InsureTech Connect focuses on tech impact, industry change
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LAS VEGAS – Growth and change were key topics of discussion Tuesday morning at the 2022 InsureTech Connect conference, as speakers mused about the ways technology has influenced the commercial insurance sector.
“We’ve come a long way since 2016,” said Bill Harris, vice president and chief revenue officer of InsureTech Connect for Clarion Events in Columbia, Maryland.
Mark Anquillare, president and chief operating officer of data and analytics provider Verisk Inc., noted that last year’s insurtech funding, which approached $15 billion, was double that of the year before.
“I really think the industry has changed more in the last five to 10 years than it did in the previous 50,” he said.
The change, however, has not come without growing pains.
“It’s really hard to actually get a big company to invest in something that’s going to be small for a while,” said Jeffrey Dailey, CEO of Farmers Insurance Group Inc.
To circumvent many of the issues associated with change in a large organization, Farmers decided to build its Toggle brand from scratch. Mr. Dailey said the insurer wanted the new unit to be free of bureaucracy and run like a startup.
Toggle’s renters insurance is underwritten by 21st Century Assurance Co. or 21st Century Premier Insurance Co., members of the Farmers Insurance Group of Cos.
