AIP News RoundUp – EP 51 – Theresa Blissing, Hugh Terry and Simon Phipps – It Did Require That Long-Term Commitment

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Michael Waitze worked in Global Finance for more than 20 years, employed by firms like Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, primarily in Tokyo.  Michael lived and worked in Tokyo from February 1990 until December 2011.  Michael always maintained a particular focus on how technology could be used to make businesses more efficient and to drive P/L growth. Michael is a leader in the digital media space, building one of the biggest and fastest-growing podcast listener bases in the region.  His AsiaTechPodcast.com show has listeners in more than 170 countries and his company, Michael Waitze Media produces some of Asia’s most popular podcasts.

Theresa is the founder of the Asia InsurTech Podcast and a Thought Leader on innovation in insurance in Asia. She has worked for ten years for leading multinational insurers in Europe and Asia before turning to management consulting and venture building with the goal of transforming the insurance industry and helping shape its future in the region.

Guest
Simon Phipps

Simon Phipps, Founder of The Digital Insurer, has over 30 years experience across Life, GI and Asset Management businesses within insurers, consulting firms and start-ups. He started his career in intermediated distribution. Previously Aviva MD & KPMG lead partner for Insurance Advisory & Digital Innovation in HK. The Digital Insurer is the world’s largest knowledgebase and online community of more than 40,000 professionals who share a common purpose of working together to accelerate the digital transformation of insurance. The TDI Academy, launched in 2020, is dedicated to providing best in class learning and development on digital insurance to help as many people as possible be part of our digital future.

Guest
Hugh Terry

Hugh Terry, the founder of The Digital Insurer, is an experienced insurance professional with more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance industry covering insurance companies, business consulting as well as successful set-up and exit from his own businesses. Hugh is an actuary by profession. The Digital Insurer is the world’s largest knowledgebase and online community of more than 40,000 professionals who share a common purpose of working together to accelerate the digital transformation of insurance. The TDI Academy launched in 2020 is dedicated to providing best in class learning and development on digital insurance to help as many people as possible be part of our digital future.

February has been a super busy month for InsurTech in Asia. AIA is again in the news. The insurer has announced their “One Billion” initiative planning to engage a billion people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives by 2030. Adding to promoting a healthy lifestyle, AIA has also announced its new joint venture with South Africa’s Discovery to establish a new pan-Asian health insurtech business called Amplify Health. It looks like AIA is taking their Vitality program to the next level and are building an entire ecosystem around it. 

In Singapore, bolttech has acquired AVA Insurance Brokers and AVA Insurance Agency. The acquisition of AVA will accelerate the deployment of bolttech’s insurance exchange in Singapore, connecting insurers, distributors and customers, making it easier and more efficient to buy and sell insurance. The InsurTech unicorn had a similar approach when they acquired Frank.co.th in Thailand. Listen to our episodes with bolttech here

MSIG and Home Credit, an international consumer finance provider in Europe and Asia, announced a tri-market strategic insurance partnership with the objective of making insurance solutions simpler and more accessible for retail consumers, a fast-growing insurance segment in Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia. Home Credit will distribute MSIG’s insurance plans across its country online marketplace e-commerce sites, mobile apps, and 42,000 point of sale locations covering every province and city in those markets. 

Japanese insurers in general are keeping busy securing new partnerships. Sompo Japan and GeoX have partnered on a new AI underwriting platform and in the UAE, Tokio Marine has partnered with Democrance to drive digital sales. Democrance has been known for its MicroInsurance initiatives targeted at the low-income population. Now the InsurTech offers its platform to insurers to enable purchasing policies digitally through distribution channels and offer post-sales services including renewals, claims and endorsements all from a dedicated customer wallet. Listen to our episode with founder Michele Grosso here

In India, Kenko Health raised $12 million as part of its Series A round led by Sequoia Capital India. We had the founder, Aniruddha Sen, on the show. Listen to the episode here. In Singapore, insurtech provider Cyber Sierra raised a $4.3M seed round led by Leo Capital. The startup focuses on cybersecurity and technology insurance for SMEs with a presence on the cloud. We had Shwetank Verma, the founder of Leo Capital, on the show a couple of times. Find the episodes here

Don’t forget to apply to the World’s Digital Insurance Awards 2022, presented by The Digital Insurer. The application deadline is 31st March 2022 and you can apply through the TDI website.

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