WTW/Liberty/Markel team up to tackle market’s ‘greatest challenges’ in digital trading

Global broker  WTW and insurers Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) and Markel have teamed up to address the market’s “greatest challenges”, especially in a market as complex as London. They have designed a new solution to transform the digital capabilities across the entire insurance value chain by improving connectivity, efficiency for brokers, flexible trading options and speed to scale for insurers.

The new collaboration has launched the pilot phase of an innovative digital commercial insurance platform, which uses globally-recognised data standards to enable multiple insurers and brokers to trade complex specialty risks in real time.

Covering both renewals and new business, the pilot phase of this market-led solution is supported by various insurers, including LSM and Markel, across short-tail and long-tail product lines.

Digital connectivity and trading of commercial risks between all stakeholders is increasingly recognised by the market as essential to modernise the insurance value chain, maintain competitiveness, drive better client solutions and ultimately sustain the relevance of the insurance industry. But inflexible legacy systems and incompatible digital practices can often lead to fragmented end-to-end operations.

Richard Clarkson, head of London Market Consulting at WTW, said: “One of the market’s greatest challenges is to make doing business easier from beginning to end – not just one part of the transaction. Developed in collaboration with LSM and Markel, this new platform signals a step-change in digital trading, especially in a market as complex as London. Underpinned by cutting-edge technology that will transform how brokers and underwriters connect and trade, users will benefit from significant operational efficiencies by improving the speed and cost of doing business through digitisation, automation and better use of data.”

Carol Baker, head of digital strategy, London and global products at LSM, commented: “We are committed to embracing technology to transform the way we do business with our brokers and partners. Our digital team is delighted to be working with WTW, who are at the forefront of distribution with this innovative digital solution. This platform will enable efficient trading with transparent processing in real time that will deliver exceptional customer value and power profitable performance.”

Andrew McMellin, managing director, Wholesale at Markel International, said: “As part of Markel’s ambitions to become the leading specialty insurer in its chosen products, we are making important advances in sourcing innovative and more efficient ways of conducting business. We are pleased to collaborate with WTW to pilot a technology platform like this, offering our broking partners quicker access and greater flexibility and establishing Markel as a go-to insurer for digital trading opportunities.”

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