Approach
In the reinsurance industry, our main commodity is information, and good business consists basically in the good and efficient use of this information. Modern information technologies can support reinsurance business processes by structuring the transmission and storage of information and by assisting in the evaluation of information.
The evident usefulness of information technologies to the reinsurance industry does not mean, however, that electronic data processing can or should take care of everything. Reinsurance underwriting often is too complex to be fully automated, and the judgment of an experienced underwriter cannot be entirely decoded into computer algorithms. This is why we believe that technology should always assist the underwriter and not the other way round. Software needs to be adapted to the needs of each specific line of business. The structured nature of electronic data processing will always oblige the user to follow a couple of rules, but it should not impose on the cedant broker or underwriter an entirely new way of doing business.
Moreover, e-business is not meant to replace personal relationships with our clients. To the contrary, the aim is to liberate our underwriters from repetitive, mechanical tasks so that they can devote more time to their clients and to their underwriting as such. For us e-business is a special way of doing business which means that all our platforms are business driven.
Our position
We see ourselves as both a strategic business unit as well as a service unit. As strategic business unit, we observe and analyse market developments with respect to e-business in the reinsurance industry, and we actively participate in the definition and implementation of industry-wide e-business data standards.
As service unit, we put our expertise at the disposal of Hannover Re's units. For example, we provide consulting services for underwriting units that whish to formulate their own e-business strategy; we administer e-business applications; and, of course, we produce and administer our own e-business applications (reCover & disCover) for different lines of business.
Proprietary platforms versus hubs
In the reinsurance industry as a whole, a substantial number of e-business platforms are already competing for the favor of the different parties - cedants, brokers, and reinsurers. Two major approaches can be distinguished.
Proprietary platforms are systems deployed by a given reinsurer that provide online access to her reinsurance cover. An example is our reCover/disCover platform. Of course, cedants, too, have built proprietary platforms through which they buy their reinsurance cover.
Electronic trading hubs, on the other hand, are not part of a given insurance or reinsurance company. Instead, they connect a number of cedants/brokers with a number of reinsurers. The idea is that users can manage their entire electronic portfolio through a single system rather than having to log into and out of different systems every day. However, the drawback of hubs is that the data format and procedures cannot be tailored to each user, obliging users to adapt to the system rather than the other way round.
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