Group chief executive Andrew Horton (pictured) has revealed to Insurance Business that QBE Insurance Group has more business coming in than the insurer can actually process – an issue the Sydney-headquartered firm seeks to address through its ongoing modernisation.
Under Horton’s leadership, QBE has six strategic priorities: portfolio optimisation, sustainable growth, bringing the enterprise together, modernisation, people, and culture. Here the CEO talks about where the business is at in terms of the modernisation priority and how QBE’s technology strategy is set to bring in significant benefits.
“We are putting the Aus-Pac (Australia Pacific) business on to a new platform, and our aim is to make a dramatic difference in how long it takes to get things done,” Horton said in a recent interview with Insurance Business. “Here in Australia we’re using a system that’s roughly 40 years old, and not many people know how to adjust it.
“It means if you want to change a price or a deductible or anything else on it, it can take months to do it. So, our reacting to the market here is pretty slow, and our aim is to be able to move from months, to weeks, or days.”
The modernisation program in the group’s Australia Pacific division – the other two being North America and International – has been running for about one and a half years now. The goal, according to Horton, is to make it easier for brokers to do business with QBE while at the same time making the company’s internal process more efficient.
“It has started to deliver small benefits, but it’ll start delivering more major benefits in a year’s time,” the CEO said. “Eighteen (18) months into a three- to five-year program, the real benefits will start ramping up next year, which is good.
“Then in International we’re doing something similar, of getting the international business on to a similar platform and process, and we have an overall – which is quite good – technology strategy that we’re trying to use similar technology in the various divisions. So, I’m really excited about it.”
At the same time, Horton conceded, he’s also feeling “slightly nervous” about the initiative, knowing how such transformation projects can go dramatically wrong. “Our aim is to ensure this one doesn’t,” he said.
From QBE’s perspective, one major area to be excited about from the modernisation is the critical enhancement of its submissions processing, which in turn will translate to improved profitability.
“We have more business coming in than we can actually process, so hopefully we’ll get on top of all these submissions,” Horton told Insurance Business. “A lot of submissions we just never get around to, so there is a great opportunity for getting through more. There is a great opportunity to be more effective.
“In my view, such a straightforward thing to do is responding to stuff that people are already sending to us. They’re sending it to us because they do want our view on it – you don’t even go out hunting for more business; you just look at the stuff that’s currently coming in… So, modernisation is really important to our success.”
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