Insurance, the Pandemic and Serendipity: Our Valued but Unplanned Partnership

December 29, 2021

Stephen E. Applebaum and Alan P. Demers

You may have noticed that the ‘Connected’ newsletter has changed recently and there are now two contributors listed on the heading. Thank you for noticing the change. Indeed, just a few weeks ago Stephen and I joined forces to curate the newsletter, but our partnership goes back a bit further and we collaborate today in various ways.

Our Collaboration

Over the last year, and especially since the recent changes to ‘Connected’, we have had numbers of our industry colleagues and connections ask what’s happening or remark they noticed what looks to be a good thing and ask, “so what’s going on?” We also find ourselves frequently sharing our backgrounds and telling the story about how we came to be working together during introductions when meeting with clients and consulting prospects. So, it made sense to share more about this with everyone.

You could say that insurance brought us together and continues to influence our frequent collaboration. After all, our consulting practices serve, supports and operates within and around many aspects of the insurance ecosystem. Although our backgrounds are related, they are actually very different. 

Two Different Backgrounds with One Focus: Insurance Transformation

Alan’s career path includes 33 years of working for insurance carriers, beginning as a claim adjuster, climbing through a variety of large-scale national positions, serving as an executive leader in Personal, Commercial and Specialty lines for nearly 20 years before launching and serving as Nationwide’s very first VP of Claims Innovation just prior to starting a consulting practice just before the dreaded pandemic.

Meanwhile, Stephen started his business career in Toronto, Canada in finance, public accounting, management consulting, M&A and venture capital. In fact, a Canadian partnership forged with Certified Collateral Corporation (now CCC Intelligent Solutions) eventually resulted in his relocation to Chicago and a 20-year career in corporate and business development with CCC. Subsequent career steps included leading an early insurtech startup, establishment of a P&C insurance research practice, and establishment of an advisory firm serving private equity and investment banking clients which were all insurance-centric. 

So, insurance is the common denominator but as we have come to appreciate, the insurance industry and related ecosystem is vast, specialized and getting bigger and broader yet more “connected” each day. 

The Pandemic Influence

You might say that like so many businesses, career paths and daily life patterns. Covid-19 influenced our work together. The pandemic made forging a partnership somewhat easier and practical. In the early months of the pandemic it was impossible to predict short-term business needs and many companies naturally went into protection and cost-cutting mode with layoffs and other measures. A few months later it became apparent that more investments, actions to automate, digitize and serve insurance customers virtually took center stage and similarly a whipsaw-like demand curve flourished when it came to consultative needs in a variety of areas. This curve has been fully reflected in insurtech funding patterns which had a one quarter lull in early 2020 followed by a complete rebound and acceleration ever since then. So being opportunistic, it made perfect sense for us to join forces where, we believe, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – the force multiplier effect.

The Backstory

We initially met at an Insurance Nexus conference in Chicago in 2019 at which Stephen served as event Chairman and Moderator. A few months later we connected again when a mutual startup client was establishing an advisory panel which we both happened to join. It did not take long to learn about a mutual passion we shared to assist clients with some aspect of insurance transformation, and from that point we began collaborating on behalf of clients. Fortunately, we live and work in a time where social media platforms provide a ready-made stage and broadcasting platform. As a result of our collaboration in publishing topical papers, sharing information with those having mutual interests and providing thought leadership on important, emerging topics, we generated market interest which frequently resulted in outreach, discussions and ultimately engagements for our consulting services. ‘Connected’ also plays a key role in highlighting and promoting our interests and insights and stimulating discussions as do speaking engagements, webinars and other high-profile events.

Our Practice Focus

Our consulting practice serves to connect insurance companies, investors, established insurance solution providers (technology and services), supply chain partners and startups. However different, all share a common objective to transform some aspect of insurance, whether as a startup, early stage, or more mature company seeking to expand horizontally and/or vertically within the ecosystem. We also serve insurers in conducting market reviews for a specific transformative technology or solutions. Regardless of which of these participants we are representing, we adhere to a strict professional code of confidentiality and strive to act as trusted intermediaries in all dealings.

Some of our 2020/2021 engagement themes included;

·      digital transformations of some or all of the end-to-end auto and property claims  process

·      claims services platform and network development

·      digital claims and third-party payments and lienholder payoffs

·      total loss claims process transformation

·      connected vehicle auto insurance solutions, including real-time FNOL

·      telematics and usage-based insurance

·      home services networks

·      connected home solutions

·      property claims solutions, including digital interior and exterior 3D measurement systems

·      digital auto damage and property inspection solutions, including computer vison, light field technology, blockchain applications and aerial image-based claims, repair and underwriting solutions. 

Looking Ahead

Connecting people, ideas, technologies and businesses is a critically valuable role in today’s rapidly evolving insurance ecosystem. Never before has the insurance industry been more open to and in need of third-party solutions. The era of insurtech and innovation has sparked everything from easier access to more investment capital and M&A and partnership transactions to greater insurer piloting and partnership creation. Yet the sheer volume and variety of options and alternatives in this sprawling marketplace is daunting and we look forward to continuing to assist our clients in successfully navigating this landscape. 

We also look forward to working with our existing and new clients in 2022 and beyond to help transform the industry to meet the changing needs and expectations of insurance industry users and consumers, to expanding our network of contacts and to collaborating with all who share our passion for this mission.

Stephen E. Applebaum is Managing Partner of Insurance Solutions Group and Senior Advisor to Waller Helms Advisors. linkedin.com/in/stephenapplebaum 

Alan P. Demers, CPCU is founder and President of InsurTech Consulting. linkedin.com/in/alan-demers-b059b145