Posts by: Drew Birtwistle
Recent Articles
Captive insurance: An overview of the market today by Christopher Ridge 04.11.2012: After more than 40 years of development, the captive industry enjoys a stable regulatory and service provider structure. Furthermore, intense competition in this industry has resulted in a wide selection of domicile choices, innovative captive structures, well-tested regulations and lowered captive formation and operational expenses. Captives are an increasingly viable risk financing alternative for companies of all sizes – particularly as traditional insurance market pricing has begun to harden....
Liespotting for insurers: An interview with Pamela Meyer by Editor 03.26.2012: Insurance related decision making requires that judgment calls be made regarding risk levels, valuation, fraud prevention and incident reporting. Imagine the enormous cost benefits to being even 5%-15% more accurate in determining which entities should be insured, whether someone is lying about an incident, or what value to place on particular assets. Anyone who is in an interviewing or investigation role, or who is managing teams of executives that must make difficult decisions regarding information they have collected, can be trained to get to the truth 80%-90% of the time, at low cost....
The magic of technology: An eternal investment of hope in science by Mark O'Brien 03.20.2012: The old ways of doing business typically are ignored in discussion and promotion of technology. Ironically – and granting the line that must be walked here between old, new, and their respective merits – we might make more of the opportunities we end up missing if we were looking to maximize or optimize present realities, rather than betting the farm on future possibilities. Alas, bigger, better, faster, and more dazzling are always the irresistible carrots....
Popular Articles
Effective compliance programs: Best practices in the P&C insurance Industry by Joseph Wiest 04.07.2011: The primary goal of any company is to be profitable. One way for a company to meet its financial goals is to support compliance as a separate business function that links the company’s other business programs to the company’s legal counsel and governmental affairs lobbyists. In so doing, companies establish a competitive advantage over companies that either do not support compliance activities, do not treat compliance as a separate business function, or have an ineffective compliance program or processes....
The insurance tipping point: Innovation and transformation by Denise Garth 01.03.2011: Considering innovation and insurance together are viewed by many as oxymoronic. While the insurance industry demonstrated innovation during the 1960’s and 1970’s by creating new products, services and distribution methods using technology, innovation slowed measurably. But during this period of innovation, early-adoption fueled growth, expanded customer access and competitive pricing through more efficient operations enabled by technology. This value has diminished due largely to the “Achilles heel” of legacy solutions and models. Once again, innovation and disruption are needed for a new round of competition......
Business process improvement: Seven steps to operational excellence by Rob Berg 01.01.2008: Albert Einstein famously said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Yet we find a world rife with complexity; as businesses struggle with the quickening pace of new technologies and global markets, many have lost sight of the basics that underlie excellent operations. In this article, Rob Berg, Director of Management Consulting at Perr&Knight, presents the basics – a simplified approach to improvement initiatives for the overworked executive intent on improving internal organizational processes in their quest for operational excellence....