Ki is the genesis of an exciting new venture by Brit, working in collaboration with Google, which aims to redefine the commercial insurance market. James Birch, Ki Insurance Development Director at Brit, explains below.
What is Ki?
Ki is the first fully digital and algorithmically-driven Lloyd’s of London “follow only” syndicate. It will be accessible anywhere, at any time. Ki is a collaboration between leading speciality insurer Brit and technology giant Google and is aiming to redefine the commercial insurance market as a ‘follow-only’ syndicate. Ki launches in 2021.
The creation of Ki marks a step change for an industry that is yet to face the disruption seen across the rest of financial services and other industries. Ki will aim to significantly reduce the amount of time and effort taken for brokers to place their follow capacity, creating greater efficiency, responsiveness and competitiveness. Google will bring to Ki enterprise-grade cloud solutions powered by innovative technologies that enable rapid transformation at scale.
How does Ki work?
Ki’s algorithm will be able to evaluate Lloyd’s policies and will automatically quote for business through a digital platform which brokers can access directly. The selection process is performed using a proprietary algorithm developed with support from University College London. Ki will follow several ‘nominated’ lead syndicates across the
Lloyd’s market, including Brit. Ki offers brokers a line on every risk in the selected classes led by these markets. Ki uses data to help make better pricing decisions and gives Brokers data to help them make better decisions on their portfolio
Brokers can access Ki through the digital platform, and within 3 clicks get an automated offer in real-time, rather than spending days to weeks trying to access follow capacity from the Lloyd’s market. Ki is available 24/7, on-demand and on-the-go on your laptop or mobile.
Ki will write a broad range of classes in Lloyd’s at launch.
Who is behind Ki?
James Birch, Head of Innovation at Brit, and the Brit Innovation team have led the incubation of Ki. Ki will be run by a dedicated team reporting to Mark Allan, Group CFO at Brit, who will act as Executive Chair.
The business was incubated by Brit and Google, but will operate as a standalone business and syndicate.
The business is backed by Brit, Fairfax and other private capital investors.
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Quotes
Ki is the first fully digital follow-only syndicate to be approved by Lloyd’s of London due to its innovative business model and alignment to the Future at Lloyd’s.
John Neal, Lloyd’s of London CEO said: “Ki truly embraces all that is represented in “The Future at Lloyd’s” by bringing data, technology, innovation and artificial intelligence to the fore in the complex world of corporate and specialty underwriting. It is an exciting first for Lloyd’s and paves the way for others to follow.”
Adrian Poole, Head of Financial Services, Google Cloud said: “We are proud to be the cloud provider for Ki, and to collaborate with Brit to transform the London insurance market. As the first algorithmic syndicate, we see this as an exciting first step by Brit to support the Future at Lloyd’s vision and are delighted to bring our market-leading technologies to support this innovative venture.”
Matthew Wilson, CEO, Brit, said: “Ki is a significant milestone for our market, combining Brit’s heritage of underwriting outperformance and Google Cloud’s technology expertise. Over time, Ki will look to play a central role in the transformation of the specialist insurance market in London, creating a whole new and fully digital segment which operates seamlessly alongside the traditional marketplace. Recent events have demonstrated the importance of electronic trading and I expect Ki to be at the forefront of the accelerated transition in how the Lloyd’s market transacts business. Through building a truly quantitative-based approach to insurance, Ki aims to do what quantitative hedge funds did to Capital Markets in the 1990s.”
About Brit
Brit is a market-leading global specialty insurer and reinsurer, focused on underwriting complex risks. It has a major presence in Lloyd’s of London, the world’s specialist insurance market provider, with significant us and international reach. Brit underwrites a broad class of commercial specialty insurance with a strong focus on property, casualty and energy business. its capabilities are underpinned by robust financials. Brit is a subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited.
