In January 2019, Apollo Syndicate Management, the independent specialist insurer, and reinsurer, announced the appointment of Chris Moore as Head of ibott (Insuring businesses of tomorrow for today) and Deputy Active Underwriter of ibott’s special purpose arrangement (SPA) 1971 at Lloyd’s.
Fast-forward to 2022, and Moore, who is known for his proactive leadership style and passion for innovation, is relishing the role that is leading ibott and its offerings from strength to strength.
Moore says, "The insurance industry is fascinated by ownership. You own a car, you insure your car. You own your house, you insure your house. But new millennials don't care about ownership. For them, the future is utilisation. So it was challenging from an insurance perspective."
Following marketplace changes
By listening to the requirements of the marketplace and changing needs, Apollo – which in 2014 embraced partnership and created the product Airbnb required to help it expand – has created a suite of tailored, fit for purpose insurance solutions for clients across the Sharing Economy. “When you create something for someone like Airbnb, your phone starts ringing; "Hey, we're a rideshare company. Can you create something for us in the rideshare space?" or, "Can you create something in this car sharing space, on demand delivery, drones, e-scooters, autonomous vehicles?" because that's the direction society is moving towards." This led to Apollo to create a dedicated team focused entirely on the Sharing Economy and new mobility, which they call ibott – “insuring the businesses of tomorrow, today”
New market opportunities
Taking advantage of new opportunities as they come along, has been something of a habit for Apollo – and now ibott. “It just became very apparent to us that this whole digitally-driven space occupied by new tech, new startup companies, and new platforms was seeking insurance products that the insurance industry had previously failed to produce," Moore explains.
He says that Apollo was fortunate in that it was exposed to the huge wave of insurtech early and was well positioned to embrace the opportunity and benefits of digitalisation from the start. “We were fortunate in the fact that we didn't have legacy systems that would prevent us from adopting the digitised partnership model. We partnered with some talented clients, broker partners, and tech vendors that allowed us to explore new things without huge upfront cost on our balance sheet."
Innovation and success
Ultimately, Moore believes in innovation – but it must be carried out strategically. He also believes the pandemic has fundamentally changed the digital economy and the opportunity for insurtechs, and that embedded insurance will be the single biggest trending factor transforming the industry over the next few years.
In terms of what inspires him today, he speaks of the richness of opportunity within the digital economy and insurtech industry as well as the latest emerging trends. “Embedded insurance is huge. There's still so much to be done on customer experience. There's so much to be done on data. There are so many opportunities in terms of the ecosystem and technology.”
He adds, “That richness of opportunity has attracted a new wave of talent that insurance hasn't seen before. We are seeing people with a non-insurance background coming into insurance – and it’s fantastic working with people that have a fresh, diverse way of doing things and a new perspective.”
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