Canada’s oldest property and casualty insurer has come a long way in three years. Gore Mutual unveiled its ambitious “Next Horizon” strategy in 2020 to radically transform itself from a regional carrier to a digital-first national insurer.
In 2023, Gore Mutual is making strides towards its next goals: digitizing its commercial lines product suite and expanding its geographical footprint.
“By 2023, we expect to have our commercial lines fully integrated into Guidewire,” said Kate Hogan (pictured), head of distribution at Gore Mutual. “We’ve already started to harvest the benefits of the Guidewire integration in personal lines in 2022. So, we’re really excited about that.
“I would look for us to be a bit more present and active in commercial lines, especially in areas we haven’t been historically driving growth. We will continue to look for opportunities and offer great service, while becoming more efficient in personal lines. ‘Bigger, bolder, better’ is our focus right now.”
Hogan, who spoke to Insurance Business at the IBAO Convention in October, said 2022 was an “amazing, busy” year for Gore Mutual. The insurer accomplished several key milestones, including the launch of its refreshed brand identity to reflect its strategic transformation and its purpose to provide “insurance that does good.” It also opened a new space in the heart of Toronto’s financial district.
“This is the first time we’ve had a presence in downtown Toronto. That’s been great for many reasons, such as bringing people back together in the office and allowing us to draw on talent in and around the GTA [Greater Toronto area],” said Hogan.
“2022 has been a big year because we started to realize some of the benefits of the technology that we’ve implemented, such as improved service, pricing, and products. We have seen a lot of success around that, and a lot of benefits for our brokers.”
Aside from the technological transformation, Gore Mutual has also embarked on operational changes as it strives to be a modern and purpose-led insurer.
“We’ve used the opportunity of ‘Next Horizon’ to look at our operating model and reorganize how we do business in a way that better serves our brokers and customers. If you have the right people looking at the right risks, it also allows for improved speed of service,” Hogan continued.
Quizzed about Gore Mutual’s transparent approach to its transformation, the insurance head added: “It was important for us to be open to our brokers and customers because we know that with transformation comes disruption. And we know it can be a challenge. We wanted to be open about what we were doing. We didn’t want it to be behind closed doors, to do things that may upset brokers or customers, or to make our intentions unclear.
“It was very much, ‘we are on this journey, and we’d love you to come with us.’ There was no point in hiding it. I think [the openness] was definitely by design.”
Did you know Gore Mutual is undergoing a major transformation to enhance and grow our business? Find out the three key components of our transformation from our CEO, Andy Taylor.#NextHorizon #DigitalTransformation #BusinessTransformation pic.twitter.com/b6X3ZB4huR
— Gore Mutual (@GoreMutual) November 15, 2021
Gore Mutual’s new brand and refreshed purpose, along with its expansion plans, are all positive signs that the company is on track with its 10-year “Next Horizon” strategy. But it also acknowledges that its evolution is happening amid broader, more dynamic changes in the insurance industry.
Broker consolidation and an evolving distribution channel are among the headwinds that Canadian brokers face. Hogan said Gore Mutual is committed to working closely with its brokers to navigate the changes and opportunities ahead.
“The landscape has shifted so much. I think [changes in the distribution chain] will continue to shape the emergence of new nationals that that didn’t exist in Canada a few years ago, and are growing rapidly,” Hogan commented.
“There’s also an emergence of larger, regional brokers that M&A [mergers and acquisitions] are creating. But we think that there’s a place for everyone, from a small, local broker to a large national, there’s a way for us to work with them. We’ve aligned our teams in a way that ensures they can focus on larger national [brokers] and meet those specific needs. We also have a distribution team across territories that can serve those smaller local brokers, who we think are equally critical in the broker ecosystem.”
While Gore Mutual will remain “broker focused” in its distribution, Hogan expects the Canadian distribution channel to continue to evolve in the next few years.
