Axco’s Barker and Field: Harnessing reinsurance data for a competitive edge

As the risk landscape grows ever more complex and interconnected, the need for quality data in the reinsurance industry has never been more pressing, Axco’s head of business development Roberta Field told The Insurer TV.

Part of Wilmington Group, Axco provides global insurance market information and data across the P&C industry.

Speaking to The Insurer TV, Field highlighted that Axco’s exclusive focus on the insurance sector is a significant competitive advantage. She explained that reinsurers are a “fundamental part” of the firm’s client base, from global reinsurers to regional reinsurance players.

“Axco focuses exclusively on international insurance and reinsurance markets, and we don't do anything else. We recruit insurance professionals who have expertise in the insurance industry,” she said.

“Essentially, we're providing information and data on insurance and reinsurance markets to help reinsurers with strategic marketing exercises to help with commercial development and risk assessment.”

Axco’s head of client development, Christopher Barker, added that the company's scale is a further factor that distinguishes it within the insurance data provider landscape.

“We cover 180 different territories, and we've established relationships with regulators and supervisors over the six years we've been operating, giving us unique insight into gathering data,” said Barker.

“In certain territories, data is only provided in person or in book format. We have the luxury of accessing that data, whereas others might not be able to. T he next step is how we standardise and aggregate it into a consistent format for businesses to be able to use.”

Axco Navigator

With this mind, the recent launch of Axco Navigator is designed to provide more refined data to the industry by gathering and integrating a broader range of datasets, including company-specific information, economic indicators, and material related to natural catastrophes.

Using this tool reinsurers can, for example, gain a clearer understanding of how potential cedants are performing in a particular line of business that is going to be ceded out, based on premium data.

“The first thing we provide is insurance company premium data on a line-of-business basis. This allows reinsurers to get a granular view of how a potential cedant is performing in a specific market,” explained Field.

Barker added that Axco Navigator allows reinsurers to better visualise the sectors in which they operate by mapping relationships between different companies, including ultimate parent companies and how the subsidiaries within a group fit together.

“We've done a lot of work with the latest product and database to map many companies back to their parent companies. When you use the tool, you get full visibility of the various markets and ownership structures,” he said.

By enabling firms to better understand the competitive landscape they operate in, as well as promoting the integration of data into decision-making processes, Field argued that this can also help firms to limit any potential reputational damage.

“As Axco, what we're essentially doing is promoting the integration of information and data into the strategic decision-making of reinsurers to elevate the confidence that they have in their decision-making and to avoid reputational risk,” she explained.

Barker concluded: “For us, it's about making sure that the industry as a whole, particularly insurers, fully understand that when they're doing business in a particular territory, they're doing it the right way. Fundamentally, from our view, it's making sure that they are staying compliant.”

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