Underwriter-built exposure management system Quex “addresses the pain points”: Quotech CEO

Quotech, the developer of integrated technology solutions for underwriting and broking teams, recently launched a new exposure management platform, Quex, which according to the firm, resolves the frequent complaints users make about their old exposure management software.

Reinsurance News recently spoke to the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Guillaume Bonnissent, about how the new platform is able to achieve this, and what advantages it brings to the re/insurance sector.

“The complaints that clients made about their old software were exactly the genesis of Quex,” Bonnissent said. “One of our large insurer clients said that they were having issues with their current exposure management system. They said it was very slow, and had trouble displaying multiple locations at the same time.

“We did some research on the pain points all our clients were experiencing, and firstly set out to address all their current issues with other exposure management systems. For example, with Quex we measure calculation time in minutes, and can show an unlimited number of locations on the map. Queries can be done asynchronously, which means that a query will run smoothly in the background whilst you’re using the software.”

But Quex goes further, Bonnissent explained. “We wanted to create something far better [than incumbent systems], so we addressed the pain points, then we went above and beyond them.”

One such advance, Bonnissent said, is that Quex incorporates third-party data. “For example, we have incorporated data from the Pacific Disaster Center, which covers the global spectrum of natural and man-made catastrophes in real time,” Bonnissent explained.

“One benefit of that data, which we resell alongside Quex, is an early warning system. The system tells you when any material natural catastrophe or man-made event is happening in the world, and its impact on your global risk portfolio. By integrating the PDC data stream into the platform, Quex clients are able to see if one or more of their insured locations has been impacted by floods, tornados, wildfires etc. as they are occurring.”

Another data stream that Bonnissent highlighted is AI-enhanced satellite imagery of property risks from TensorFlight. “With this you can look by satellite at the property that you are insuring, but you can also see, through AI analysis, factors such as what kind of building it is, the overall quality of the roof, how close it is to trees and other buildings, etc.”

A key component of all Quotech modules is that they strip out the complexity of data and systems, which is proving to be a very effective method within the industry. Bonnissent explains how the firm is able to achieve this.

“We come from the insurance industry – I was an underwriter in London for my entire career before Quotech – so we have a great understanding of market processes. That makes it much easier for us to cut through all the complexity, because we understand all the different scenarios and ways of completing tasks. With this knowledge, we are able to create systems to automate the repetitive tasks, which ensures that our clients can spend their time doing their jobs, not on drawn-out, tedious processing.”

He continued: “The other crucial part is making sure that our platform is the sole source of truth. I’ve been inside too many organisations where the different functions that access data – which should be the same data – were actually getting different data from different sources. Quotech creates the single source of truth, so each operational area accesses the same data, but only the part that is relevant for them, once again saving valuable time.”

Looking ahead, Bonnissent said Quotech is now developing a module for management of delegated underwriting authorities which uses its characteristic very low-code platform.

“Ideally we want clients to be able to configure everything on the platform themselves. That’s a constant goal of ours. We use it in our Quant platform, which lets underwriting teams build and amend their own rating engines, and offers clients a solution that allows them to launch a new insurance product in a matter of hours.

“Geographically we would like to expand too. We mainly have clients based in the UK, but we really would like to crack the US market, and then later Europe.”