RISK MANAGEMENT, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
PRnewswire | March 30, 2023
Acquis, Europe's leading provider of specialist insurance programs to the asset finance market, today announced it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by NSM Insurance Group, a global leader in specialty insurance with more than $1.5B in premium across 25+ niche insurance programs. For over 30 years, NSM has specialized in investing in a broad portfolio of insurance companies in the U.S. and Europe.
Acquis went through an MBO process in 2019 when they were backed by specialist private equity investor Dunedin LLP. Subsequently, Acquis was able to accelerate its growth plans, tripling the size of its workforce, acquiring 46 customers, launching 50 additional insurance programs and increasing turnover by 47 percent within three years. This new investment will ensure Acquis is well placed to achieve its growth ambitions, expanding its solutions and services in existing and new territories.
"This investment from NSM Insurance Group marks a significant opportunity for Acquis to meet the increased demand we are witnessing for our products, and to continue to develop our market-leading insurance solutions for the asset finance market," said Nick Leader, Acquis CEO. "NSM is a perfect fit for Acquis, they understand our market and are as ambitious about our growth potential as we are. This deal will enable the continued development of our people, processes and systems and will allow us to galvanize our growth plans. NSM's confidence in Acquis is testament to the hard work and dedication of our team in building the company we are today."
Geof McKernan, CEO and Founder of NSM Insurance Group, added: "We are entrepreneurs at heart and we seize compelling opportunities to partner with high-performing companies with significant growth opportunity. We are excited to further expand in Europe and the U.S. with the acquisition of Acquis — the leader in innovative solutions for the finance and leasing industry. We look forward to partnering with Nick and his team and providing them with our state-of-the-art resources and capacity to help take their business to new heights."
The closing is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
About NSM Insurance Group
NSM Insurance Group is the nation's leading specialty insurance provider, exclusively focused on building successful insurance programs. For more than 30 years, NSM has been committed to delivering industry-specific insurance programs that help agents meet the unique needs of their customers and fuel market growth through innovative development, underwriting, distribution and claims expertise. The company has built more than $1.5 billion in premium across 25+ specialty insurance programs and brands in the U.S. and U.K. focused on collector cars; pets; social services and behavioral health; addiction treatment; coastal condominiums; towing and garage; trucking; sports and fitness; professional liability for contractors, architects and engineers; habitational; medical stop-loss; staffing; and workers' compensation. For more information on NSM, visit nsminc.com.
About Acquis
Acquis is the largest provider of specialist insurance programs for leased equipment in Europe. Leading asset finance brands and leasing companies across 16 European countries rely on Acquis' outsourced insurance solutions to enhance their asset finance offering, deliver customer value and increase revenue. For more information, visit acquisinsurance.com
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AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE, INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Cover Whale | March 02, 2023
On March 1, 2023, Devron, a pioneer in artificial intelligence and machine learning for distributed and private data, announced its cooperation with Cover Whale Insurance Solutions, Inc., a top commercial trucking insurer and a rapidly expanding insurtech.
Using Devron's federated data science platform, Cover Whale will build and train AI models that can quickly add new and different data sources to estimate risk better, offer to coach drivers, and align premiums.
The Driver Safety Program offered by Cover Whale uses data science and AI to analyze risk and develop strategies to reduce it, making roads safer. The platform provided by Devron simplifies the process by enabling access to additional datasets and doing away with the requirement, cost, and privacy risk associated with relocating data. This federated method enables Cover Whale to design, train, and run more effective models to identify unsafe driving behaviors or circumstances more efficiently.
In the past, for businesses to extract, duplicate, and move large amounts of data to get insights, they were required to develop complicated infrastructures. Devron gets around this requirement, so Cover Whale can build and train machine learning models on datasets where they are already stored. These datasets may include, for example, claims information, various vehicle telematics, external data related to highways, weather conditions, and other such information to acquire a more informed perspective on risk.
Cover Whale has commissioned Devron to speed up ongoing data science projects, lay the groundwork for the future development of its operations, and enable faster access to various data sources, formats, and types while producing richer insights with less effort.
About Cover Whale
Cover Whale is an insurtech founded by industry veterans and tech entrepreneurs that provides cutting-edge policies for commercial vehicles through AI, sophisticated underwriting, and extensive data integration. Coverage, telematics, dash cams, and real-time driver teaching are part of its innovative Driver Safety Program, which aims to reduce claims, improve road safety, and save lives in the United States. The company also provides over 5,000 agencies with the quickest and most user-friendly online quote system.
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RISK MANAGEMENT, COMPLIANCE
PRnewswire | April 03, 2023
Shift Technology, a provider of artificial intelligence-based decision automation and optimization solutions for the insurance industry, and Direct Assurance, the French leader in direct insurance, which offers auto, motorcycle, home and health insurance, and is a 100% subsidiary of the AXA group, today announced their renewed collaboration. Initiated in 2018 to fight auto insurance claims fraud using Shift Claims Fraud Detection, the relationship now extends its scope to cover home insurance claims.
Property and casualty insurance fraud costs the European economy €14 billion annually, and €2.5 billion in France alone. As such, insurers are looking for modern solutions which can more effectively identify and analyze suspicious claims. Working with Shift, Direct Assurance has opted for an innovative approach to this issue. Five years of successful collaboration analyzing motor claims prompted the French leader in direct insurance to extend the use of Shift's solutions to the challenge of mitigating fraud in home insurance claims.
"Fighting against fraud is one of the most effective ways to maintain the competitiveness of our rates and defend the purchasing power of the immense proportion of our bona fide customers," explained Donatien Levesque, director of claims, Direct Assurance.
"In order to identify suspicious claims, we chose to combine artificial intelligence with the know-how of our experts. The enormous amount of information to be processed makes verification and comparison operations extremely difficult," continued Nicolas Vilhelmsen, head of claims business intelligence, Direct Assurance. "That's why we used Shift. Since 2018, this collaboration has allowed us to gain ground on fraudsters in a considerable way. We are very excited to apply this solution to our home claims, which are an increasingly important part of our business."
"From the beginning, Shift's goal has been to put technology at the service of insurance players to help them best serve their customers," concludes Jeremy Jawish, CEO and co-founder, Shift Technology. "We are proud to have contributed for several years to Direct Assurance's strategic initiative to minimize the impact of fraud on its business, and to benefit its legitimate customers."
About Shift Technology
Shift Technology delivers AI decisioning solutions to benefit the global insurance industry and its customers. Our products enable insurers to automate and optimize decisions from underwriting to claims, resulting in superior customer experiences, increased operational efficiency, and reduced costs. The future of insurance starts with Decisions Made Better. Learn more at www.shift-technology.com.
About Direct Assurance
Direct Assurance is the French leader in direct car insurance and also offers motorcycle, home and health insurance products. Today, more than a million customers trust the company. A pioneer since 1992, Direct Assurance is a part of the AXA group.
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