Ep208 Gilbert Harrap CEO InsurX: Building a new Insurance Utility

Today’s guest is well on the way to cracking a problem that has been vexing the market for thirty years and something I have been writing about specifically for the last twenty.

We all know that the process of syndication of risk in the London and other international insurance and reinsurance markets is full of inefficiencies and ripe for reform.

But just because a problem has been around for a long time and has been well documented, it doesn’t make finding and implementing a solution any easier.

I have lost count of the number of insurance and reinsurance exchanges I have seen launch and then wither and die over the last two decades.

Gilbert Harrap, the CEO of InsurX is someone who is setting out to change all of this.

Many exchanges failed either because they were founded by people with little understanding of complex insurance or they alienated their potential users, particularly the brokers, who often rightly or wrongly perceived them as a threat to their businesses.

InsurX is different because Gilbert is someone with market experience who is focusing on building a utility that could help both underwriters and brokers increase volumes and improve margins.

This is a fascinating conversation with someone running a business that has already gained significant traction in two classes of business and is looking to expand across the board.

Gilbert is one of us and I think that’s a big part of why InsurX has been well received. He is laser-focused on helping brokers serve customers better while allowing underwriters to diversify in smart new cost-effective ways.

He doesn’t want to be an underwriter or a broker – he just wants to be the one connecting them using intelligent new methods that add value to both parties.

I really enjoyed my time with Gilbert and left feeling that InsurX might be one of the first exchanges to make it in the complex syndicated risk space.

I also ended this conversation feeling much more optimistic about the future of the London Market and its prospects of increasing its global share of high-quality insurance business.

 

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