There is no understating Bob Guevara’s contributions to AAIS and the Inland Marine insurance community: He transformed thinking about inland marine risks, raising awareness with regulators and creating new rating paradigms and valuable tools and resources for AAIS Member insurers. As he looks forward to retiring after 29 years, and transitions to a consulting role, continuing to support AAIS, Bob spoke with AAIS Views.

Let’s start at the beginning. What first drew you to the insurance industry?

Bob Guevara: When I graduated from college in the 1970s the country was coming out of a recession. There was a lot of instability out there. I wanted to join an industry that would be very stable for the long haul, which led me to insurance. I’ve been in the business ever since – 15 years of inland marine underwriting and 29 at AAIS.

In this edition of CEO Angles, the topic turns to the tremendous changes affecting the Inland Marine insurance market. From supply chain issues and driver shortages to government infrastructure spending, automation, even cryptocurrency, all are putting pressure on inland marine underwriters to respond.

Dr. Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Senior Risk Strategy Lead, was a recent guest on the FNO: InsureTech podcast, joining hosts Rob Beller and Lee Boyd to talk about how new thinking around data can enhance insurers’ ability to measure, rate, and mitigate fire risk and the challenges associated with insuring the peril, particularly in wildfire-prone areas such as California.

Litigation Tops Capital and Nat CAT Concerns

AAIS, a sponsor of the 2022 Florida Insurance Market Summit held March 21st to 23rd, polled attendees pre-event to understand what they perceive as the most pressing issues affecting the Florida market and the overall insurance industry.

Dr. Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Senior Risk Strategy Lead at AAIS and fire peril subject matter expert, recently joined Tom Louis from First Due to discuss why the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) still matters and why it needs to improve to meets the needs of the 21^st century fire service. Watch the entire discussion here:

On Wednesday, Jan. 19, AAIS hosted a webinar with AAIS VP of Data Solutions Ruturaj Waghmode and BizDynamics SVP of Partnerships Neil Pravin Dias. They took a comprehensive look at what the power of data democratization means for insurance carriers, regulators, agents, and policyholders – and how to make it a reality.

Risks are continually evolving and emerging, requiring updates to insurance policies in order for carriers to keep pace with market need. Whether you’re a regulator or an underwriter, reviewing new policy language in a timely fashion can be a challenge, and can negatively impact speed-to-market.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid and can target both individuals and businesses. The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform shared that “in 2020, ransomware attacks on both public and private institutions in the U.S cost an estimated $19.5 billion. … in the first six months of 2021, financial institutions reported $590 million in ransomware-related transactions. Current trends indicate that ransomware transactions in 2021 alone will exceed the previous 10 years combined.”

Clive Humby said it best with his oft-cited quote – “data is the new oil.” It is true that the value of data is in its refinement and synthesis into useful insights, tools, and products, all predicated on the existence of a complex infrastructure to share and transport data from where it is found (those with the data) to where the analysis occurs (those with the questions).

Everyone has probably heard the cliché “Data is an Asset.” But how do we break it down pragmatically into an actionable backlog and apply some “data-driven metrics” toward attributing and increasing the value of data.

It’s a fascinating and challenging paradigm – to increase the value of data. Like many other assets, the value is typically not intrinsic; it must be harnessed. It requires a process of extraction, enrichment, polishing, and packaging. Even then, the value realization is not obvious or guaranteed, until the consumer engages with it. Think of diamonds. They go through an extensive process from rock to finished product, and still only possess value once purchased by a consumer at a defined market rate.