Ep244 Ian Gutterman: Insurance Hot Potatoes and Movie Sequels

Today’s episode is different because I’m not talking to an industry CEO, but somebody who has made a career of holding industry CEOs to account. Since before the turn of the millennium Ian Gutterman has been analysing the insurance industry on behalf of investors and in that time has sparred with all the top CEOs and executive teams. Analysts and journalists are kindred spirits – we both sit on the outside of the industry looking in and we both tend to speak to the same sorts of people, although we tend to ask different sorts of questions when we do. After a while we tend to seek each other out to compare notes. Journalists seek out the smartest analysts with the strongest personalities and the best communication skills and get them to explain some of the more technical and academic questions driving the industry. Ian is a journalist’s dream because he is incredibly intelligent but also refreshingly direct. Ian has personality and strong convictions in abundance and in this episode we cover all the big questions affecting the industry today, from when the 15-year bull market for intermediary valuations might come to an end, the wider consequences of the California wildfires and whether the insurers really have a proper handle on cat risk, to whether recent bouts of casualty reserve strengthening are now the end of the matter, or the lessons from the insurtech boom and why Venture Capital and insurance don’t mix. Ian and I had a lot of fun on this recording. Listen on and I think you will too Enjoy the podcast NOTES Ian writes a really strong insurance blog at https://iansbnr.com/ I always read it and I highly recommend you do too. It rarely pulls any punches. LINKS: We thank our naming sponsor AdvantageGo: https://www.advantagego.com We also thank audio advertiser, The Insurance Network (TIN), organiser of the highly-successful TINtech events series and Data Jam. www.tin.events