SCOR INNOVATION PODCAST

In this second episode about Fraud in Insurance, Robyn Wallner, Underwriting Solutions in the US, and Paul Blyth, Head of Underwriting Claims & Propositions in the UK, discuss innovative solutions with host David Ferguson, Underwriting and Claims Development Manager from the UK. Innovative technology, trends analysis, databases, heat maps, artificial intelligence, and more are being used to identify fraud in underwriting and claims to stay ahead of the fraudsters using many of the same tools. Part 1 of this series discusses fraud risks and mitigation and is available here. Host David FergusonDavid joined SCOR in December 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience in life and health reinsurance in the UK and Irish market. He has worked for different insurers across a range of roles including premium administration, underwriting and claims, research and development and automated rules development for claims engines.   His current role as Underwriting & Claims Development Manager is to support the implementation of SCOR’s underwriting and claims strategy and framework for Life underwriting and claims best practice.  He has an interest in advances and innovations in medical tech and their impact on the Life and Health industry. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and holds both the Institute's Underwriting and Claims diplomas. He is currently Chair of the Digital Technology and Innovation Practitioner Group at the Investment & Life Assurance Group. Guest Paul BlythPaul is Head of Underwriting & Claims Proposition in the UK and Ireland at SCOR. His key responsibilities are maintaining and enhancing relationships with SCOR’s key clients in both Underwriting and Claims in the UK and Irish markets. With 20+ years’ experience in claims, he develops and delivers training to clients on a regular basis, coordinates the UK team's webinars and newsletter, SCORacle, where he has contributed a number of articles over the years, some of which have been translated for other markets including Korea and Japan.He has represented SCOR many times when presenting at various industry events such as FOCUS (where he was vice chair), Health Insurance Society, Select 74, Health Claims Forum, and the Health, Care and Protection Conference. He has a particular interest in cancer and neurology and has issued a number of publications over the years, which include topics such as Proton Beam Radiation Therapy, Immunotherapy, Rare Cancers, Neurodendocrine Tumours (NETs)/Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs)/Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PM) and many more.Guest Robyn WallnerRobyn Wallner works at SCOR in the role of Vice President, Underwriting|Partnerships. She has more than three decades of insurance and financial services experience including individual life and disability income underwriting, underwriting guideline development, compliance oversight, product development, reinsurance, technology development/underwriting rules/engines development, vendor negotiation, claims review and analysis, underwriting representation for litigation, quality oversight, co-creation of solutions with distributors, carriers, TPAs, and insurtechs, new business administration and underwriting leadership, and Chief Underwriter.Robyn has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from College of St Benedict. She also holds the Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU); Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations as well as Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) certification. In her free time, Robyn enjoys volunteering as an EMT and Alpine Ski Patroller, playing pickleball, golfing, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Steve, and three children, Paige, Megan, and Matthew.

10/21/24 • 20:08

How big is the global insurance fraud problem and how can we mitigate the fraud risk? The latest SCOR Innovation Podcast episode features David Ferguson, Underwriting and Claims Development Manager from the UK, interviewing Robyn Wallner, Underwriting Solutions in the US, and Paul Blyth, Head of Underwriting Claims & Propositions in the UK. Join us to hear a comparison between the fraud issues on either side of the Atlantic Ocean, as the experts discuss fraud trends, factors constituting fraud in different markets, and more.  Host David FergusonDavid joined SCOR in December 2014 and has more than 25 years of experience in life and health reinsurance in the UK and Irish market. He has worked for different insurers across a range of roles including premium administration, underwriting and claims, research and development and automated rules development for claims engines.   His current role as Underwriting & Claims Development Manager is to support the implementation of SCOR’s underwriting and claims strategy and framework for Life underwriting and claims best practice.  He has an interest in advances and innovations in medical tech and their impact on the Life and Health industry. He is an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute and holds both the Institute's Underwriting and Claims diplomas. He is currently Chair of the Digital Technology and Innovation Practitioner Group at the Investment & Life Assurance Group. Guest Paul BlythPaul is Head of Underwriting & Claims Proposition in the UK and Ireland at SCOR. His key responsibilities are maintaining and enhancing relationships with SCOR’s key clients in both Underwriting and Claims in the UK and Irish markets. With 20+ years’ experience in claims, he develops and delivers training to clients on a regular basis, coordinates the UK team's webinars and newsletter, SCORacle, where he has contributed a number of articles over the years, some of which have been translated for other markets including Korea and Japan.He has represented SCOR many times when presenting at various industry events such as FOCUS (where he was vice chair), Health Insurance Society, Select 74, Health Claims Forum, and the Health, Care and Protection Conference. He has a particular interest in cancer and neurology and has issued a number of publications over the years, which include topics such as Proton Beam Radiation Therapy, Immunotherapy, Rare Cancers, Neurodendocrine Tumours (NETs)/Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours (GISTs)/Pseudomyxoma Peritonei (PM) and many more.Guest Robyn WallnerRobyn Wallner works at SCOR in the role of Vice President, Underwriting|Partnerships. She has more than three decades of insurance and financial services experience including individual life and disability income underwriting, underwriting guideline development, compliance oversight, product development, reinsurance, technology development/underwriting rules/engines development, vendor negotiation, claims review and analysis, underwriting representation for litigation, quality oversight, co-creation of solutions with distributors, carriers, TPAs, and insurtechs, new business administration and underwriting leadership, and Chief Underwriter.Robyn has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Management from College of St Benedict. She also holds the Fellow, Academy of Life Underwriting (FALU); Fellow, Life Management Institute (FLMI); and Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designations as well as Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) certification. In her free time, Robyn enjoys volunteering as an EMT and Alpine Ski Patroller, playing pickleball, golfing, hiking, and spending time with her husband, Steve, and three children, Paige, Megan, and Matthew.

9/30/24 • 22:19

Behavioral economics research has shown that small details can have a large impact on how a person behaves. As life insurance transitions to using digital and streamlined processes, we must rely more on application form responses. However, traditional application forms can be complicated, confusing, and difficult for applicants to answer easily. Behavioral science concepts applied to redesigned application form questions create a better customer experience and improve the accuracy and honesty of information disclosed. Join us for this episode of the SCOR Innovation Podcast to hear how the research results support the business case for innovating policy application questions to promote better disclosures in life insurance applications. See the full research results in this report. Access the interactive dashboard to explore detailed results data. Katherine McLaughlinKatherine McLaughlin is VP, Pricing and Innovation. She works with clients to stay ahead of changing market conditions and new product developments while crafting solutions that achieve their business objectives. Prior to this, she has held various actuarial roles including Data Analytics, Client Solutions, Experience Analysis, and Pricing. She holds a BSBA in Actuarial Science and Finance from Drake University and has been with SCOR for 15 years.Aisling BradfieldAs Head of Behavioral Science with SCOR’s global research function, Aisling focuses on improving our understanding of policyholder behavior and applying behavioral economics research to gain insights into customer interaction with insurance at all points of the customer journey. Aisling graduated from University College Dublin, receiving a bachelor’s degree in actuarial and financial Studies. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, having qualified as an actuary in 2014. Aisling completed an executive education course in behavioral economics at London School of Economics in June 2019. Aisling is based in Ireland and started working in pricing with SCOR in 2010, later moving into policyholder behavior.

8/26/24 • 22:22

In this episode, SCOR longevity specialists, Ruth Damian and Phil Curtis, explore the threat posed by longevity risk and the reinsurance solutions available to insurers and pension schemes.BIOS:Phil Curtis, Head of Longevity Business Development  Phil is Head of Longevity Business Development for SCOR. Based in London, UK, he has 15 years’ experience working in pensions and life insurance. Since joining SCOR in 2021, Phil has helped secure multibillion-dollars’ of longevity risk for clients and insurers, and is responsible for developing longevity solutions and client relationships globally. Prior to joining SCOR, Phil was a specialist consultant at Aon, advising pension scheme stakeholders on how to secure their longevity risk in the Pensions Risk Transfer market.   Ruth Damian, AVP, Longevity Ruth is an Assistant Vice President on the Longevity team in the Americas. She has been in Reinsurance for 26 years with the last 21 working on financial reinsurance solutions. She joined SCOR in 2022. Most recently, she has been working with the Longevity team in the UK as the adviser and contact person to SCOR Longevity clients in the United States.  Prior to SCOR, she provided her expertise in different positions within reinsurance at RGA, MetLife and Brighthouse Financial. She earned her bachelor’s degree in actuarial science from Anahuac University in Mexico City.

5/22/24 • 10:43

There’s an App for That: Skin Cancer Prevention Skin Screener, developed by Austrian startup medaia, is a mobile app that assesses the risk of skin cancer via photos. Easy to use, cost effective and widely available now in Europe, the app helps users detect skin cancer earlier, when intervention is likely to be more successful. Learn how the innovative, AI-supported algorithm is a new tool in the fight against cancer. SCOR Innovation Podcast host Thomas Trompetter interviews medaia CEO Albin Skasa about Skin Screener.BIOS: Albin SkasaCEO medaia GmbHAfter attending commercial school and a reserve officers training, Albin finished his master in law at University of Graz. He began his professional career as a legal trainee but soon he switched to auditing. After almost four years he was hired as an investment manager by the local state government providing Venture Capital and Private Equity to Styrian companies. During this work he got in touch with medaia, the company behind SkinScreener where he was asked by both founders to become the CEO.Thomas Trompetter MBAHead of Client Services&Portfolio Solutions/Central EuropeThomas is Head of “Client Services & Portfolio Solutions” and responsible for Underwriting, Claims & Prevention and Portfolio Solutions for the Central Europe Region. He started his career in a primary insurance company in Germany and entered the reinsurance business in 2000. He has more than 20 years of experience in different areas of the reinsurance business for different international markets, especially Europe and the Middle East. Thomas and his teams also have been exploring in the past years innovative approaches for prevention of cancer and mental disorders. 

4/26/24 • 12:20

SCOR Global Agile Coach Al Mele discusses the innovative mindset and the importance of courageous, open-minded collaboration within today's workplaces with Angela Bolduc, a Principal and Managing Director for the Milliman IntelliScript practice. This Life and Health episode of the SCOR Innovation Podcast explores why a culture of innovation requires employees feeling safe and unafraid to try new things, asking questions, and speaking their minds.HOST:Al Mele, CSPO, CSMSenior Vice President, Global Agile CoachSCOR.com  Al started his career in Information Technology, where he worked as a software engineer in life insurance illustration software. He joined SCOR in September 1999 as a programmer/analyst working on reinsurance administration systems. As the Global Head of Agility for SCOR, Al is using his previous experience leading Underwriting Innovation teams in the US Life market to help the organization deliver predictably, efficiently, and transparently. Al is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, a Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) and Certified Scrum Master (CSM).GUEST:Angela Bolduc, MBA Principal and Managing DirectorMilliman IntelliScriptrxhistories.com| milliman.com Angela is a Principal and Managing Director for the IntelliScript practice. She has been with Milliman since 2007 and leads IntelliScript’s Relationship Management, Partnerships, Recruiting and Talent Management, IT and Operations teams. Angela gained her expertise by working with insurance carriers since 2001. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Vassar College and earned her MBA from Northeastern University. In her free time Angela loves spending time with her family and coaching youth field hockey.

3/26/24 • 17:28

In this episode, we welcome Michel Krenzer, Global Head of Energy, and Nicholas, a young 6th grader curious about his environment.  They were both recently featured on our series on “Hydrogen” which you can also find on the channel.Today, Michel will have a conversation with Nicholas to try and debunk its negative views on plastics. They will also go over the basics and origins of plastics, while answering the question “What do diamonds and plastics have in common?”Michel Krenzer has over 25 years experience in the insurance sector. After working for Foster Wheeler in Paris as a Chemical Engineer, he joined UAP Large Corporate Risks as a Loss Prevention Engineer. He then moved to Oil & Gas underwriting at Sorema in 1995.He moved to London in 1999 to start up a facultative branch office for Sorema before joining SCOR in 2001. He started at SCOR UK as Senior Energy Underwriter and has had various managerial positions within the Large Corporate Risks division of SCOR Global P&C. He was appointed Onshore Energy Manager for Paris and London offices in 2009 and was then appointed Global Leader - Onshore Energy in 2018. He holds the position of Global Head of Energy since 2023.

3/20/24 • 21:45

TAL, Australia’s largest life insurer, offers life insurance, critical illness, total and permanent disability insurance, and income protection coverage. They are using SCOR’s award-winning VClaims solution, powered by technology partner Adviser Connect in Australia and New Zealand, to revolutionize their entire claims experience. Digitalization, automation, and simplification in their claims processes is helping eliminate human errors while enhancing the human touch across their life insurance portfolio with personalization, optimization and specification to each claimant’s unique journey and needs. Ryan Gailey interviews Jackie Pemberton in this episode.NOTE: Vclaims received “Innovation of the Year” award during the 7th Annual ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Awards in 2024.BIOS: Jackie Pemberton is currently serving as the Process Improvement and Automation Manager at TAL for Life Insurance Claims. Having worked in Life insurance for 6 years, she has experience in all areas of claims, proudly identifying as a "claims nerd." Jackie is an active member of YALUCA demonstrating a passion for industry growth and development. Ryan Gailey is a technical specialist and the claims automation lead at SCOR. He has more than 20 years of experience in life insurance, over 15 of those in leadership roles across technical, operations, learning, compliance, data, and change. 

11/20/23 • 23:07

BIOS: Olivier Armengaud is a Senior Manager in the SCOR Life & Health Digital Solutions team. He joined SCOR in 2015 as Investor Relations before pivoting to Life & Health Ventures in 2021. Before joining SCOR, Olivier was an Associate at Brunswick, a leading strategic consultancy working on various M&A and IPO transactions. Olivier is a graduate from EDHEC Business School, Paris IX Dauphine and the University of Texas-Pan America (UTPA).Amir Kaplan is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at ifeel. Over the years Amir led the company strategy, go-to market, fundraising and commercial activity to position ifeel as a leading solution for global brands in 26 countries.Prior to founding ifeel, Amir gained managerial experience as a combat commander in the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and worked with publicly traded companies as a senior consultant at KPMG. Amir holds a certified public accountant certificate, studied economics and holds an MBA degree.Today Amir is leading ifeel's global strategy through partnerships with insurance companies, healthcare and employee benefit organizations around the world and is vocal about mental health and technology as the driver of a better future.In his private life Amir likes diving, surfing, skateboarding, motorbiking and traveling to new countries. He is a proud father of 2 kids and a dog. 

10/25/23 • 15:35

PODCAST SUMMARY:During this second episode of our two-part series presented by SCOR’s U.S. Underwriting Solutions team, we introduce SCOR Monitoring & Acceleration Reporting Tool, or SMART. The SMART tool uses visualizations from our data analytics platform to provide rigorous monitoring of accelerated underwriting programs and to identify actions to improve programs quickly when needed. Moderator Michelle Spevak interviews James Atkins and Thomas Ballweg about SMART, its pricing implications, and its use as a benchmarking tool against peer companies and industry standards.BIOS:Michelle Spevak, Director, Underwriting Research, is responsible for assisting with proposals, answering client-related underwriting requests and monitoring accelerated underwriting programs. She advises the pricing process and works closely with SCOR’s Client Solutions teams. Michelle joined the company in 2015 in Underwriting. She obtained her bachelor of science degree in Business Administration from University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She is past president of the Nebraska Home Office Life Underwriting Association.James Atkins, Vice President, Underwriting Data Innovation & AUW Analytics at SCOR, is based in Leawood, Kansas. James has 25 years of experience in the life insurance industry, having started his career working in customer service for Americo Life Insurance and later as a line underwriter for Transamerica in Kansas City.  In 2002 he moved from the direct side into the reinsurance side where he underwrote complex and large face amount risks for Generali USA, Transamerica Reinsurance and SCOR. James later transitioned into an auditor role within SCOR, conducting both internal and client audits.  James and his team are currently responsible for analysing and reporting on monitoring data obtained from the various accelerated underwriting programs that SCOR reinsures. James also served on the board of the Texas-Wide Underwriting Conference from 2015-2019.  James earned a bachelor of arts degree in mass communication at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is a Fellow, Association of Life Underwriters and Fellow, Life Management Office. Thomas Ballweg, Assistant Vice President, AUW Analytics, analyzes accelerated underwriting reporting provided from clients to monitor program performance.Prior to this since 2017, he assisted Underwriting management in performing various internal and external reporting, evaluating client change requests and completing the underwriting review on requests for proposals (RFPs).Before joining the company in 2014, Thomas worked as an underwriter for a number of life insurance companies since 1996.He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, having earned a bachelor's degree in actuarial science and mathematics.  He is a Fellow, Association of Life Underwriters and Fellow, Life Management Institute.

8/21/23 • 14:54

In this last episode of the three-part series entitled “Towards Carbon Neutrality: Offshore Wind" GQ, Lionel, and Xingang will discuss around the role of insurance in offshore wind and their different perspectives on the topic. In this episode, among other topics they will highlight the role of insurance in offshore wind farms, claims trend, and design defect.The first 2 parts of this series "Offshore Wind, the basics for the next generation” and “Offshore Wind Farms Market Conditions & Risk Exposures” are available on the channel and we encourage everyone to listen to them before this last part: it goes over the fundamentals and how the energy works and the key progress and development in this area in Europe, US & Asia. GQ Xu is New Energy Practice Head, based in London. After obtained PhD degree in Geotechnics in 2007 from University of Nottingham, GQ started his career as an offshore engineer with various companies with different roles, from offshore geotechnical engineer, senior project manager, principal engineer to head of renewable within a leading certification body. He has worked on various offshore wind farm projects worldwide, including offshore Europe, Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and USA. GQ joined SCOR’s London office in April 2019 as an offshore wind underwriter with responsibility for SCOR’s portfolio of offshore wind farms, and he has recently been promoted as New Energy Practice Head, with overall responsibility to grow SCOR’s portforlio in low carbon sector. He has been elected as co-chair for JRNC Offshore Wind Committee and also member of LMC Renewable Energy Committee, actively involved in drafting the latest insurance clauses for renewable energy.Lionel Kpoze is a Senior Onshore Construction & Offshore Wind Uderwriter, based in Houston. Lionel graduated from ENSEM (Nancy, France) in 2002 with a Master’s Degree in Engineering specializing in Fluid Mechanics. He also holds a business management degree at IAE-Sorbonne Business School and has completed the Advanced Diploma of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Lionel has 10 years’ experience in the offshore industry first as  Field engineer (Schlumberger, Baker Hughes) on drilling rigs and then as Installation engineer (SAIPEM). He has worked in many places in Africa, the Middle East and the US. He joined SCOR in early 2012 as underwriter for the Energy entity. Xingang Zhang is Offshore Renewable Energy Underwriter, based in Singapore. He obtained PhD in engineering. He has over 14 years’ experience in offshore wind industry, worked within a global leading turbine OEM in different roles from offshore wind turbine R&D to project management, holding 100+ patents in wind, and author of three books in offshore wind engineering. Xingang joined SCOR Singapore office in 2021 as underwriter for offshore renewables. 

7/19/23 • 18:26

PODCAST DESCRIPTIONDuring this episode, representatives from SCOR’s U.S. Underwriting Solutions team explain the FAST (Facultative Assessment & Selection Tool) platform, which allows client underwriters to instantly assess qualifying medical impairments with rating of Table 4 or better, potentially improving the client rating on an underwriting case. Host James Atkins interviews Don Mayes to explain the tool and discuss recent enhancements, including simplified issue and preferred underwriting classification rating available on non-tobacco or tobacco classes. Email FAST@scor.com for more information. BIOSJames Atkins, Vice President, Underwriting Data Innovation & AUW Analytics at SCOR, is based in Leawood, Kansas. James has 25 years of experience in the life insurance industry, having started his career working in customer service for Americo Life Insurance and later as a line underwriter for Transamerica in Kansas City.  In 2002 he moved from the direct side into the reinsurance side where he underwrote complex and large face amount risks for Generali USA, Transamerica Reinsurance and SCOR. James later transitioned into an auditor role within SCOR, conducting both internal and client audits.  James and his team are currently responsible for analysing and reporting on monitoring data obtained from the various accelerated underwriting programs that SCOR reinsures. James also served on the board of the Texas-Wide Underwriting Conference from 2015-2019.  James earned a bachelor of arts degree in mass communication at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He is a Fellow, Association of Life Underwriters and Fellow, Life Management Office. Don Mayes, Vice President, Underwriting Systems, began his career with the company in 1998 as a senior underwriter, but his responsibilities have progressively grown to include supervising the implementation and ongoing monitoring of various underwriting systems, assisting clients and vendors during numerous underwriting technology initiatives and supporting internal and telecommuting underwriting staff. Prior to joining the company, Don worked as an underwriter at Nationwide Life Insurance Company and Midland Life Insurance Company as well as senior underwriter at Integon Life Insurance Company. He holds a master of business administration degree with concentration in management information systems from the University of Dayton and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Ohio State University in Columbus.

7/19/23 • 10:05

The first part of this series entitled “Towards Carbon Neutrality: Offshore Wind, the basics for the next generation” is available on the channel and we encourage everyone to listen to it, if you want to know more on the fundamentals and how offshore wind energy works. On today’s discussion, GQ, Lionel and Xingang, our three SCOR experts, will discuss the differences of logistics, processes and legislation, but also will go over progress in each of their market (EMEA, APAC, Americas) and how they compare the markets progress. In this episode, they will highlight the different risk exposures including Nat Cat exposure among the three regions.GQ Xu is New Energy Practice Head, based in London. After obtained PhD degree in Geotechnics in 2007 from University of Nottingham, GQ started his career as an offshore engineer with various companies with different roles, from offshore geotechnical engineer, senior project manager, principal engineer to head of renewable within a leading certification body. He has worked on various offshore wind farm projects worldwide, including offshore Europe, Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and USA. GQ joined SCOR’s London office in April 2019 as an offshore wind underwriter with responsibility for SCOR’s portfolio of offshore wind farms, and he has recently been promoted as New Energy Practice Head, with overall responsibility to grow SCOR’s portforlio in low carbon sector. He has been elected as co-chair for JRNC Offshore Wind Committee and also member of LMC Renewable Energy Committee, actively involved in drafting the latest insurance clauses for renewable energy.Lionel Kpoze is a Senior Onshore Construction & Offshore Wind Uderwriter, based in Houston. Lionel graduated from ENSEM (Nancy, France) in 2002 with a Master’s Degree in Engineering specializing in Fluid Mechanics. He also holds a business management degree at IAE-Sorbonne Business School and has completed the Advanced Diploma of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Lionel has 10 years’ experience in the offshore industry first as  Field engineer (Schlumberger, Baker Hughes) on drilling rigs and then as Installation engineer (SAIPEM). He has worked in many places in Africa, the Middle East and the US. He joined SCOR in early 2012 as underwriter for the Energy entity. Xingang Zhang is Offshore Renewable Energy Underwriter, based in Singapore. He obtained PhD in engineering. He has over 14 years’ experience in offshore wind industry, worked within a global leading turbine OEM in different roles from offshore wind turbine R&D to project management, holding 100+ patents in wind, and author of three books in offshore wind engineering. Xingang joined SCOR Singapore office in 2021 as underwriter for offshore renewables. 

7/11/23 • 20:25

In this episode we are pleased to welcome back Nicholas, 10 years old today, this schoolboy curious about renewable energies who had already accompanied us in an episode dedicated to Hydrogen, which you can also find on this channel. Nicholas is telling us "I think that I’ve heard that one hour of collecting power is just enough to produce energy for one light, or maybe not one light, but one or two homes out of millions. So my thoughts are a little negative towards them and investing in them but I would really like to understand more about this and possibly convinced that they are a good solution for the future."In this conversation today, GQ Xu & Lionel Kpoze will aim to convince Nicolas of the features and advantages of Offshore Wind, but also to understand its operation and its future, and how this energy is green and beneficial for the environment.GQ Xu is New Energy Practice Head, based in London. After obtained PhD degree in Geotechnics in 2007 from University of Nottingham, GQ started his career as an offshore engineer with various companies with different roles, from offshore geotechnical engineer, senior project manager, principal engineer to head of renewable within a leading certification body. He has worked on various offshore wind farm projects worldwide, including offshore Europe, Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and USA. GQ joined SCOR’s London office in April 2019 as an offshore wind underwriter with responsibility for SCOR’s portfolio of offshore wind farms, and he has recently been promoted as New Energy Practice Head, with overall responsibility to grow SCOR’s portforlio in low carbon sector. He has been elected as co-chair for JRNC Offshore Wind Committee and also member of LMC Renewable Energy Committee, actively involved in drafting the latest insurance clauses for renewable energy.Lionel Kpoze is a Senior Onshore Construction & Offshore Wind Underwriter at SCOR, based in Houston. He graduated from ENSEM (Nancy, France) in 2002 with a Master’s Degree in Engineering specializing in Fluid Mechanics. He also holds a business management degree at IAE-Sorbonne Business School and has completed the Advanced Diploma of the Chartered Insurance Institute. Lionel has 10 years’ experience in the offshore industry first as  Field engineer (Schlumberger, Baker Hughes) on drilling rigs and then as Installation engineer (SAIPEM). He has worked in many places in Africa, the Middle East and the US. He joined SCOR in early 2012 as underwriter for the Energy entity. He’s been underwriting offshore wind projects since 2015. 

5/2/23 • 18:34

Jenny McDonnell hosts this episode of SCOR Innovation Podcast featuring Meglena Jeleva to discuss a research study that explored consumer purchasing behavior of life insurance. Jeleva shares how the team of three researchers used a discrete choice experiment to gain insights about which features of a life insurance product are most important to customers and to learn about how willing people are to pay for these features and how they make trade-offs between them. Understanding what is most important to which clients is fundamental to reducing the protection gap, identifying new markets and moving to direct-to-consumer marketing. Meglena Jeleva is a full professor of economics at University Paris Nanterre where her research focus in behavioral economics explores the impact of risk perception on insurance behavior, specifically in environmental, health and natural disaster risks. Her research has been published in leading journals. She is a member of the Economics Laboratory Board of Directors, a member of the scientific committee of Journal Risk and a member of the steering committee of Prevention Horizon Share. In addition, she is a scientific expert for the French Red Cross and coordinates the master’s program in statistics and economics at University Paris Nanterre.Jenny McDonnell is Acting Head of Behavioural Science with SCOR’s global research function, the Knowledge and Data team.  She is also Head of Life Business Acceptance for SCOR Global Reinsurance Ireland. Jenny is keen to support SCOR’s clients through the use of behavioural economics research insights in product development, retention management and assumption setting. Jenny graduated from Dublin City University, receiving first class honours in her degree in Actuarial and Financial Mathematics. She is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, having qualified as an actuary in 2007. 

3/31/23 • 17:45

What if just a few small changes in individual driving habits could snowball into significant emission reductions? In this second part of a series of two episodes dedicated to Telematics, our guest Philippe Moulin, CEO of DriveQuant, discusses the results of their eco-driving research. What are the implications of some of these changes in habits? How can insurers support their clients adapt to eco-driving?Philippe Moulin, CEO of DriveQuant, is an engineer with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. He worked for 15 years in a research institute for the automotive industry. He co-founded DriveQuant in 2017 to improve road safety and reduce the environmental footprint of mobility.Our host today is Graham Johnston, Program designer for mobility products at SCOR.  He has over 30 years experience with global primary insurers developing personal lines strategy and products and he is a Motor underwriting specialist with 20 years experience in usage based insurance.

3/17/23 • 14:20

In this first part of a series of two episodes dedicated to Telematics, we are talking to Philippe Moulin, CEO of DriveQuant. Founded in 2017 by two French engineers, DriveQuant helps insurers deploy mobility measure solutions, and new mobility offers such as Pay-As-You-Drive and Pay-How-You-Drive insurance. During the conversation, Philippe discusses the results of their Driving Distraction Barometer, the identified drivers’ profiles, and what implication this data has for insurers. Philippe Moulin, CEO of DriveQuant, is an engineer with a Ph.D. in applied mathematics. He worked for 15 years in a research institute for the automotive industry. He co-founded DriveQuant in 2017 to improve road safety and reduce the environmental footprint of mobility. Our host today is Graham Johnston, Program designer for mobility products at SCOR.  He has over 30 years experience with global primary insurers developing personal lines strategy and products and he is a Motor underwriting specialist with 20 years experience in usage based insurance.

3/13/23 • 17:32

In this episode of SCOR Innovation Podcast, Torsten Hefer interviews Björn Zollenkop about an innovative collaboration to test behavioral insurance as a sales incentive. The program combined term life sales with incentives to encourage healthy behaviors of policyholders, using SCOR’s Biological Age Model (BAM) and an app developed by Fjuul to measure policyholder engagement. Four notable German term life insurance companies participated in the program with CHECK24, a leading insurance comparison portal and aggregator in Germany, and SCOR. Tune in to hear the results.Dr. Björn Zollenkop is the managing director of CHECK24 comparison portal for life insurance. Before that he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company and primarily served insurance companies and banks. He studied Business Administration, Economics and Politics and is holding a PhD in Empirical Capital Market Science.Dr. Torsten Hefer is Head of SCOR’s German Life & Health Market and Business Development.

3/9/23 • 20:05

This episode hosted by Rebecca Zhang, Chief Partnership Officer for South Asia at SCOR Life,  explores an innovative cancer screening solution and preventive healthcare concepts by Bowtie Life Insurance Company - Hong Kong’s very first virtual insurer. Our guest Jacky Lio, Chief Medical Officer at Bowtie, explains how they want to engage customers on preventive health programs to have a better long term health outcome.In his role as Chief Medical Officer, Jacky Lio plays a crucial role in driving collaborative partnerships with healthcare providers and setting the vision for Bowtie's customer health experiences. Trained in the UK as a Specialist in Acute Medicine and with over 10 years of service in the NHS, Jacky passionately believes in the universal need for basic healthcare protection. Jacky brings his medical knowledge to shape Bowtie’s products to ensure they are relevant, affordable, and accessible – helping it achieve its mission to address the health protection gap in Hong Kong. Rebecca Zhang is the Chief Partnership Officer for South Asia at SCOR Life, responsible for developing relationships with priority clients, generating new business opportunities and facilitating new product and solution development. Rebecca first joined SCOR Hong Kong in 2016 and has worked in both Pricing and Marketing roles, focusing on product development and client management. Prior to SCOR, Rebecca worked in Toronto with both traditional roles such as consultancies and insurance companies, and non-traditional roles such as being one of the first members of the NMG North American practice, and as a senior leader at a listed P2P insurtech startup. Rebecca is a frequent speaker at insurance events and has keen interest in developing partnership opportunities with insurtech and digital health companies. Please take a minute to share your feedback via this brief survey. 

2/28/23 • 18:09

In this episode of SCOR Innovation Podcast, Richard De Sousa, SVP, Deputy Head of Growth & Development at SCOR Life & Health US, interviews Tim Ash, CEO, Ash Brokerage, to discuss how his 50-year-old company innovates their offerings with technology, research and development along with education to ensure they stay relevant in the Life & Health insurance industry. Richard De Sousa was named SVP, Deputy Head, Growth and Development in August 2021 for SCOR Life & Health in the U.S. The Growth and Development team encompasses SCOR’s Individual and Group Life client-facing teams and supporting functions (pricing, underwriting solutions, technology, marketing and insights) dedicated to new business. Prior to his promotion, Richard had served as Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships since early 2019, leading the team to develop new client solutions which are focused on helping end-consumers get relevant protection offerings. Prior to joining SCOR, Richard was the Managing Director of North America and Europe at ReMark International, an insurtech consultancy business wholly owned by SCOR Global Life. Richard holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Leicester. He has lived and worked in Canada, Netherlands, France and the U.S. He currently resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. Tim Ash is known as a visionary in the financial services community. He is an industry leader who envisions a future where insurance is easy, affordable and an essential part of a sound financial plan. As CEO of Ash Brokerage, Tim has fostered an environment of success with team-focused empowerment and client-centered service. He has built a culture where people not only believe in what they do, but more importantly, they understand the reason behind their efforts. Everyone at Ash Brokerage knows their work makes a difference — in the lives of their clients and their communities. Tim assumed leadership of the company in 1997. Since that time, the company has grown to become the largest independently owned insurance brokerage firm in the United States. It expanded from 50 employees in one location to more than 450 employees in offices across the country.

10/7/22 • 12:49

SCOR is quite uniquely positioned to work with insurtech, not just as an investor, but also as an enabler, to help startups grow and navigate the complex world of insurance business. Will and Randy explain Ventures strategy for the APAC region is built upon the Ventures 2.0 global strategy that was announced in early 2021. Randy Liu represents SCOR Ventures in the APAC region, based in Singapore. Randy has a background in catastrophe modelling and climate change.  He is fluent in Mandarin. Will Bird is a Senior Associate based in Chicago. Prior to joining SCOR Ventures, Will worked in venture capital and strategy at a leading U.S. personal lines insurer.  

9/14/22 • 21:26

In this episode of SCOR Innovation Podcast, David Ferguson hosts Jussi Räisänen, health entrepreneur and investor, based in Helsinki who co-founded Habito Health. They discuss digital health solutions that can energize different communities (public corporations, public service organizations and the military, for example). Jussi explains how activity-based data might be used to create personalized underwriting that’s easy to understand for life insurance applicants. Tune in to learn more about how the company’s global platform was paired with an insurance product in one market to successfully encourage participants with a wealth of daily wellbeing activities, health interventions and workout challenges.

8/15/22 • 21:52

Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable economic activities to climate change. Atmospheric variables most relevant for agriculture include temperature and precipitation. Even moderate weather anomalies such as reduced sunshine, can lead to significant crop yield loss High temperatures are a problem because they accelerate plant development. When this happens there is less time for growth and therefore less yield. Moreover, extreme heat itself decreases crop yield. Climate change does not only affect temperature, but all atmospheric variables, including precipitation. More erratic precipitation will also decrease crop yields. The impact of climate change is not uniform across crops and geographies. Uncertainties about climate change are high, but it is about the resilience of our society, economy, and pragmatically speaking of our industry. This is the most material call for action since the establishment of NatCat modelling in late 80s early 90s. SCOR does and sponsor research in the space of climate chanfe, thanks to PhD programs focusing just on this. SCOR also designed and implemented a 5-step framework that allows our leadership to predict how the risk will mutate in time and space.

8/2/22 • 21:26

Manisha Dias, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships for SCOR in the U.S., hosts this episode of SCOR’s Innovation Podcast, interviewing Felix Ortiz, CEO and co-founder of Onuu. Onuu is the first of its kind, an all-in-one banking and insurance solution, built by and for Americans of modest means. Join us to hear how Ortiz's personal childhood experiences led him to harness the power of machine learning and digital technology to design an innovative solution for a long-standing problem: helping lower middle market consumers understand financial services and improve their financial wellbeing. • Felix W. Ortiz III is the CEO and co-founder of Onuu, the first-of-its-kind, all-in-one banking and insurance solution, built by and for Americans of modest means. Founded in late 2021 and inspired by Felix’s grandmother, Candi, Onuu merges financial and insurance products, empowering lower middle market consumers to understand and improve their financial wellbeing. Felix designed Onuu to be powered by machine learning, using Candi as a guide to ensure that each human being achieves financial security. Felix currently serves as an Advisor at Neowork Ventures alongside his duties on the Intersectionality, Culture & Diversity Advisory Council at Twitter and the Rework America Task Force. Previously, he has founded several successful, high-growth startups including EmPath. Ortiz was a member of the U.S. Army 18th Airborne Corps, JAG Corps and attended St. John's University. • Manisha Dias¸ FSA, FCIA, SPLP, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships, is responsible for leading the charge and oversight of proprietary product development opportunities and new ecosystem partnerships. She also oversees the business, operations and underwriting functions of the Strategic Partnerships group. Manisha joined the SCOR Canada Business Development team in 2017. She was promoted and transitioned to the U.S. Strategic Partnerships team at its inception in 2019 and was promoted again in 2021 to her current role. Prior to SCOR, she served in different actuarial roles within John Hancock and Manulife globally. Manisha earned an Honors bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science with Finance from the University of Waterloo. She is also a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries, Fellow of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries and a Strategic Partner Leadership Professional.

7/13/22 • 11:35

It seems that every time a natural catastrophe happens it is unique, and something new is learned from each incident by the insurance industry. Newer thoughts on Wet-Hurricanes started to surface after Hurricane Harvey ran aground in 2017, modelling difficult frequency perils became more and more evident with the increasing losses year over year from Severe convective storms, and climate and its effect on individual perils like what happened with Winter Storm Uri in Texas in February of 2021 will also be explored. Our first episode is a review of the 2021 North Atlantic Hurricane season and its unique characteristics, effects of climate change, challenges, and projected impacts. Based on the most recent 30-year data from NOAA, the average number of named storms in a year is about 14. For the 2021 hurricane season, NOAA predicted that up to 20 named storms would form, with up to 10 hurricanes (compared to an average of 7), and up to 5 major hurricanes (compared to an average of 3).This discussion between three SCOR experts explores the lessons learned from it and how these lessons may lead to new ways of looking at this peril in the future. - Derek is SVP Natural Catastrophe Manager of The Americas, he is specialized in Catastrophe Modeling - RMS, AIR, Statistical Analysis, databases, software development, networks. He arrived in SCOR eight years ago. Prior to this, he spent 5 years at Ascot Group as VP Exposure Management. Derek has a Master degree in Management Information Systems from the Northern Illinois University, and is still based in Chicago. - Ken has over 40 years of Insurance/Reinsurance experience having begun his career in the claims dept of the Aviation and General Ins Co in 1978. He entered the world of Reinsurance in 1986 gaining independent Underwriting authority for a globally exposed Property Catastrophe Excess of Loss book in 1991. Ken primarily specialized on the US region and in 2003, after a number of years operating as a Catastrophe Underwriter in the London Market he took up a position outside Chicago, Illinois as the US Catastrophe Product lead for GE Insurance Solutions. GE Insurance Solutions was acquired by Swiss Re in 2005 and Ken was retained as a Catastrophe specialist within their US Product team until 2016 when he joined SCOR US, also in Chicago. Ken remains focused on the US Catastrophe arena and has also authored a number of published articles appertaining to US Catastrophe risk and participated in numerous industry events as a panel speaker. - Kelly is an Assistant Vice President on the Natural Catastrophe Pricing team at SCOR. She provides catastrophe expertise and risk quantification, including operational support for the pricing and accumulation of treaty business for North America. She joined SCOR in 2018 in the Chicago office and is now based in Toronto. Prior to joining SCOR, Kelly worked as a Catastrophe Risk Analyst for Aon. She is a graduate of Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree in Statistics and holds the CPCU and ARe designations. Kelly also serves on the committee for CatIQ, Canada’s insured loss and exposure indices provider.

6/7/22 • 17:54

Today’s episode explores disruptive healthcare technologies in neurodegenerative diseases hosted by David Ferguson, Underwriting Development Manager in one of SCOR’s Innovation Teams. Our guest is Professor Stephen Smith, co-founder and director of ClearSky Medical Diagnostics and Professor of Electronic Engineering in the Department of Electronics at University of York. 1 in 4 people get a misdiagnosis in Parkinson’s disease which can lead to an overtreatment. Professor Smith highlights the importance of an accurate diagnosis in neurodegenerative diseases. ClearSky MD provides the PD-Monitor assisting specialists by measuring and identifying symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. Finding a tolerable balance between unpleasant side effects of the medication and its benefits is another focus. The LID-Monitor (Levodopa-induced dyskinesia) offers a safe and simple way of monitoring dyskinesia in the patient’s own home. ClearSky MD’s solutions empower patients to have the tools track their own conditions remotely with clear implications for how life & health insurance products are sold and monitored.

5/27/22 • 23:45

In our latest episode Dr. Torsten Hefer, Head of SCOR’s German Life & Health Market and Business Development Department, speaks on innovation with Dr. Stefan Knoll, co-founder and CEO of DFV Deutsche Familienversicherung. In the insurance industry Stefan Knoll is considered a pioneer in terms of digitalization. Both explore “how to digitalize” in insurtech companies from a pioneer’s point of view. They also touch-base on combining financial targets with ESG and CSR ambitions in the insurtech industry.

5/3/22 • 21:41

This is the final podcast in a 3-part series on Hydrogen. Today, Michel Krenzer continues the discussion and looks at what hydrogen means for insurers and how insurance will play a key role in the energy transition. In this episode, Michel will interview three SCOR experts of Energy & Construction (re)insurance: David Cosserat, Eric Lenoir & Kevin Lumiste. In episode 1 we explained the basics of hydrogen. In episode 2, we looked at innovative future hydrogen applications. If you are interested, you can find the previous episodes on our channel. David is a chemical engineer with 20 years’ experience in risk management, including 15 years in reinsurance. David started his career as a safety engineer providing safety design reviews of heavy industry and oil and gas facilities. He joined the reinsurance industry via a major broking firm where he was a risk engineer and a client executive for oil and gas and power clients. He joined SCOR in Singapore in 2009 as APAC Energy Underwriter before relocating to Sydney to head up the P&C office, focusing on Pacific Treaties. Since August 2018, David has taken the role of Global Head of Energy within SCOR Business Solutions, based in Paris. Eric is a chemical engineer with 35 years’ experience in the insurance sector. He also holds an Associate in Risk management degree. He started his career with Industrial Risk Insurers in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He performed loss prevention surveys for large oil & chemical companies in the EMEA region. In 1989, he was transferred to Hartford, CT, USA and oversaw oil & chemical training and guidelines writing. He joined AIG in 1994 in Brussels as a senior chemical engineer and became the worldwide Energy engineering manager overseeing a team of 130 engineers specialized in oil & chemical, power generation, mining and construction. He joined SCOR in early 2015 as risk control practice leader for the Energy entity. Kevin is a Senior Construction Underwriter based in London and has over 30 years of experience in Engineering Insurance, including CAR, EAR and Operational Power. He has particular experience in EAR, with a focus on Energy and Power construction. Prior to joining SCOR he has worked at Starstone, Zurich, CV Starr, ACE and RSA. Kevin is an experienced market leader of energy construction project policies. He is an active member and contributor to the London Engineering Group, previously having acted as Chairman and Executive Committee member. Michel Krenzer has over 25 years’ experience in the insurance sector. After working for Foster Wheeler in Paris as a Chemical Engineer, he joined UAP Large Corporate Risks as a Loss Prevention Engineer. He then moved to Oil & Gas underwriting at Sorema in 1995. He moved to London in 1999 to start up a facultative branch office for Sorema before joining SCOR in 2001. He started at SCOR UK as Senior Energy Underwriter and has had various managerial positions within the Large Corporate Risks division of SCOR Global P&C. He was appointed Onshore Energy Manager for Paris and London offices in 2009 and was appointed Global Leader - Onshore Energy in 2018.

2/22/22 • 19:54

Would you share your health data to obtain Life & Health insurance? The profession of actuaries changed rapidly in the last years and so the challenges. The willingness and power of our health data gains importance. Hosted by David Ferguson, Underwriting Development Manager in one of SCOR’s Innovation Teams, we illuminate the challenges and changes of actuaries with respect to Life & Health insurance. Our Guest Mark Farrell, Founder of ProActuary (https://proactuary.com/) and Actuarial Science Senior Lecturer at Queen's University Belfast introduces in his research and profession as a lecturer. Founding ProActuary, he created a new way to help actuaries and actuarial students to optimize through networking, education and personal/professional development.

2/16/22 • 21:41

"Aviation is the most challenging transport sector to decarbonise, but small hydrogen planes are already in operation. Airbus is developing a 200 passenger plane with hybrid liquid hydrogen combustion plus fuel cells, to be operational in 2035... This would have been classed as Science Fiction just a few years ago!" Michel explains to us. Transportation, energy power or industry... Which sectors will be the next to experience the Hydrogen transition? Discover concretely the business applications of this energy in a near future. Don't know anything about Hydrogen? No problem, find the first episode of the series "Hydrogen Basics for the next generation" on our channel, which explains everything you need to know about this energy! If a 9 year old can do it, so do you!! Michel Krenzer has over 25 years experience in the insurance sector. After working for Foster Wheeler in Paris as a Chemical Engineer, he joined UAP Large Corporate Risks as a Loss Prevention Engineer. He then moved to Oil & Gas underwriting at Sorema in 1995. He moved to London in 1999 to start up a facultative branch office for Sorema before joining SCOR in 2001. He started at SCOR UK as Senior Energy Underwriter and has had various managerial positions within the Large Corporate Risks division of SCOR Global P&C. He was appointed Onshore Energy Manager for Paris and London offices in 2009 and was appointed Global Leader - Onshore Energy in 2018.

1/27/22 • 20:11