Instech Podcast: Combining underwriting with tech
How do you choose the right technology partner for an MGA? You choose one that used to be an MGA.
That was the takeaway from a podcast released by InsTech featuring Azur Technology CEO Charlie Blackburn and Crux Underwriting CEO Graham Elliot.
The pair were founding partners of a former MGA and together developed an in-house technology platform specifically for the sector, now operated by insurance technology partner, Azur Technology. As Graham explained to host Robin Merttens, when it came to choosing a technology partner for his new venture, Crux, an understanding of the MGA ecosystem was critical:
“There is a lot of re-keying in the [MGA] business. A lot of disparate systems that are not connected to each other. That creates massive inefficiencies, it also decays data and doesn’t allow people to give a great user experience to all of the stakeholders in the transaction chain. If you can get all of your data in one place, that is pretty exciting. There aren’t many systems where you can genuinely do that”.
Azur Technology’s software, MGA Connect, is built on Salesforce Financial Services Cloud, delivering the security and API enablement you’d expect from the tech giant. Azur Technology builds on that foundation and tailors a solution specifically to an MGA’s individual requirements, such as broker portals, ratings engine, document generation, billing, and purpose-built UIs for every class.
The company has developed over 25 new products for clients, including Crux Underwriting, in its first year, with more than $100 million in premium written through the platform.
Speaking about the benefit of a technology platform built for MGAs, Azur Technology’s founder Charlie told InsTech:
“MGAs haven’t typically adopted modern, flexible platforms – something that can accommodate the complex products that speciality MGAs need, with multiple layers and multiple capacity providers. We understand that they need something flexible that will handle all their products, so they can have the complexity but also the automation. And with the automation comes the GWP growth.”
Being an industry insider has enabled Azur Technology to create products that specifically address the complex needs of an MGA. By delivering a solution that can handle large amounts of data, at speed and in real time, with the added benefit of automation, Azur Technology’s MGA Connect has created unprecedented efficiency for Crux Underwriting.
As you can hear on the podcast, the company recently issued a terrorism quote for a 3,000-property portfolio in just three minutes. Charlie added: “That’s a step change in responsiveness.”
Listen to the full InsTech podcast to hear more expert insight on improving efficiency for your MGA, choosing technology you can scale and the cultural shift required to make implementation a success.
