Actuaries build models to analyze historical loss frequency and severity data to properly determine the price of a risk.  Understanding how those models function helps an actuary understand when the model works as it should, and those occasions when it does not. 

For insurance companies who wish to understand existing markets and enter new and emerging markets, being able to accurately predict insurance demand is critical. Currently, demand for insurance is predicted predominately by analyzing economic factors (e.g., gross domestic product [GDP], inflation rate). However, we often see gaps in insurance demand between two different countries, despite the similarity of those countries’ economic conditions. This difference indicates that insurance market dynamics cannot always be captured through economic conditions, or through an economic analysis. Clearly, some additional new and improved rating variables would be useful to more effectively predict insurance demand in different markets.

Today, insurance is more competitive and more accurately priced because of better data, computing power, customization and emerging technology. Lytx (formerly DriveCam) records 30 seconds before and after a crash. These recordings can be used to prove innocence or guilt in most cases, saving insurance companies millions in litigation costs. The insurtech boom caught many insurance companies off guard. When they did not adapt quickly enough, they lost a significant portion of their competitive position. New approaches to claims adjusting, premium pricing and underwriting will continue to arise. The best chance insurance companies have to remain relevant is to develop unique technologies and rating variables to outprice the competition.

During the recent Pinnacle University event, we discussed the topic of personalized insurance and its place in the insurance market. The topic of personalized insurance includes the use of more personal data and predictors to price insurance for specific customers, as well as the ability to find insurance coverage for virtually anything you need at any limits you may desire. 

During this year’s Pinnacle University (Pinnacle U) event, we presented an overview of parametric insurance. Unlike traditional insurance coverage, parametric insurance is not an indemnification product. Instead, it determines a benefit payable in advance of the policy purchase by estimating the loss as accurately as possible, subject to certain conditions being satisfied. The cost of the policy is based on a pre-determined trigger. Examples might include maximum sustained wind speed for hurricane coverage or earthquake magnitude as measured by the Richter scale.