Managing a Global Claims TeamJason Richards, Swiss Re

ACE, Washington DC, June 27, 2014

1. Clients2. Operational Excellence and KPI's3. Knowledge sharing4. Risks and trends5. Talent and Culture

Five things I think about every day …

Focusing on our clients

• Ease of doing business with Swiss Re• Clear point of contact for Claims and Premiums• Regular data-based interactions• Bringing the entire firm to the client• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

• Benchmarking data and analysis• Overviews of legal trends and market developments• Portfolio Reviews• Run–off solutions

Engagement

Services

Knowledge sharing• Webinars, publications, white papers• Strategic Initiatives, e.g. eStrategy • Client Conferences• Client Forums

Clients

When 1+1 = 3 Because we're

"smarter together"

Tools for measuring client service

Net Promoter Score

Clients

The Portfolio

$16 bn accounted premiums annually$11 bn claims paid annually$50 bn gross inwards reserves$6 bn reinsurance recoveries

Portfolio

$0.2bn operating cost annually$0.2bn loss adjustment expense annually

Investment

Focus is on value generation from the portfolio

Operational Excellence

Key Performance Indicators - multiple core productivity metrics and reviews

• Data cockpit delivers more than 20 KPIs with almost real-time feed

• Productivity metrics, claim activity metrics, premium metrics

• Clear segmentation approach

Operational Excellence

Monitor, measure, and track the business

• Where do we add most value?• What expectations do we have of stakeholders/clients?

• Where do we want to be in 3 years?• How do we enhance the value generation?

Strategic Reviews by Department and Unit

• Are the right people handling the right tasks?• What trends do we see in the data? How will we react?

• Where do we spend most time?

Strategic -- FUTURE

• Number/Value of Open Claims • Number/Value of Transactions • Closing Rate• Client Visits• Operating Costs• Loss Adjustment Expenses

Quarterly Operating Reviews by Department• Turn-around-Time• Client Interactions• Escalations/Referrals• Largest Movements• Disputes/Legal Proceedings• Leakage

Tactical -- NOW

Operational Excellence

Provide Solutions, Service and Value

…while focusing on Client needs and expectations and supporting the skills development of our people

Strategic Eadmin

• Focused on Automation of work

Segmentation through analysis• Differentiated Roles, Differentiated Know‐How, Resources aligned with Roles

• Location strategy

Governance• Executing/Maintaining/Updating controls and guidelines

• Identification  and anticipation of Operational Risks and mitigation plans

Tactical Systems

• System availability and enhancements 

• Landscape simplification

Simplification• Identification of opportunities and 

benefits… Embed in DNA

Reporting • manage Key performance Indicators• manage  volume of work and 

productivity• understand trending of business for 

feedback loop

Operational Excellence

Globalization – leveraging a global workforce

Kansas City

LondonZurich

Bangalore

Mexico City

Ft. Wayne

Sydney

Armonk, NY

Bratislava

Rome

Low Cost

High Cost

Delhi

Review of footprint locations

Focused on Role, Average Salary, Average Length of service and Value Creation.

Analysis revealed:

A talented global workforce (no surprise!)

Value Creation was heavily correlated to higher cost locations (where the know-how is).

There are High and Low cost locations - some locations were not quite where we thought they would be!

Footprint strategy developed No large scale strategic shifts needed – a good balance in the workforce was noted.

Be smart: Reduce and consolidate as positions come open, challenge all backfills into higher cost places.

Preserve our franchise knowledge and expertise in any actions or movement.

Impact of strategy Lowered costs by backfilling appropriate roles in low cost locations.

Quality and Value Creation continued to be exceptional because "know-how" was leveraged and maintained.

**some smaller SR locations not shown above

Operational Excellence

"If only HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times more productive." -- Lew Platt, Former CEO Hewlett Packard

Claims culture must emphasize sharing as a necessity Portfolio deep dives Feedback loop on individual cases Claims expert networks

Claims culture must emphasize sharing as a necessity Portfolio deep dives Feedback loop on individual cases Claims expert networks

Knowledge Sharing

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PRODUCT LIABILITY

NATURAL CATASTROPHEMARINE

ENGINEERING

Claims Expert NetworksKnowledge Sharing

Key RisksRisk Tolerance Heat Map

Risks and Trends

Trends: claims topics on our radar

1414

Flood Claims Development

Beyond Exposure Models: Iterative Learning Wide Area Damage in 

Business Interruption Claims

Increase in Casualty Claims in Property Events

Aggregation Challenges in the Industry

Risks and Trends

Cyber Liability

Be innovative in how we acquire and nurture our talent

• Understand the changing needs of upcoming generations and adapt accordingly

• Make sure we leverage the full workforce… globally• Educate potential talent about our

industry/opportunities as early as possible• Refine selection methods to assure we're getting the

best talent• Provide opportunities for varied, flexible career growth

Talent and Culture

Tactical and Strategic ApproachA business imperative• Integral dimension of our long term vision and aspirations• Embedded in annual business and individual objectives• Regular management team dialogue and individual interaction

• Quarterly team and talent metrics

Aligned with future organisational needs• Rolling "3‐year view" of demand: role types, locations, skills• Collaboration across Swiss Re functions to further optimise e.g. succession planning

• Requires extensive dialogue and new skills for  some senior managers – strategic talent management

Talent and Culture

Opportunity to SucceedInvolving our entire workforce• Potential of all employees is assessed and discussed regularly• Additional management team focus afforded to employees regarded as vertical and lateral 

• Total focus on skill building – to improve quality of  discussion, alignment to demand, and proposed action

Optimised with a range of resources• Virtual Career Centre – Claims competency model• Leadership development for some; technical and interpersonal for all

• Project work, assignments, and on‐the‐job learning • Internal marketing to support cross functional movement

Talent and Culture

Some focus areas

Workforce flexibilityDiversity and inclusionFeedback and development plansJob rotationsAcquisition of new talent

Talent and Culture

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." -- Peter Drucker, Austrian-born American management consultant, author

Culture is the "personality of the organization"• An accumulation of a company's values, its vision, beliefs,

aspirations, and employees behaviours that guide decisions and how we do things

The case for culture: No matter how brilliant the strategy is, it must be supported by the organization's culture Culture is not static

• Culture will always need refining. As a leader, I must lead by example

Talent and Culture

Questions?

Swiss Re