CORE INSURANCE
Combined Insurance | November 21, 2022
Combined Insurance Company of America, a Chubb company and a leading North American provider of supplemental insurance sold to employees at the worksite and directly to individuals, announced today that it has opened a new regional office in Columbia, South Carolina.
"While the trend in many industries is to move away from in-person work, Combined believes it's important to offer our team members choice, flexibility, and a collaborative environment, Columbia is a wonderful place to do business. It offers a labor market talent-rich in insurance industry expertise, and the Southeast is a prime region for voluntary business sales growth."
-Rich Williams, President of Combined Insurance
Open, Flexible Space
Combined's new regional office is located in 13,000 square feet on the 23rd floor of the Capitol Center, South Carolina's tallest building and more commonly called the Truist Building. The open floor plan provides an outstanding setting in which to host broker and customer meetings.
Nearly 30 team members in the Columbia area, who previously worked remotely, will call the office home, including a cross-departmental mix of executives, sales and field support leadership, as well as members of the claims, compensation, finance, legal, licensing, marketing and operations teams. The office also provides additional space to accommodate additional staff as needed in the future.
We have created a space where our teammates – not only from the Midlands but across the national Combined footprint – can gather to collaborate and work on behalf of our customers and policyholders, The area's abundant talent across job roles and the benefits industry makes it the perfect place for Combined to grow,said Eileen Castolene, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Combined.
Voluntary Benefits Sector
Combined offers life, accident, cancer, critical illness and disability insurance, as well as hospital indemnity protection. These products, when offered through the worksite, allow employers to offer employees additional financial peace of mind during these times of rising healthcare costs and economic turbulence.
In today's tight labor market, a competitive benefits package can assist employers in recruiting and retaining talent. In fact, more than three-quarters of employees say voluntary benefits positively affect their decision to work for, or stay with, an employer (Corestream, 2021).
Centennial Year
Today's announcement comes at an important time for Combined, as it celebrates its 100th anniversary in business. The company was founded Nov. 13, 1922 in Chicago.
As we mark our 100th birthday this week, and celebrate our distinctive history, we're proud to start our second century by expanding our office footprint and investing in Columbia, This new office enhances our ability to provide insurance solutions of value and help individuals and families in times of need,Williams said.
About Combined Insurance
Combined Insurance Company of America is a Chubb company and a leading provider of supplemental accident, health, disability, and life insurance products in the U.S.* and Canada. Headquartered in Chicago with a tradition of 100 years of success, we are committed to making the world of supplemental insurance easy to understand. The company has an A+ rating by the Better Business Bureau and an A + (Superior) financial strength rating by A.M. Best. We are ranked by VIQTORY as the number one Military Friendly® Employer in 2022 (over $1 billion revenue category), marking Combined's eleventh consecutive year on the Top 10 list.
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CORE INSURANCE,RISK MANAGEMENT
Betterview and JMI Reports | December 01, 2022
Betterview, the company leading P&C insurers rely on to identify and manage real property risk, today announced a partnership with JMI Reports, one of the largest providers of onsite property data to the insurance industry. Products from JMI Reports are now available on the Betterview Property Intelligence & Risk Management Platform, allowing users to optimize inspection efficiency in a single, intuitive user interface (UI).
The innovative tools from JMI Reports allow insurers to understand, prioritize and act upon risks to predict and prevent future loss. One of these is QuickVUE, a self-inspection tool that empowers insurers to thoroughly understand property risk without consuming overwhelming amounts of data. Additionally, reliable inspection data from on-the-ground physical inspections is available on the Betterview platform. Using this integration, insurance companies can filter properties based on which require a physical inspection and which ones can be fast-tracked as solid risks.
“The solutions from Betterview and JMI Reports are strengthened by synthesizing them within a single platform, Customers can work with their policyholders to get rapid, accurate views of real property risk. They can then consume that information directly within our platform, gaining an immediate and actionable view of every property in their book, and flagging those that need more attention. Any insurer that uses Betterview and JMI together will see great improvements in inspection efficiency, which should translate to an improved expense ratio as well.”
-Betterview co-founder and chief operations officer, Dave Tobias
JMI Reports also believes that the two companies are ideal partners. Both Betterview and JMI are in the business of understanding risk and helping insurers work better with their insured, Ultimately, we want to turn underwriters and agents into insurance heroes. By integrating QuickVUE and other inspection tools directly in the Betterview platform, I believe we are taking a positive step towards that goal,says Nathan Clark, president and CEO at JMI Reports.
About Betterview:
Betterview is the Property Intelligence & Risk Management Platform that leading P&C insurance companies depend on to identify and mitigate risk, improve operational and inspection efficiency, and build a more transparent customer experience throughout the policy lifecycle. By empowering insurers to automate pricing, underwriting, and renewal while focusing strategic action on critical properties, Betterview is transforming the insurance industry from Repair and Replace to Predict and Prevent.
About JMI Reports:
JMI Reports is a risk innovator providing property profiles and data insights to improve efficiencies and profitability for insurance carriers and MGAs. For more than 30 years, our mission has remained the same: to protect your blindside by listening to your needs and delivering actionable, forward-thinking, and cost-saving solutions that make a difference.
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INSURANCE TECHNOLOGY
Milliman | November 23, 2022
Milliman, Inc., a premier global consulting and actuarial firm, today announced the release of Milliman Agile ALM. This innovative software package makes asset/liability management (ALM) and stochastic valuation accessible to more insurers, helping them comply with Solvency II, IFRS 17, and other requirements.
"The fundamental advantage of Milliman Agile ALM is that it does not require remodeling the entire portfolio of insurance liabilities, Milliman Agile ALM offers an accessible solution that helps insurers satisfy reporting requirements and make business decisions with greater confidence."
-Ed Morgan, principal and Head of Strategy and M&A for Milliman's practices in Italy and Central and Eastern Europe
Unlike traditional dynamic ALM models, Milliman Agile ALM uses a standalone asset projection model that can be linked to external liability software. Rather than simulating assets interacting with liabilities, the technology runs separate asset and liability models in an iterative process that quickly arrives at a single solution.
Our approach is unique because of our method for separating the asset model from the liability model, This separation is highly efficient as it allows us to take advantage of a client's existing liability modeling and focus the validation directly on the ALM modeling and interactions,said Grzegorz Darkiewicz-Moniuszko, senior consultant at Milliman.
Using Milliman Agile ALM, insurers can test different investment and product strategies, optimize management actions, project capital requirements, and even validate other ALM models, all without significant investment or retraining.
About Milliman
Milliman is among the world's largest providers of actuarial and related products and services. The firm has consulting practices in healthcare, property & casualty insurance, life insurance and financial services, and employee benefits. Founded in 1947, Milliman is an independent firm with offices in major cities around the globe.
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