mc23

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On November 20, 2016, mc23 commented on Digitization threatens the insurance business :

Very interesting post! Although I understand your argument that if there was no risk, insurance companies wouldn’t exist, I think risk will always exist because nothing is 100% sure – however, if you are able to better predict risk, you can lower premium, while lowering cost. Currently, insurance companies are using uncleaned and low correlated information – such as giving better premiums to children that have good grades – if instead we could move to a world where insurance was covering real “accidents” and not something that could be prevented by better driving, then I think insurance companies would be better off. The real questions begs, what happens to consumers for which insurance will become “too expensive” — will the government have to subsidize property & casualty insurance?

On November 20, 2016, mc23 commented on Digital banking leader for 25 years :

Very interesting article – it seems from this article that Bankinter has been a leader in the digital banking for Spanish banks. I’ve read a lot about how BBVA has been focused on digitalization since 2006 (https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/financial-institutions-people-organization-power-people-digital-banking-transformation/?chapter=7). What in your view has made Bankinter more or less successful than BBVA?

On November 18, 2016, mc23 commented on Do Android Phones Dream of Electric Sheep? :

Great article — I’ve personally used Jawbone and Whitings Aura to track my sleep and it’s incredible to see the result. While there’s some debate on whether the data is completely accurate, I’m more curious to see your views as to what value besides data tracking this device could have. The Aura serves as more than just a tracker, it provides lights/alarms to wake you up at the right REM sleep and monitors external factors like temperature and Co2 levels in order to recommend changes in the environment that you could implement and improve the sleep.
Do you have other recommendations for how these devices can become more than just trackers?

On November 18, 2016, mc23 commented on The digitization of a pill :

This is a very interesting article and I totally agree that it could be very beneficial to consumers to better track their pill intake. But do you see any inherent risk on who owns the data accumulated through this program? You mentioned that “having the information on the drug taking pattern of the patient could be a very powerful diagnosis tool for the health care provider.” Does this mean you expect the data to be given to health care providers – and how would you combat privacy concerns, and in particular, concerns that this data could be used by health insurance companies to price discriminate people?

Really love the idea of using technology as a tool to improve education, connect children and bridge inequality gap. However, would love to learn more about how exactly would this be able to be implemented? Although I agree that technology usage is widespread across the world, the children who most likely need this the most live in rural areas that might not have access to these innovations and what can Google do to not only create the products, but also provide the ability to disseminate it to the consumers.

On November 7, 2016, mc23 commented on Chocapocalypse: Is Chocolate Endangered? :

No Chocolate in 4 years??
As AT mentioned above, I was also pleasantly surprised that Mars employed meteorologist. I was also very impressed by their target goal of reducing emissions and fossil fuel energy usage to zero by 2040! My biggest questions is whether Mars could be doing more?
In particular from a consumer educations front? Given they represent ~29% of the confectionery market share in the US in 2015, could they be using their platform to educate consumers about the dangers of climate change?

So far, much of the consumer education for climate change has either been negative advertising or very scientific studies. Given the debatable studies on whether negative advertising actually works, I could see an opportunity for Mars to become a positive advocate for change. Potentially using their humorous advertising as a way to encourage better behavior.

On November 7, 2016, mc23 commented on Aviva – How to insure against the ultimate risk? :

Archer – I really enjoyed reading your post, and learning the amazing work Aviva has done so far on the climate change challenge. I was particularly impressed by their strong collaboration with policy-makers and regulators, something I hadn’t thought of in my own analysis when looking at Allstate’s progress.

I totally agree with you that the focus has been to narrow. As an insurance company, not only can Aviva help the climate change by traditional tools like investing in “green bonds” or reducing their own power consumption, but Aviva could actually use it’s products to influence behaviors. You mentioned they could influence clients in industries they cover, looking at their website it does seems like they do some incentives for their consumer products, but do you have any ideas on how this could be implemented at a larger scale with business clients?

Super interesting read!

From an insurance perspective, many property insurance companies like State Farm and Allstate, actually saw this risk in 2009 and decided to slowly exit the market by not renewing housing policies. “The withdrawal of State Farm alone in 2009, affected over 1.2 million homeowners, renters, condominium unit owners, personal liability, boats, personal articles, and business property and liability policies.” (http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2009/01/27/97324.htm)

I’m curious if in your research you found any evidence of the incremental costs a city like Miami has from the loss of big insurers, and if the city has any specific plans to re-establish relationships with some of these big players? After nine years of not operating in California (for similar climate concerns), Allstate has re-entered the market, so wondering if there would be an opportunity for Miami / Florida? (http://www.insurance.ca.gov/0400-news/0100-press-releases/2016/release063-16.cfm)

I also wrote about Allstate so can shed some light on the sustainability projects. This was something I research but ultimately did not include as an area of strength for Allstate as I believe they should be doing more.

Currently, Allstate Investments, LLC manages approximately $72 billion in assets, of which $0.7 billion are (1%) are invested in environmentally-friendly and socially-responsible investment opportunities. In particular for climate change, only .3% in renewable energy. “In 2015, our investments included a low-income-housing tax credit (LIHTC) portfolio of $491 million, a renewable energy portfolio of $230 million, and a socially responsible investment portfolio of $51 million.” (Company Website: http://corporateresponsibility.allstate.com/environment)

Compared to other companies like Metlife, which has invested $4 billion in socially-responsibly investment, $1 billion of those in green bonds; I think Allstate has room to grow.
(https://www.metlife.com/about/corporate-responsibility/our-investments/impact-investents/index.html

Great topic – I also wrote about Allstate and it was interesting to hear your perspective. I agree that Allstate as a business first needs to focus on diversifying their own risk (buying re-insurance, cutting exposure in Florida) as short-term perspectives, but also needs to invest in future.
I thought you had great suggestions on creative ways they could help reduce global warming.

You mentioned: “Allstate could provide premium discounts for low-emission vehicles and drivers who spend less time on the road, decreasing overall emissions.” They actually do the second part through a side-program called Drive-wise (https://www.allstate.com/drive-wise.aspx) which incentives people to spend less time on the road! As far as low-emission vehicles, there are other auto insurers, like Farmers*, giving discounts for fuel-efficient cars and this is something I totally agree Allstate should do.

*Farmers: Alternative Fuel – Owners who drive hybrids and other alternative fuel vehicles may save 5% on all major coverages. (https://www.farmers.com/faq/discounts/)