This Week in Post: Winter wine and Amazon advances

The insurance industries activities can be so varied that it is perhaps no surprise that others want a piece of the action. Amazon is reportedly recruiting insurance professionals in London to join a new team looking to disrupt the insurance market in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Meanwhile, the Financial Conduct Authority launched a study into wholesale insurance as it wants to check how commercial cover is bought and sold in Lloyd’s.

Another type of investigation showed that an underwriter used fake names to make 13 fraudulent insurance claims worth more than £19,000 over the course of seven years.

In other news, Bollington merged with Wilsons Insurance Brokers after securing investment funds from private equity firm Inflexion. And Q3 results were announced for Allianz, Ageas, Zurich, JLT, Generali, Munich Re and Zhong An.

Our interview is with BLM’s Mike Brown and Alistair Kinley. The insurance lawyers talk about the uncertainties fuelled by Brexit and the discount rate, and describe how artificial intelligence can be used in claims litigation.

In our C-suite, Vincent Branch, CEO of Accelerate at XL Catlin, precisely discusses the love affair of insurers with AI, while Richard Beaven, distribution director at Swinton Group, explains why the industry needs LGBT role models. Peter Staddon, managing director at the Managing General Agents’ Association, urges the sector to support the upward mobility of young professionals.

Our analyses this week focus on the evolving risks facing the energy sector and the increase in cargo theft.

Now that is something Amazon might want to focus on as some of us may start to do some Christmas shopping online this weekend.

See you soon at an industry event!

Cecile Brisson, features editor
@PostCecile