In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro is joined by both Tony Buckle, former Chief Underwriting Officer of Allianz Global Corporate, and John Carolin, former CEO of B3i. Tony and John now work for UWX, a company set about reimagining underwriting. During their discussion, the trio talk through effective ways to navigate a soft market in the insurance industry. They highlight that, during the ‘fog of war’, a soft market is not something that just happens, rather, it is something...
Apr 16, 2024•42 min•Season 5Ep. 8
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, Juan de Castro speaks with Bill Bloom, a board member at Aviva Canada, Bamboo Insurance, and Foundation Risk Partners. Over his 28-year career, Bill has led the strategic direction at global insurers and consultancies, including Accenture, The Hartford, and Aviva. He has also played a leading role in integrating technology, data, and analytics in insurance operations and claims management. During the course of their fascinating discussion, Juan and Bill discu...
Apr 02, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 7
This time on Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro is joined by Clive Buesnel, Managing Partner, International at Insurance Advisory Partners. Clive is a seasoned insurance industry expert, having held prestigious roles at Deloitte, Jubilee General Insurance Company and Tysers. Clive shares his extensive experience and deep knowledge of the insurance industry, discussing topics such as data, technology, and the future of the industry. Together, Juan and Clive talk through how data and technology...
Mar 19, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 6
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, Juan de Castro speaks with Neil Galjaard, Divisional Managing Director of Markel UK, a global specialty insurance provider. Neil has over 30 years of experience in the insurance industry and has held leadership roles at companies like Lloyds, Virgin Money, and Towergate Insurance. Neil joined Markel in 2016 to lead the UK retail business across insurance, tax, and legal capabilities, whilst working closely with brokers, accountants, and lawyers. During the co...
Mar 05, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 5
In the latest episode of the Making Risk Flow podcast, host Juan de Castro interviews Sufen Lim, Senior Vice President at Tokio Marine Group. With over a decade of experience spanning investment banking to her current role, Sufen offers a unique perspective on the industry's evolution and Tokio Marine Group's strategic vision. Sufen joins Juan to share the cultural nuances crucial for thriving in the insurance sector and the group's commitment to driving product innovation and operational excell...
Feb 20, 2024•31 min•Season 5Ep. 4
In this episode of the Making Risk Flow podcast, Cytora’s Juan de Castro is joined by James Anderson, Partner at EY, to delve into historical and current challenges around the soft and hard market cycle. James, an experienced actuary turned consultant, shares valuable insights on the use of analytics and technology to drive business improvement. Together, Juan and James discuss the challenges and changes facing the insurance market and the importance of preparing businesses by developing adaptiv...
Feb 06, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 3
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro interviews Jacob Palmer, Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Jacob has over 13 years of industry experience in consulting, risk management, and insurance. In his role at BCG, he advises global insurers on everything from growth acceleration to the adoption of new technologies. Together, Juan and Jacob discuss a myriad of topics including why GenAI is a high priority for insurers, the ingredients for a successful GenAI strategy, the b...
Jan 23, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 2
It's a new year and a new season of the Making Risk Flow podcast. This time, host Juan de Castro sits down with Andrew Horton, the Group CEO of QBE Insurance. Located in 26 countries, QBE Insurance is one of the world's top 20 insurance and reinsurance companies. During the course of their conversation, Juan and Andrew discuss QBE’s approach to consistency in an ever-evolving market, the important role innovation and culture plays in insurance, and why the game-changer that is AI is on Andrew’s ...
Jan 09, 2024•36 min•Season 5Ep. 1
In this episode of Making Risk Flow Juan is joined by Simon Cooper-Williams (Director of Portfolio Development Solutions at Markel International) and Jamie Wilson (Head of Pricing and Innovation at Hyperexponential). Together they discuss how the role of actuaries has evolved over the years, and how they work together with underwriters to achieve more dynamic and informed pricing decisions. To discover more about digital risk processing, click here . Our previous guests include: Bronek Masojada ...
Dec 18, 2023•39 min
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro is accompanied by Nigel Walsh, the Managing Director of Insurance at Google, to delve into the exciting role of technology in the insurance industry. Juan and Nigel explore the potential for technology, particularly artificial intelligence, to revolutionise underwriting workflows and decision-making, whilst also highlighting the importance of reducing costs and streamlining processes. The conversation also covers the need for collaboration...
Dec 05, 2023•38 min•Season 4Ep. 6
With the exciting news of PPL's Next Gen release, here's an episode from the Making Risk Flow vault. In the episode, host Juan de Castro is joined by Bronek Masojada, the former CEO of Hiscox and former Chairman of Placing Platform Limited (PPL). Their conversation ranges from discussing Bronek’s time at Hiscox and his reflections on the challenges he faced, to talking about how PPL works, how it is being received by the market, and its successes. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake...
Nov 14, 2023•26 min
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro interviews Meghan Hannes, the Head of US Underwriting Management, Cyber Risks at Beazley. As a highly accomplished executive leader, Meghan has demonstrated success in portfolio management, actuarial and data science, and cyber risk management services. During the course of the discussion, Juan and Meghan cover the dynamic cyber insurance market, the evolving role of underwriters, and the role of risk controls and loss behaviour in cyber i...
Nov 02, 2023•25 min•Season 4Ep. 5
In this podcast episode, Juan de Castro interviews Jeffrey Hayman, a CEO, Chairman, board member, and entrepreneur in the global insurance industry. Hayman has an impressive track record in executive roles at carriers like AIG and, more recently, in non-executive roles, including his current position as Chairman of the Board at R&Q Insurance Holdings Ltd. They discuss various topics, including the state of the market, the board-level conversations about AI adoption, and the use of external c...
Oct 17, 2023•32 min•Season 4Ep. 4
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro sits down with three friends in the underwriting and insurance space to discuss the importance of underwriters in the insurance industry and how technology can improve their efficiency and effectiveness. They mention the need to digitise data, automate processes, and provide decision support to underwriters. The importance of a customer-centric approach and the role of external data in understanding and evaluating risks is also on the tabl...
Oct 03, 2023•28 min•Season 4Ep. 3
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro sits down with Bryan Falchuk, the President and CEO of Property & Liability Resource Bureau, and David Gritz, the Co-Founder and Managing Director of InsurTechNY. Drawing upon research gathered from the Insurance Collaboration Index, the trio discuss the impact collaboration can have in the insurance industry. Juan, Bryan and David also cover key lessons for nurturing successful partnerships, why it’s important to maintain a transforma...
Sep 19, 2023•37 min•Season 4Ep. 2
Making Risk Flow is back for it's fourth season! In the first episode of the new series, host Juan de Castro is joined by his good friend and Deputy CUO and Head of Third Party at Inigo Insurance, Craig Knightley. During their conversation, the pair discuss just how data analytics and insights can play a pivotal role in gaining a competitive advantage in insurance and ensure underwriters are more accurate in risk selection. Plus, Craig outlines the five pillars of Indigo's strategy: great data, ...
Sep 05, 2023•45 min•Season 4Ep. 1
In the last episode of Season 3 of Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro highlights some of his favourite moments from the series. During the season, Juan has hosted 15 excellent guests from brokers, insurers and advisors. Looking back at the season, Juan, with the help of insightful clips, talks about the three common challenges that have spanned across all 12 episodes. The first is efficiency, and how manual processes can result in inefficient workflows that affect productivity and service. Th...
Jul 18, 2023•20 min•Season 3Ep. 13
In this episode, Juan is joined by Nathália Bellizia, Managing Director at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), to analyse the BCG's upcoming Value Creation Report. The eagerly awaited document shall help identify the patterns of insurers that have created value over the last five years compared to those that have destroyed value. Juan and Nathália also discuss the three key themes which have contributed to value creators and value destroyers: GenAI, sustainability and the talent war. Fan Mail: Got a ...
Jul 04, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 12
In this episode of Making Risk Flow, Juan is joined by analytics expert Paul Mang, Innovation Advisor at Guidewire and former global CEO of Analytics at Aon, to discuss the use of analytics in insurance and how to get better returns on such investment. Juan and Paul also address how the industry can make progress through interoperability, ways in which analytics can improve efficiency whilst driving down costs, and why the insurance industry needs to focus on increasing its relevancy. Fan Mail: ...
Jun 13, 2023•37 min•Season 3Ep. 11
In this episode, Juan is joined by both Neil Peters, the National Director of Branch Network at Arch International UK, and Arvind Drubhra, the Director of Operations for the UK and Ireland at HDI Global SE. During the course of their conversation, Juan, Neil and Arvind discuss how to leverage data to drive growth, the steps and target states to achieving full digitisation, and how technology might allow businesses to accelerate the onboarding of new underwriters. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digiti...
May 23, 2023•31 min•Season 3Ep. 10
This time, we are wanting to shine a light on a previous episode from our back catalogue. Recently, insurers have been focussing more and more on implementing digital risk flows. So, here's an episode on that very topic. The goal of digitising risk flows is to enable automated decision making on the best course of action for each submission, characterising each risk with granular risk information and ensuring that underwriters only work on winnable, decision-ready risks. In this episode, Juan de...
May 16, 2023•30 min
This time on Making Risk Flow, host Juan de Castro is joined by Paul Brand, the CEO of Convex Insurance. In the episode, Juan and Paul discuss the three pillars of Convex’s success in the insurance industry: creating the perfect company culture, optimising technology to make data-driven decisions, and how operational excellence can give businesses a competitive advantage. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience at Cytora....
May 02, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 9
In this episode, Juan is accompanied by Sheila Cameron, CEO of Lloyd's Market Association, to discuss digitising the London insurance market. Over the course of their discussion, the pair talk through how the London insurance market is changing, ways to drive change in the complex environment, and the importance of standardising data across the industry. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience at Cytora. To receive a cust...
Apr 18, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 8
In this episode, Juan is joined by Mandy Hunt, the Chief Underwriting Officer of Commercial Lines at RSA, to discuss the crucial role of data in the underwriting process. During their conversation, Juan and Mandy consider how automated and structured data can aid risk selection consistency, help underwriters understand the data at their fingertips, and how to identify new sources of data. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our expe...
Apr 04, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 7
In this episode, Ben Luckett, Chief Innovation Officer at Aviva, joins host Juan de Castro to share how continuous internal innovation at Aviva has helped establish it as a global name in insurance. Also, Juan and Ben discuss the three core elements of Aviva’s innovation process, the importance of investing in innovation even if it does not have an immediate payoff, and the three big trends leading insurance innovation right now: mobility, AI, and an increasingly connected world. Fan Mail: Got a...
Mar 21, 2023•30 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In this episode, Juan discusses implementing ESG with Simon Tighe, Group Head of Investments, Treasury and Credit Risk at Chaucer Group, and Paul McCarney, Senior Director of Insurance Product Strategy at Moody's. Together, the trio talk through the relevance of ESG data in insurance, the need for standardised data, and how the industry can unite to create a more sustainable future. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience...
Mar 07, 2023•36 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode, Juan is accompanied by Matthew Grant, CEO of InsTech, to discuss the three major topics that everyone in insurance is talking about right now: digitising insurance to remove friction, the impact of climate change, and actively reducing or mitigating risk. Plus, Juan and Matthew touch on the potential impact AI and ChatGPT might have on the insurance industry. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience at Cyt...
Feb 21, 2023•33 min•Season 3Ep. 4
In this episode, Juan is joined by Jason Howes, Director of Business Transformation at Allianz Commercial UK, and Jonathon Gray, Transformation Business Owner at Allianz Insurance. With the guests coming from the same company, the trio discuss the vision and structure of the transformation initiatives taking place at Allianz, how risk prioritisation can help companies win business, and why digital risk flows might be the future of insurance. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Shar...
Feb 07, 2023•35 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode, Juan is accompanied by Paolo Cuomo, the Executive Director of Gallagher Re. Over the course of the show, Juan and Paolo discuss the challenges with data in reinsurance, how cyber development is learning lessons from the CAT property space, and why large amounts of data can actually be ineffective for insurers. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience at Cytora. To receive a custom demo from Cytora, click h...
Jan 24, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In the first episode of Season 3, Juan invites Philippe Lutgen, the Chief Operating Officer for Howden Broking in Europe, onto Making Risk Flow . The pair discuss the four key areas to success in broking, how data automation could be integrated into broking processes, and how the industry could make strides in underinsurance. Fan Mail: Got a challenge digitizing your intake? Share it with us, and we’ll unpack solutions from our experience at Cytora. To receive a custom demo from Cytora, click he...
Jan 10, 2023•32 min•Season 3Ep. 1
