Hamilton Insurance Group Ltd., American International Group, Inc. and Two Sigma Investments plan in the fourth quarter to start rolling out a technology-enabled, customer-centric insurance platform designed for the U.S.-based small commercial enterprise market.
The trio first announced their intent to form a joint venture in April. That process is complete, and now the entity is official and has a name: Attune. There were simply many things to hash out in terms of how the joint venture will work, Hamilton Chairman and CEO Brian Duperreault told Carrier Management.
It “takes time to make sure everybody knows what they’re going to do, what they’ll bring, what the purpose of this project is, really, and [we have] gotten down to the detail and the structure of it,” Duperreault said. “We’re ready to go.”
The idea is that Attune will use data science and advanced technology to help small and medium-sized businesses meet their risk needs. Each side also brings something to the table. Hamilton offers small business knowledge and underwriting expertise. AIG provides the scale, extensive data and wide-ranging distribution network. Two Sigma is expected to develop and manage Attune’s technology and data science capabilities.
Attune is currently building its infrastructure and personnel, but a mobile app with a businessowners product has been tested in 25 retail agencies and 7 States. Developed by Hamilton and Two Sigma, it is currently branded MyHamilton Express but will be rebranded under the Attune name once the broader rollout takes place during the 2016 fourth quarter, with a continued expanded rollout in 2017. Going forward, MyHamilton Express will be the mobile technology platform for all new products offered by Attune, Hamilton said.
This businessowners policy app and others to follow will be available to brokers and agents through the use of mobile technology, but not for direct-to-consumer use.
Duperreault said that the tool is something agents would eventually be able to get in an app store. With that in hand, agents would walk into customers’ offices. By only entering a limited amount information into the app, including the company name and address, they would then get back a bindable quote within minutes.
“You’ve eliminated all the question and answer process that has been a hallmark of how this business is done historically,” Duperreault said. “It completely frees up the intermediary.”
As Duperreault and AIG President and CEO Peter Hancock explained (via prepared remarks), Attune is supposed to be disruptive, serving as a tool to help brokers and agents in the U.S. small to medium-sized enterprise commercial insurance market do their jobs both better and quicker.
“It is an extension of Hamilton and AIG as carriers … built from scratch with the idea of having technology and efficiencies that it brings embedded in the organization,” Duperreault explained. “It will be constructed in a way which allows us to use modern day science and data-collection processes, and no one else has been able to do that.”
Innovation to Help Agents
He added that Attune is “more of a carrier” and not an intermediary, nor is it trying to replace the actions of insurance agents/ “trusted advisors.”
“We’re not trying to take the place of trusted advisors,” Duperreault said. “We’re trying to make the trusted advisors’ process as efficient as possible, so they can get on with advising clients.”
None of the parties are disclosing financial details, but Duperreault said that ownership is split equally between Hamilton, AIG, and Two Sigma Investments – Hamilton’s longtime technology/hedge fund partner. Also, as disclosed in April, Duperreault will serve as Attune’s board chairman.
Hancock, in prepared remarks, said Attune “represents an important way forward for the insurance industry as it adapts to the disruptive forces of data analytics and the powerful technology supporting it.”
Two Sigma co-founder David Siegel said his company “has shown how a technology and data-science platform can help discover value in the world’s economic data.”
“The insurance industry is ripe for change,” Siegel said. “We are excited to partner with AIG and Hamilton on this venture.”