Fidelis Partnership is replacing the traditional title of “underwriting associate” with “analyst” to reflect the future of underwriters focused on innovation, faster decision-making and client relationships as artificial intelligence increasingly automates menial administrative tasks.
In an interview with Reinsurance News, UK CUO, Michael Davern, group head of real estate, energy and construction at D&F, and John-Paul O’Hare, group director of underwriting at The Fidelis Partnership, discuss the reasoning behind the new ‘analyst’ position and how the change reflects its wider AI integration strategy.
O’Hare emphasized, “The world is changing at a faster pace than the industry has ever experienced due to AI technology and automation. This has really been noticeable over the past 12 months as AI technology has advanced and enterprises have embedded AI agents into their workflows.”
Given this changing technology landscape, O’Hare and Davin noted that artificial intelligence is increasingly automating menial tasks, removing friction and increasing submission volumes, allowing analysts to see more, process more, make faster decisions, and provide better service to brokers and clients. This allows the business to scale more efficiently, support higher profits and reduce headcount.
“Historically, underwriting associates across the industry have been doing data entry work for underwriters,” Davin explains. “It’s a menial part—it’s a long and arduous process that begs the question: what competencies have companies been hiring for.
“We at Fidelis Partnership see ourselves as the Goldman Sachs of insurance, with the analyst title now better representing the changing entry-level roles and the skills of the graduate and even school candidates we are recruiting.”
O’Hare emphasized that what they really want to do at Fidelis Partnership is “grow and build the underwriters of the future.”
He continued, “It’s not about double-keying, triple-keying; it’s not about copying information into policy administration systems and pricing models. It should all be automated, and that’s a capability that Fidelis Partnership has built and developed. We have multiple business categories, and when something is submitted, it now automatically flows directly through the pricing model, the underwriting logic, the wording logic to get to, faster and more efficiently, ‘Okay, now it’s time to make a decision.'”
“Powered by these AI capabilities, the analysts we are now bringing on board are removing friction. Submission volumes can increase; analysts can see more, process more, and make faster decisions. This in turn means better service for clients and brokers. That means more time to spend on innovation and developing new products. It means more time to travel in person and build relationships with clients and unlock new distribution sources, which are all things we are actively doing as part of our high-growth market strategy.
“I would say the underwriters of the future need to start as analysts so they can disrupt and enhance these processes through automation and complete more valuable work faster. I expect the underwriters of the future will have a broader skill set, combining underwriting expertise with technology, analytics and relationship management. AI and automation will allow talented individuals to handle larger deal flows and focus on higher-value decisions while still learning within an experienced underwriting team.”
Davern describes the type of skills Fidelis Partnership is looking for for analyst roles as those with “disruptor” qualities, and says the firm has had great success in finding such talent through partnerships with the University of Limerick, Queen’s University Belfast, University College Dublin and Queen Mary University of London. These partnerships span scholarships, co-ops, internships and graduate programs, funneling analytical and technology talent directly into underwriting, actuarial, IT and claims teams
“Among the people we look for, we call them disruptor traits. They don’t have to be graduates, but they have to be people who are motivated and see the world in a different way, maybe people who have language skills or strong relationship management skills,” Davin explains.
O’Hare went on to highlight the company’s AI strategy, which includes leveraging automation to make front-end processes as efficient as possible, some of which is achieved through direct collaboration with brokers, including a recent strategic partnership with brokerage group Howden to automate the pre-binding submission process.
“Our AI strategy recognizes that the operational efficiencies created by automation in turn support the scalability of our risk allocation business model. AI enables analysts to make the process super efficient, provide the highest quality service to brokers and clients, and then allocate the best risks for our leading underwriting to the right capabilities. Automation means we can quickly scale the model without having to add new people as before. This means we are not only more efficient, but also more scalable,” he concluded.
