AM BestTV: Blockchain Already a Presence in Captive Insurance Sector, Says Captive Panel

2019 APR 05 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- In this episode of AM BestTV, a panel of captive insurance experts at the Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) 2019 International Conference in Tucson, AZ, discuss the ways blockchain technology potentially can help companies better manage captive-insured risks. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cica3319 to view the entire program.

Steve McElhiney, CPCU, ARe, president, EWI Re, Inc., spoke about how captives can use blockchain.

“When you look at captives, blockchains are a perfect alignment of retained exposures and a better need to analyze those irrespective of the type of captive,” said McElhiney. “On the claims side, I think for all captives, blockchain brings a host of new technologies to better contain that information and to port it along the cycle to insurance companies, reinsurers and beyond.”

Looking at the obstacles captives face when it comes to using blockchain, Barbara Ingraham, managing director, excess & surplus, Verisk, said, “Some of the biggest challenges have to do with the fact that the technology is still relatively young. The business models are not necessarily established yet.”

Marcus Schmalbach, chief executive officer, Ryskex, said that going forward, blockchain may serve a role in driving a new solution for the captive, not just as a technology, but also in handling emerging risks.

“From our point of view, blockchain is a holistic approach. It is a technology, but you need a holistic approach to look on the value chain itself and how the captive is acting.”

For full video coverage of the CICA conference, including exclusive executive interviews, visit http://www.ambest.tv/cica19.

Recent episodes of AM BestTV include: ‘A Black Eye for the Industry’: Spirit Commercial Auto RRG Insolvency Talk of CICA: The placement of Nevada-based Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group into permanent receivership and how it might impact the alternative risk transfer market was the preferred topic of discussion at the CICA) conference: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cica19. Cyber Panel: Do Not Lose Sight of Overall Exposure Aggregation: Fred Eslami, associate director, AM Best and Scott Hammesfahr, product marketing manager, Guidewire Cyence Risk Analytics, said at the CICA conference that cyber coverage continues to grow, with insurers and captive sponsors exposed to a wider range of risks and accumulation: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=cica1319. AM BestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View AM BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv. AM Best is a global rating agency and information provider with a unique focus on the insurance industry. Visit www.ambest.com for more information. Copyright © 2019 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190322005446/en/

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