On Thursday, February 16, 2023, AAIS presented a webinar in partnership with BriteCore, the modern core platform for P&C insurers. Hosted by John Kadous, Vice President of Products at AAIS, and moderated by Amede Hungerford, Chief Marketing Officer at BriteCore, the discussion covered how top-performing companies leverage analytics to improve their business performance. Attendees learned cutting-edge techniques from industry peers on how to 'light up' their data and generate new insights; how reports, analytics, and dashboards each have an essential role to play in daily operations; and best practices from two leading mutual insurers that use BriteCore to guide their business.
Panelists included Alex Gann, Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Farmers Fire Insurance, and Scott Page, Vice President of Cameron Mutual.
Analytics Terminology
To introduce the topic of analytics, Hungerford explained the many different terms used in analytics – specifically reports and dashboards. Gann and Page discussed the difference between the two. Reports are comprised of pre-formatted data that is static and tells us what’s happened in the past. Dashboards visually bring information to life and keep us informed on what’s happening now. Analytics as a whole helps us understand why the data is happening.
Business Metrics
The panelists then went on to discuss the important business metrics they tend to hone in on as insurers, especially when thinking about presenting it in the different forms just mentioned. Page explained that Cameron Mutual builds a single sheet view in their dashboards where they measure written premiums, new business written premiums, retention, and loss ratio. Cameron Mutual uses these metrics as goals for the year.
Farmers Fire Insurance focuses mostly on measuring policy movement and new business. Gann said they have a combination metric for their agency base to specifically measure new business. It measures how much of their premium increase is due to new business vs. the rate that they took on existing business, and how that rate increase then correlates to reduced retention or increased attrition rates within their policy base.
Operational vs. Strategic Reporting
The concept of operational vs. strategic reports and analytics can be many-sided. According to Gann, operational reports refer to day-day business drivers, like exception reports. Strategic reports attribute more towards setting goals and working towards them. He believes this difference is the key factor to keep in mind whether you are working with a software vendor like BriteCore or an in-house IT department.
Regulatory and Compliance
During the Q&A portion of the webinar, a question was asked pertaining to how these improved data tools contribute to efficiently meeting regulatory and compliance requirements. Gann cited the Market Conduct Annual Survey (MCAS) as an example. It is a very technical report with very specific definitions and training modules. By using a data and analytics tool, all of these rules are likely something the software will sort through for you, which can be a huge reprieve. Hungerford added that dashboards can also help specifically with the auditing process.
Final Advice
To wrap up the session, Hungerford asks the panelists to offer their advice on tapping the latent value of data through analytics reports and dashboards. Page advised that initial steps are fundamental. It is imperative for leadership in your organization to collectively agree that measuring data is valuable and necessary. He also suggested starting small. Pick a few KPIs, start to build out common measurements of them, and then set goals.
If you would like to view the presentation again in its entirety, please click the video above.
Questions? Please don't hesitate to reach out to any of the guest speakers through the contact information below.
John Kadous
VP of Products (AAIS)
johnk@aaisonline.com
Scott Page
Vice President (Cameron Mutual Insurance)
scott.page@cameron-insurance.com
Alex Gann
CIO/CTO (Farmers Fire Insurance)
agann@farmersfire.com
Amede Hungerford
Chief Marketing Officer (BriteCore Solutions)
amede.hungerford@britecore.com