Insurance firms can achieve growth in multiple ways. They can grow organically by taking on new staff or books of business and by investing in new technologies to boost business efficiency. They can join forces with other firms via merger or acquisition, and they can expand into new territories and countries.
Global MGA, The Schinnerer Group, is always on the lookout for growth opportunities, according to chief executive Christopher Schaper. At present, Schinnerer’s growth philosophy is centred around technological investment.
“Schinnerer is a global MGA. We have about 700 employees worldwide and we handle about US$1.2 billion in premium every year. We have operations in the US, Canada, the UK and in Europe – and we’re always looking to expand and grow our business,” said Schaper. “We’re aiming to double our size and to do that we’re thinking about investing in different technological capabilities
“When we think about technology, we break it down into three component areas: industrial technology (portals / apps), analytics technology (predictive modelling), and financial technology. We’re focusing on those three different areas to progress the organization beyond where it is presently.”
Different technological components drive growth in different areas. For example, Schinnerer is investing in industrial technology to make progress and improve efficiencies in the small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) markets. Building underwriting mechanics into portals makes the process of underwriting risk for SMEs “much more efficient,” according to Schaper.
For large or medium-sized enterprises (LMEs), Schinnerer will continue to underwrite in the traditional manner, but will complement the expert human approach with analytic and financial technology. The aim is to use capabilities in the financial markets in different ways beyond how they’re already being utilized in the insurance industry.
“The world markets also define how we approach our growth strategy,” explained Schaper. “A large portion of our business is written within the US, which is the largest insurance market in the world with about a 50% share. We want to grow as substantially as we can in the US in order to make the most of that market. Other key markets include the UK and the EU where there’s lots of potential for growth. Canada is also an important market, but its growth projections are probably a little slower than elsewhere.”
Technological advancements are not just supporting the growth of The Schinnerer Group’s underwriting capabilities. They’re also designed to improve efficiency and ease-of-business among Schinnerer’s agent and broker partners.
“Everything we’ve constructed is for the agent, which we view as a very key and important part of our entire business process,” Schaper told Insurance Business. “Our technology play is not just about creating portals. It’s also about working with agents to refine their business processes and to enable them to spend more time providing high-value services to their client base.”
