SiriusPoint invests in autonomous motor MGA Avinew

SiriusPoint has invested in autonomous vehicle technology through a strategic partnership with Avinew under which the Bermudian (re)insurer will also offer fronting services, reinsurance and strategic advice to the MGA.

Avinew was set up in 2016, and is an underwriting platform for semi-autonomous and autonomous motor usage. Its insurance product covers AI-enabled vehicles and is looking to plug the knowledge gap in the market caused by a lack of ability to understand and track autonomous automobile usage.

“Avinew has the potential to be a disruptive force in the automotive insurance market and for us, represents meaningful strategic value,” said Darryl Siry, CTO at SiriusPoint. 

The investment will allow Avinew to grow its product offering and develop its technology to gain market share.

SiriusPoint, through its insurance and services division, has strategic partnerships with over 30 MGAs and technology enabled insurance services companies. 

As this publication reported, SiriusPoint CEO Sid Sankaran on an earnings call last week highlighted the company’s strategy of re-deploying capital towards the growth “and expected value creation” of its insurance and services segment.

The CEO highlighted what he viewed to be his company’s competitive advantage of partnering with MGAs that have a differentiated offering. He argued that strong strategic and incentive alignment, through the formation of multi-year partnerships, was key to driving value for both businesses.

Samkaran also said that SiriusPoint has been “ruthlessly” executing on a “complete” re-underwriting of the reinsurance portfolio. He said SiriusPoint has non-renewed around $700mn in reinsurance business, a figure he expects to ultimately rise to $1bn. 

Among the steps taken has been cutting global property aggregate exposure by 30 percent as the company pulled back from “select regions and perils”.