Patent Application
20120296694
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for managing business and risk information. More particularly, aspects of the invention provide methods and systems for generating a portal that provides business entities with risk management information and tools.
Business entities face a large number of risks that can impact business performance and even existence. Exemplary risks include those relating to natural disasters, supply chains, legal disputes, workforce issues such as compensation, benefits, retirement, hiring, development, etc, manufacturing, reputation of brands and products and labor. It can be difficult for business managers and others to appreciate all of the risks relevant to a business entity.
Prior attempts to organize and track risks have included generating multiple reports and review multiple sources of information. It can be difficult for business managers and others to access multiple sources and digest large amounts of information.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved systems and methods for tracking, scoring, organizing and presenting risks.
Aspects of the invention overcome problems and limitations of the prior art by providing portal systems and methods that allow business managers and others to track, organize, review and manage risk related information. In embodiment, social media sources are analyzed and one or more news feeds are displayed on the portal. Other embodiments include providing interactive pricing and research tools. In one particular embodiment, users may answer a series of questions to obtain a risk maturity score.
Additional or alternative embodiments may be partially or wholly implemented on a computer-readable medium, for example, by storing computer-executable instructions or modules, or by utilizing computer readable data structures.
Of course, the methods and systems of the above-referenced embodiments may also include other additional elements, steps, computer-executable instructions or computer-readable data structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed and claimed herein as well.
The details of these and other embodiments of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description and drawings and from the claims.
The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limited in the accompanying figures in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements and in which:
Various embodiments of the invention may be implemented with computer devices, computer networks and systems that exchange and present information.
Elements of an exemplary computer system are illustrated in
Computer 100 can include a variety of interface units and drives for reading and writing data or files. In particular, computer 100 includes a local memory interface 114 and a removable memory interface 116 respectively coupling a hard disk drive 118 and a removable memory drive 120 to system bus 112. Examples of removable memory drives include magnetic disk drives and optical disk drives that receive removable memory elements 122. Hard disks generally include one or more read/write heads that convert bits to magnetic pulses when writing to a computer-readable medium and magnetic pulses to bits when reading data from the computer readable medium. A single hard disk drive 118 and a single removable memory drive 120 are shown for illustration purposes only and with the understanding that computer 100 may include several of such drives. Furthermore, computer 100 may include drives for interfacing with other types of computer readable media such as magneto-optical drives.
Unlike hard disks, system memories, such as system memory 120, generally read and write data electronically and do not include read/write heads. System memory 120 may be implemented with a conventional system memory having a read only memory section that stores a basic input/output system (BIOS) and a random access memory (RAM) that stores other data and files.
A user can interact with computer 100 with a variety of input devices.
Computer 100 may include additional interfaces for connecting peripheral devices to system bus 112.
Computer 100 also includes a video adapter 130 coupling a display device 132 to system bus 112. Display device 132 may include a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display (LCD), field emission display (FED), plasma display or any other device that produces an image that is viewable by the user. A touchscreen interface 134 may be included to couple a touchscreen (not shown) to system buss 112. A touchscreen may overlay at least part of the display region of display device 132 and may be implemented with a convention touchscreen technology, such as capacitive or resistive touchscreen technology.
One skilled in the art will appreciate that the device connections shown in
Computer 100 may include a network interface 136 that couples system bus 112 to LAN 102. LAN 102 may have one or more of the well-known LAN topologies and may use a variety of different protocols, such as Ethernet. Computer 100 may communicate with other computers and devices connected to LAN 102, such as computer 138 and printer 140. Computers and other devices may be connected to LAN 102 via twisted pair wires, coaxial cable, fiber optics or other media. Alternatively, electromagnetic waves, such as radio frequency waves, may be used to connect one or more computers or devices to LAN 102.
A wide area network 104, such as the Internet, can also be accessed by computer 100.
In some embodiments, a mobile network card 150 may be used to connect to LAN 102 and/or WAN 104. Mobile network card may be configured to connect to LAN 102 and/or WAN 104 via a mobile telephone network in a conventional manner.
The operation of computer 100 and server 144 may be controlled by computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium. For example, computer 100 may include computer-executable instructions for transmitting information to server 144, receiving information from server 144 and displaying the received information on display device 132. Furthermore, server 144 may include computer-executable instructions for, receiving requests from computer 100, processing data and transmitting data to computer 100. In some embodiments server 144 transmits hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensible markup language (XML) formatted data to computer 100.
As noted above, the term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings should be broadly interpreted to include not only systems in which remote storage devices are coupled together via one or more communication paths, but also stand-alone devices that may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that have storage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a “physical network” 102 and 104, but also a “content network,” which is comprised of the data—attributable to a single entity—which resides across all physical networks.
In various embodiments of the invention, one or more computer devices are used to generate a risk portal that allows business entities to view and interact with a wide range of risk data. As used herein, business entities is not limited to for profit entities and includes government entities and nonprofit entities.
Portal screenshot 200 is divided into several sections. A global risk insight platform section 202 may be included to allow a business entity to access information such as pricing insights, research insights and insurance market insights. In some embodiments, the data used to populate global risk insight platform 202 may originate with Aon's Global Risk Insight Platform (GRIP). Aon's Global Risk Insight Platform includes a database of insurance placement data, delivering critical marketplace intelligence. The platform provides insight across carriers, industries and products on every level, from individual transactions to global trends. The platform also enables benchmarking of like risks placed throughout the globe, and at what price, in order to help clients evaluate insurer performance and anticipate shifts in the market.
A global risk insight platform's function may be to collate and process historical and aggregated information crucial to the insurance policy decisions specific to buyers and sellers separately by class and geography around the globe. The information provided includes various business performance analytics that do not include individual trade pricing data. The data is presented in a user-friendly format that indicates in general terms the extent and approximate value of coverage which carriers are quoting and binding in particular classes and territories. Sophisticated algorithms allow a reinsurer to predict insurance buying behavior in the coming months, thereby informing strategic marketing and buying decisions, and enabling its clients to stay ahead of the market.
Brokers and other entities may only be able to view global risk insight platform data specific to their country, region, state or other category used to identify a subset of data. Carriers are also able to obtain accumulated information on classes of business and territories in which they are interested. This benchmarking exercise allows carriers to assess in general terms how they are performing relative to their peers, which enables them to improve their products and services, and to make them more attractive to potential clients. Moreover, the platform provides insight into market conditions across multiple geographies. As such, access to global risk insight platform technology will provide an indirect benefit of forging a more coherent marketplace, by facilitating cross-border coverage.
Both sides of the market also benefit from an ‘introduction’ function, which brings together clients whose insurance policies are due for renewal and those carriers that have the risk appetites for that client's custom, typically in competition with the incumbent insurer. Clients benefit because the introduction of additional carriers increases competition among carriers for client business. The introduction function is another example of a reinsurer utilizing through a global risk insight platform the wealth of prior transaction data that it has at its disposal. The traditional means of brokering introductions between clients and carriers at renewal time was somewhat haphazard and reliant entirely on the knowledge possessed by individual brokers. A global risk insight platform may introduce a sophisticated and systematic introduction service which allows proactive matching of client needs to carrier risk appetite and which, in turn, allows all parties to deploy their resources more efficiently and objectively. It also enables a reinsurer to better understand the market as a whole and thereby to obtain the best terms and conditions for its clients, as a reinsurer continues to open its client renewal portfolio to all carriers, irrespective of whether they procure solutions offered by a global risk insight platform.
A global risk insight platform system may create an increased degree of transparency in insurance markets, which on the one hand alerts brokers and their clients to market conditions worldwide, while on the other encourages carriers to offer clients increasingly differentiated offerings. In seeking to create this “virtuous circle,” the platform ensures that the global risk insight platform simultaneously protects from disclosure any confidential information that has the potential to facilitate collusion in the market.
The benchmarking service offered by a global risk insight platform may be one of the elements that provides the power to support brokers' instincts with facts and statistics across all major insurance markets.
In some embodiments, global risk insight platform trading data may be collected at three key points during the process of placing an insurance policy: first, when a reinsurer informs carriers about a client policy opportunity (known as a “trade” or a “submission”); second, when the chosen carriers provide their response to a policy proposal (“quote” or “decline”); and third, when the client decides which carrier option it wants to accept (a “hit”, a “win” or a “bind”). Opinion data is collected by way of responses to questionnaires. The information is collected by brokers and directly inputted by them into a global risk insight platform database at the time of collection.
In one embodiment, a global risk insight platform service may provide two services: (1) the information provided to brokers for use with their clients; and (2) the information provided to carriers procuring global risk insight platform services. Both elements rely on the same underlying data, but each provides different levels of insight, presented in different ways. This differentiation is designed both to satisfy the commercial drivers of the different sides of the market and the desire to be competition law compliant. For example, carriers that access a global risk insight platform can access only individually tailored information screen, known as a “carrier dashboard.” By contrast, brokers, on behalf of their clients, can only access specifically selected information available through the “broker dashboard.” Each broker has a specialist dashboard, which is tailored to his own area of expertise.
A global risk insight platform allows brokers to identify the carrier and policy structure that best suits each of its individual client's needs with far more accuracy than is generally available in the broking industry previously. Because the input of global risk insight platform data occurs at both the quotation stage as well as at the bind stage, the global risk insight platform can see the shape of markets as they emerge. Brokers can predict the likely movement of markets with much greater precision, across a variety of product lines, than was possible prior to its introduction.
A global risk insight platform may also introduce much more efficiency into the brokering process. Reinsurers can use a global risk insight platform to analyze by industry, segment, product and region, a carrier's record in converting trades into quotes and quotes into binds, thereby having a more precise view of those carriers with the strongest risk appetite for their clients. It can also look at factors such as retentions and limits, and begin to discern the different risk appetites of carriers for a particular product, based on a carrier's prior trading behavior and clients' own buying habits. This allows brokers to target submissions towards a range of carriers who are likely to have an appetite for a particular risk.
Because a global risk insight platform technology can provide information on market conditions in a variety of countries, it can promote cross-border and even cross region trading where this is in the interest of a particular client. Because a global risk insight platform has a complete data set for trades which pass through its channels, it can show, for example, whether it might be more beneficial for a client to place a particular policy in Paris or in Amsterdam, assuming the carrier is willing to write a risk across EU borders.
Another use of a global risk insight platform tool is the introduction service which it facilitates, through which carriers are given insight into when clients' existing insurance contracts are coming up for renewal. This effectively enables a reinsurer to institute on behalf of its clients an informal tender process for business which might not otherwise have been subject to much competition. This creation of greater visibility has the potential to invite greater interest in a client's customs and therefore more options for clients, whereas that client might otherwise have been tempted simply to renew its policy with the incumbent carrier. The introduction tool facilitates a systematic approach to understanding the options available to a client matching their needs with carrier deliverables. It also greatly improves carriers' ability to deploy their limited resources in the most effective way to meet client needs.
Again, however, the transparency created through the use of a global risk insight platform technology also inures to the benefit of carriers, insofar as the type of information to which they have access allows them to put together more robust, competitive service offerings. It is not the sort of transparency whose effect, nor whose intention, is to diminish the availability of competitive options. Instead, insurers can expect that with better information with which to communicate, brokers will be more up-to-date with the carrier's risk appetite and their value proposition, and will have a better understanding in general of clients' requirements and needs and their operating performance in relation to their peers. This will make interactions more efficient and effective allowing brokers to better provide value to clients and carriers and allow both reinsurers and carriers to serve the needs of their mutual clients in a better and faster manner.
All data available to carriers on a global risk insight platform may be retrospective. Prior to being made available to carriers, the data may undergo a rigorous “cleansing” to ensure that data made available meets established standards. Data may also be processed by a processing entity, first to identify and correct anomalies, and then to perform the necessary analytics. The data undergoes this process for a period usually around 45 days, prior to being released into the global risk insight platform system on a quarterly basis. Upon its release, it is mingled into a data pool made up of significantly older data points, themselves anonymised and aggregated. This pooling process is designed to ensure that there can be no possible facilitation of any collusive practices, whether in theory or in practice, through the introduction of the data introduced quarterly.
In various embodiments, a global risk insight platform may provide hit rate, market flow, conversion rate, declination rate, broker insights, pipeline, statistics and other types of information to users.
Hit rate represents the proportion of quotes issued by a carrier which ultimately result in the provision of binding policies. As with quote rate, this information is particularly useful to brokers using a global risk insight platform broker dashboard or portal to assess the likelihood that a particular carrier will be accepted by a client. For each phase, a dashboard or portal may track the market as a whole, and also allows a carrier to compare itself against the aggregate average performance of its anonymous top five competitors.
Market flow information may be available to carriers utilizing a global risk insight platform. Information may be presented on an annualized basis and is updated quarterly, through the process of mixing more recent information with existing older, anonymized, aggregated data. Again, it may be presented on a percentage basis, against the total book of business for a particular product, client industry and region. Users can also split the information to show incumbent against non-incumbent carriers.
Conversion rate represents the proportion of trades which ultimately result in binding quotes. It may be calculated by multiplying submission rates by quote rates and then by hit rates. As with submission rates, knowledge of conversion rates can allow a carrier to focus on particular industries and products in which it has an appetite for risk, and to greatly improve its service offering.
A global risk insight platform carrier dashboard or portal may provide overviews from both the carrier and client perspective on the reasons why insurance proposals have been declined. This information is input by the broker at the time that either the carrier or the client declines a quote, and is selected from one of twenty standardized declination reasons. The carrier may then be presented with the top five reasons for declination (as a percentage of the total reasons for declination), and split further according to the carrier's preferences by reference to product, industry and deal size. The declination rationale data tool is clearly performance enhancing, as it enables carriers to determine key areas in which their performance can be improved.
A broker insights screen may be provided to present clients with key customer opinion data. It may be based on the established Net Promoter Score (“NPS”) customer loyalty metric. At its root, an NPS rating is obtained by asking customers, on a “0 to 10” rating scale, how likely they would be to recommend a product to a friend or colleague. Based on their responses, customers are categorized into one of three groups: Promoters (9-10 rating), Passives (7-8 rating), and Detractors (0-6 rating). The percentage of Detractors is then subtracted from the percentage of Promoters to obtain a Net Promoter Score. Under the NPS system, companies are encouraged to supplement this question with further queries, thereby soliciting the reasons for a customer's rating of that company or product. These reasons can then be provided to front-line employees and management teams for follow-up action.
A global risk insight platform dashboard or portal may provide two elements in a pipeline opportunity monitoring section. The first is a statistical analysis of a reinsurer's renewal book of business, while the second is a report of upcoming policy renewal opportunities. A pipeline statistical analysis tool may show for each selected geographic area the total number and total value of renewal possibilities on a reinsurer's book of business falling due in the next six months. Carriers can view this information by product or by industry. This tool assists carriers in planning their future business. Brokers do not have access to the carrier dashboard.
A pipeline report tool may list opportunities arising from existing policies that are brokered which are due for renewal in the near term. The information available in this case includes client name, industry, product, approximate deal size, region, and month of maturity.
A server computer or other computer device may next generate a webpage that includes business entity specific risk data and at least one graphical user interface element for accessing pricing data stored in the database in step 306. The webpage may include some or all of the features shown in
When a search command has been received, in step 310 pricing data is retrieved from the database. Step 310 may include executing one or more search routines or templates. Finally, after the pricing data is retrieved, the pricing data may be transmitted in step 314. Step 314 may include transmitting pricing data from a server computer to another computer device. The pricing data may be displayed on a portal webpage.
Portal screenshot 200 may also include a video section 204. Video section 204 may include links to recorded programs 206 that may be general in nature and/or targeted toward specific business entities. For example, a recorded program may relate to mitigating reputation risk concerns for a particular business entity. Video section 204 may also include a live TV feed section 208. Live TV feed section 208 may be used to provide real time information to business entities. For example, during a hurricane live TV feed section 208 may include an expert explaining how current hurricane developments may impact a business entity.
A risk management tools section 210 may be included to provide users with a variety of risk management tools. A worldwide risk levels link 212 may be selected to display a map that illustrates and explains risk levels around the world or within a specific geographic region. The map may be color coded to represent overall risks to supply chains, manufacturing capabilities, reputation and other elements. A Global insight platform benchmarking service link 214 may be selected to request a benchmark.
Risk management tools section 210 may also include a risk maturity index section. The risk maturity index section may include a link to provide an overview of a risk maturity index. In one embodiment, a risk maturity index is created from answers to a questionnaire on risk management processes, corporate governance and risk understanding.
Within each characteristic, questions may be classified at a second level according to components 402a and 404b. For example, under a “board-level understanding of and commitment to risk management as a critical factor for decision making and for driving value” characteristic, components may include the content of board reporting and frequency of board reporting. At a third level, elements 406a, 406b and 406c may include the actual questions and response options. For example, an element under frequency of board reporting may include answers corresponding to reporting periods. The components and elements may be “building blocks” or activities that would exemplify and organization's level of development along a given characteristic.
In exemplary embodiments, questions that may be used to generate a risk maturity index include questions relating to one or more of: (1) corporate governance, (2) risk identification and evaluation processes, (3) risk culture and communications, and (4) risks and decision making.
In one exemplary scoring scheme, the risk maturity index has a scale of 1-5. A score of 5 is “advanced” and indicates that the organization has a well developed ability to identify, measure, manage and monitor risks; risk management processes are dynamic and adapt to changing risks and business cycles. A score of 4 is “operational” and indicates that there is a clear understanding of the organization's key risks and also a consistent execution of activities to address these risks; some functional areas may employ more sophisticated techniques. A score of 3 is “defined” and indicates that the organization understands and is addressing its key risks and capabilities to measure, manage and monitor risks are in place but may be inconsistent across the organization. A score of 2 is “basic” and indicates that there is inconsistent understanding, management and monitoring of key risks across the organization and that capabilities to consistently identify, assess, manage and monitor risks are limited. A score of 1 is “initial” and indicates that when the organization identifies and addresses risks it is done within silos only and components and activities of the risk management process are limited in scope and implemented in an ad-hoc manner.
In various embodiments when reporting score, products and services that may be utilized to increase scores may also be provided.
Returning to
Social media sources may be monitored to provide industry risk news in an industry risk news section 218, reputation risk news in a reputation risk news section 220 and supply chain risk news in a supply chain risk news section 222. In some embodiments, business entities provide search criteria, search templates or other information used to located relevant social media posts. In various embodiments, social media information may be filtered with one or more computer devices, manually or with a combination of computer devices and manual filtering. Each section may include a news feed that identifies the social media source and provides a brief summary of the content. The news feed may be in the form of a hyperlink that allows user to link to the source of the content. In some embodiments, users may select the social media sources that will be monitored. Users may also provide specific areas to monitor and may provide search criteria. For example, a user may decided to delete industry risk news and substitute industry risk news section 218 with a risk section relating to a newly released product. The user may provide search criteria for the newly released product.
Portal screenshot 200 may also include a graph section 224 that illustrates counts of mentions of the news events by a plurality of social media sources over a predetermined time period. Graph section 224 shows relative numbers of mentions by a plurality of social media sources for three events, Event A, Event B and Event C. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the events may include natural disasters, company boycotts or any other types of events that represent risks to business entities.
In step 704 results of the search of social media are received. The search results may be further analyzed to identify filtered search results relevant to a business entity in step 706. In embodiments that utilize and automated process, steps 704 and 706 may be combined. In some embodiments step 304 may be performed by a computer device and step 706 may be performed by one of more humans analyzing the search results.
A server or other computer device may create a news feed of filtered search results in step 708. Step 708 may include generating one or more RSS feeds that will be used to populate a portal screen, such as the one shown in
In step 710 categories of news events may be generated. The categories may be limited to a specific number, such as three categories having the highest number of mentions. Next, in step 712, counts of mentions of the news events by a plurality of social media sources over a predetermined time period may be generated. The counts may be used to generate a graphical representation of the counts of mentions of the news events in step 714. The graphical representation may be similar to the graph shown in graph section 224 in
The present invention has been described herein with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that a person understanding this invention may conceive of changes or other embodiments or variations, which utilize the principles of this invention without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. All are considered within the sphere, spirit, and scope of the invention.
The present application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/488,131, filed on May 19, 2011 and entitled Global Risk Insight Platform for Insurance Brokers and to U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/488,126, filed on May 19, 2011 and entitled Statistical Analysis Platform for Predicting Insurance Carriers Most Likely to Accept a Particular Type of Client Risk. The entire disclosures of both applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61488131 | May 2011 | US | |
| 61488126 | May 2011 | US |
