Memories of the InsurTech LatAm Forum 2020: Latin American Forum of Insurance Innovation

In the second week of October of 2020, one of the most important events of the insurance industry in Latin America took place, the Insurtech LatAm Forum 2020. The event was held virtually, how it is used nowadays in times of Covid- 19. However, the organization and the digital platform on which the event took place were a total success. Congratulations to Digital Insurance Latam and its IMS partners for the organization and logistics of the event.

The forum exceeded 1,700 participants during the five days of the event.  It had 85% of the attendees connected from different Latin American countries, mainly from Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador. The conference had the participation of several prominent figures from the insurance and entrepreneurship ecosystem. We had the opportunity to listen to panels with the leaders of several insurance companies, who shared their experiences, especially in what has to do with digital transformation and innovation. On the other hand, we contrast the vision of the main insurtechs and technology companies that are seeking to change the insurance industry.

The main topics discussed at the event were digital transformation, product innovation, new technologies, and new business models. During the conference, attendees had the opportunity to attend different panels live or watch the recordings on-demand; every session had a panel of experts from various countries.

One of the sessions was about innovation and digital transformation in the health crisis. In that panel, Juan Enrique Bustamante, CEO of Seguros Mundial (Colombia), talked about how his company accelerated the digital transformation to face the pandemic by changing processes from face-to-face sales to 100% digital sales in weeks with great commercial success and low operational impact. Mainly; thanks to its human talent and the cultural change that they have been incorporating in the company for several years, where they have sought to generate an “obsession to satisfy the customer and implement technological processes.”

In another session about intermediation in the next normality, we had the opportunity to hear the success story of one of the main insurtechs in the region: 123 Seguro. Where Bruno Ferrari, co-founder, and COO told us about the challenges of the company in the beginning and how they have managed to expand their company to several countries in the region. He spoke about the need that brokers have to start adopting digital tools to offer new experiences to their clients. Also, he talked about Insurtechs innovation speed and the importance that insurers and other players need to begin to recognize. If the insurers learn to work with insurtechs, they will generate new alliances and opportunities for all.

One of the most striking announcements of the day was made by Agustin Somoza, commercial director of AON, who announced the launch of  Coverwallet platform in the region in 2021. Coverwallet is one of the most important insurtechs in the world that was acquired by AON in 2018, and with its platform specialized in SMEs and its agent model is going to change the rules of the game in the insurance industry in Latin America. Above all, because AON enters into a business model that will generate new opportunities.

One of the most engaging panels was “how to collaborate with digital platforms and big tech.” Where Carlos Cernadas from MercadoLibre, spoke about the needs and difficulties they have had to work with insurers and the different strategies they have implemented to offer insurance to their clients. One of the most interesting data that was mentioned was that many of Mercadolibre’s users, both sellers, and buyers, have never received an insurance offer, so they see in insurance an immense opportunity for growth and insurance inclusion in Latin America.

Finally, the main event of the conference was the interview with Guibert Englebiene, founding partner of Globant, who spoke about his experience as an entrepreneur, and how he sees the evolution of the insurance sector. Two of his views on the insurance industry were related to insurers and their strategic vision. The first view was related to the importance that technological platforms should have for insurers today, and how it should be a strategic priority for insurers. “Insurers should be asking and planning the best way to collaborate with digital platforms.” On the other hand, he spoke about “the difference between doing digital and being digital”, and how many companies today are falling into this trap of doing digital and delegate many of these innovation processes to IT managers, who are not involved in the operational and commercial processes of the companies, which ends up generating short circuits in the innovation process of insurers.

To close the event, a startup contest “Insurtech pitch day” was held with five insurtechs who presented their business models:  Queplan.cl, Drixit, Saive, Journey y hostalabs. I leave you the link so you can see how this pitch day developed https://youtu.be/gE1ITEUe5wk.

In summary, it was a very useful event that gave its attendees several very important tools to visualize the landscape of the insurance industry, the trends and technologies that are being implemented, but more importantly, it showed us how the insurtech ecosystem is evolving in Latin America, growing more robust and with many relevant players. We look forward to the Insurtech LatAm Forum 2021 and see what new trends it brings us.

If you are interested in speaking and contributing to the insurtech ecosystem in Latin America, do not hesitate to contact me [email protected]