Ki and Howden forge long-term partnership to build digital first in Lloyd’s
Ki and Howden are pleased to announce a new long-term partnership in which Ki will commit substantial capacity over 3 years, securing valuable follow capacity for Howden’s clients and business partners.
As part of the partnership, Ki, Howden and Hyperion X, Hyperion’s insurtech platform, will collaborate on the development of a fully-digital end-to-end Lloyd’s placement journey during 2021. This marks a Lloyd’s first, enabling seamless and instantaneous commitment of follow capacity in the market and realises a shared vision for the digital future for the Lloyd’s follow market.
The creation of Ki was first announced in May 2020. Ki will aim to significantly reduce the amount of time taken for brokers to place their follow capacity. Ki’s algorithm, developed with support from University College London, will evaluate Lloyd’s policies and automatically quote for business through an always available digital platform, built by Google Cloud and accessed directly by brokers. Ki will write a broad range of specialty business following selected leaders in the Lloyd’s market, including Brit. Ki recently announced that is has raised US$500m of committed capital from two backers, funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (“Blackstone”) and Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited.
Mark Allan, CEO of Ki, commented: “We are delighted to be partnering with Howden and Hyperion X. The creation of the first fully digital end-to-end Lloyd’s placement is another significant milestone, and we are proud that Ki is a central part of this. We believe digital models have major advantages for Lloyd’s and unlock substantial opportunities for the market in the future.”
Barnaby Rugge-Price, Executive Chair of Hyperion X and Chair of Howden Broking Group, said: “Howden’s commitment to transaction efficiency allows our people to focus their expertise and time on the areas that add the greatest value for clients. Ki shares our vision for the market with all the benefits it brings for clients, brokers and capital providers. Hyperion X’s data, technology and automation is key to the delivery of transaction efficiency and has been a real catalyst for progress. This partnership is just the start of a significant long-term relationship between Howden and Ki, we look forward to collaborating, growing together and driving innovation across the market.”
