iptiQ Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, is focused on helping to close the huge and growing life and health protection gap, explained the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the firm, Philip Walker.
Speaking with Willis Re as part of the reinsurance broker’s latest quarterly InsurTech briefing, Walker explored the creation of iptiQ in 2014, its innovative technology and talented teams which span across three continents, partnerships, and its very real desire to increase life and health insurance penetration in all corners of the world.
“The protection gap is the single greatest motivator for our team; it really fuels us. The life and health protection is a huge and growing problem in the world,” Walker told Franck Pinette, managing director of Willis Re’s International Life and Health practice.
iptiQ operates as a “white label” provider of life and health insurance, working in partnership with leading consumer brands in the European Economic Area (EEA). This means that the firm doesn’t sell solutions directly to the consumer, but instead combines its expertise and knowledge with its partners.
Recently, the company announced a new strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics Ltd., designed to help consumers live healthier lives with a view to closing the significant $26 trillion life and health protection gap.
Partnerships, explained Walker, are key when considering InsurTechs and efforts to make technology truly relevant at scale.
“Through our partnerships around the globe, we are confident that we can make the world more resilient. To do that, we need to hire a lot of really smart, really capable, technically brilliant teammates. A passion for protecting people is the thing that draws them to us and us to them. In the end, we solve fascinating problems that change people’s lives one family at a time,” said Walker.
Insurance protection gaps (difference between economic and insured losses post-event) exist in all markets and are viewed as the risk transfer industry’s biggest opportunity and challenge.
Disruptive and advanced technology continues to search for new ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of numerous parts of the insurance value chain and as firm’s like iptiQ develop and expand, it’s hoped that more and more people are able to secure the protection they need in a rapidly changing world.
The full interview between Walker and Willis Re’s Pinette and James Kent, Global CEO of the reinsurance broker, can be accessed here.
