largely don’t manufacture their own insurance.

A. Yes, I think that’s right, although, let’s not dismiss banks just yet. With the emergence of Banking-As-A-Service (BaaS), it is easier than it has ever been to match technology to banking and we are also seeing a new wave of insurance distribution there too.

A. Yes, some people are of course using their insurance expertise to solve customer problems that should have been solved long ago and, if there was ever an industry that had a poor public image, it’s insurance! For most, it comes under the category of ‘necessary evil’ rather than the ‘peace of mind’ product that we all want people to think of it and nowadays people want it on their terms. Other experienced players are using it to face up to the new realities of society and adapt to how people like to live their lives – to have only the coverages that they need and when they want them. I must say that a lot of early-stage (Seed, Series A and B maybe) Insurtech and Fintech companies are also staffed on a shoestring with mainly a hustler/dealmaker and a tech person and there really isn’t an insurance subject matter expert there at all.

A. I think that’s somewhat true although if you ask an Insurtech CEO that question, I am sure there would be a two-word answer! I think the newer companies get to a stage where to go beyond proof of concept and truly scale, they need insurance expertise. I think it’s also true that some Insurtechs will be acquired as a method of effecting change quickly within. That latter part worries me because I think there is a clash of cultures that might not resolve itself quickly and if the acquirer isn’t careful then the asset they paid so much for might wither on the vine. The truest answer I can give you here is that Insurtechs can absolutely survive if they understand the realities of the sector quickly and to do that they need experience. So in the same way that older, larger companies can acquire younger more nimble ones to expedite change, then so can younger companies acquire talent in the market to get to experience faster.

A. Yes it does and it won’t be the early-stage companies that do it. They just don’t have the capital to devote to a full-time employee insurance subject matter expert with decades of experience. There is a mismatch of salary expectations between the employer and the employee. I do think it is important though that this be done as soon as it is affordable and we are seeing it happen. You will see the emergence already of Chief Insurance Officer titles and these are very well placed individuals with tons of experience supporting the hustler/dealmaker CEO and the tech-loving CTO who usually start these companies. It’s a very good match.

A. To some extent, although we are also starting to see the emergence of advisors and consultants. I think the pandemic has shifted how we all think about work. Add to that the new millennial, flexible way of thinking and I see the labor market changing from one of working for a large company, commuting every day to an office to a labor force of people who are much more mobile and think differently. 

I have recently left Citi as Global Head of Insurance to form my own advisory/consultancy to do just that and I am actively helping early-stage Insurtech and Fintech companies who are far away from employing a full-time employee. I find that by working for them on a project basis they can access my thirty-plus years of experience of being a senior guy in the insurance and Bancassurance sectors. Insurtechs and Fintechs have so many problems to solve, from distribution to operations to regulatory and compliance and even claims that they can’t possibly know all they need to know all at once regardless of how intelligent and well-read their leaders are. 

I provide a ‘Chief Insurance Officer’ type role at an affordable price on a non-dedicated basis which helps them to answer their questions much faster.