Posts Tagged ‘insurance’

The risk and rewards of Facebook

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Part II

Risk Management

For years the insurance and reinsurance markets have been talking about Enterprise Risk Management. Well, believe it or not, these days, risk managers should be looking at not just media, and communications in general, but also taking a good hard look at social media.

Again, Facebook is high on the list of factors that could impact on reputational risk. Facebook is probably the least useful tool so far in business to business social media for insurance and reinsurance markets. Those doing it well include Insurance Journal, Travelers and of course the rather wonderful Allianz Knowledge – who astonish and amaze at every turn.

So – don’t get to “het up” about it, as we say in Scotland. Like all social media, it is not rocket science – it just takes a wee bit of time to learn and understand – and a whole lot of common sense. Just think about what you want to say and who you want to say it to – before you do anything – and don’t do anything on Facebook that does not fit in with your corporate image or guidelines.

For those new to this, have a look at the recent Business Insurance webinar on the risks associated with social media – Marsh’s Simon Barker makes a lot of sense when he talks about social media in context of enterprise risk management and also on how to react to negative comments. (more…)

The risk and rewards of Facebook for insurers and reinsurers

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Part 1

The risks of Employees:

Last week Facebook hit half a billion active users. Many in the insurance and reinsurance world would say “so what”, but in the most basic business, let alone complex risk management, Facebook’s risks and rewards have to be understood.

facebook imageIf you don’t know the risks with employees – here they are: basically your staff can go on and do oodles of reputational damage if you: a) hire substandard people who don’t know the boundaries; and b) don’t tell them they can’t. From criticising competitors to revealing trade secrets, Facebook is number 1 when it comes to giving managers the jitters. (more…)

reinsurance YouTube video a huge hit with over 21,500 viewers

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

In the worlds of wholesale insurance and conservative reinsurance, we are not really into gimmicky or flashy marketing campaigns.

But it is interesting to note that even for us, YouTube can work. We may not be on the same level as Old Spice Man – see here:

He has sadly ended his successful YouTube/Twitter campaign.

One REINSURANCE video has shown we can make a difference and here it is:

Called The New Insurance Tax, it is a YouTube video for the Washington-based  Coalition for Competitive Insurance Rates shows just how powerful new social media tools can be – but only if you have a good, clear message. (more…)

YouTube…? In reinsurance? Twitter…? For risk managers? What is the world coming to…

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Woo-hoo. The revolution is coming. This week we saw Airmic (RIMS for the UK) tweet up. In other industries, this may not seem such a big deal, but in the insurance and reinsurance/ risk management world, it is a mini-revolution. Big screens showed every time anyone tweeted with #AIRMIC2010 – and it really made an impact during the conference.

And at the same time the reinsurance industry started using YouTube. As I write, there have been 12,244 views of the video – which is a lot if you are not a cute kitten falling off a workspace or a child getting whacked by their brother. Called “The New Insurance Tax” it shows how people and businesses buy insurance, then this risk is offset by the insurers buying reinsurance. There is even a fan page on facebook... (more…)

The risk/reward of social media in insurance and reinsurance

Monday, April 19th, 2010

weightsOur industry deals with risk every  minute of every day. So it is a little surprising to find out how little thought has gone into the risk/reward equation for insurers and reinsurers and the use of social media.

Here I’ll look at the most common risks associated with using social media in insurance and reinsurance. (more…)

Forums, Social Media and Reinsurance Clubs… all in sunny Bermuda

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

BUEI I’ve got a busy week ahead. I’m off to Bermuda for a week on Sunday and have a hectic schedule. Not only is the World Insurance Forum on, with a dazzling array of top CEOs on show, with its associated lunches and dinners, but the week is stacking up with other events too.

First of all, on the quest to enlighten all those who will listen, I’m holding a breakfast briefing for International Business on Monday morning (March 15) on how they can use social media. International Business is the term used in Bermuda for companies that are domiciled there but do  not do business with the locals, so it is the likes of Renaissance Re, AXIS,Arch, Endurance, Ariel Re…. there are quite a few of them. Anyhow, I’m on a mission with Goldgerg Segalla’s top blogger and LinkedIn master Dan Gerber, to show all who are willing to listen in a room in BUEI that social media can be for grown ups – and can be used in a corporate way. Thanks to @MunichReAmerica and @RiskDebate (Zurich) for calling it a “must attend event” on Twitter. (more…)

March Madness – reinsurance and insurance conferences a go-go

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

I’m dusting off my conference gear this week as March is going to be packedglobe full of reinsurance-relevant conferences – so if you need to work up your air miles, here is a guide to the best on this month.

This list takes you from Qatar, to Bermuda, to Arizona, to Dublin – a nice round of geographies and subjects being covered. (more…)

New York vs Lloyd’s of London – the insurance battle begins

Monday, February 15th, 2010

Last week I attended an event in London where Jim Wrynn, the New York Superintendent of Insurance, gave details of plans for the proposed New York Insurance Exchange (NYIE).

James Wrynn

James Wrynn

While he laid out the timescale – which could see plans completed by as early as September – at the Insider Scope (organised by Insurance Insider) event, you could feel a sense of discomfort creep across the audience. Here were several hundred of the great and the good of the London Market assembled to hear if New York was planning to blow Lloyd’s out of the water. (more…)