P&C in 2021 is a webinar series that examines industry trends and reactions with leading analysts and experts, hosted by Ryan McMahon, VP of Insurance & Government Affairs at CMT.

In the series’ second installment on January 14th, 2021, McMahon invites Steve Chirico, Director of the P&C Rating Division at AM Best, and Jeffery Williams, a senior analyst at Forrester, to discuss how the prior years of innovation are delivering an impact today, and which innovation efforts are being driven by insurers heading into 2021.

During their discussion, they reviewed how companies were set back in 2020 due to the demanding pace of innovation brought on by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. McMahon identifies the pandemic as the “canary in the coal mine” and asks the group to assess how overnight, insurers had to adapt their operations to write new business, to settle claims, and to service customers in a whole new way.

Williams states that the pandemic’s influence on innovation has been illuminating for the industry. “Everything evolves, and if we think about the customer, so have they…customers are becoming more and more in tune with simplicity in their dealings with their service provides, and as an insurer, it means we need to step up a bit and start really thinking about the ways that we can leverage technology to meet their demands.”

McMahon asks Chirico to explain the process AM Best employs to analyze companies’ ability to innovate, and how that factors into their financial strength ratings and bottom line. Chirico details that the methodology is based on two tenets: the first “is to identify and build a sustainable competitive advantage on a company-by-company basis. The second is to better respond to external challenges from outside the industry.” 

On the whole, the panel agrees that there is a clear distinction between companies that were innovating, and companies that were sitting on their laurels. Watch the recorded version to learn more.