This profile of Trium Cyber is the first article in the regular Company Spotlights series, published by Insurance Journal, which profiles insurance industry founders and innovators.
Trium Cyber is the first company to be approved by Lloyd’s in the industry to provide cyber security services in the US. Launched in January 2023, the insurance company with stack surplus lines will join the ranks of cyber market entrants and carriers that have expanded their market share over the past year.
While that’s an attractive prospect because premiums have soared, prices have recently started to decline. Indeed, cyber insurance rates will increase to 28% in the fourth quarter of 2022, compared to 48% in the third quarter as new market entrants increased their volume, according to Marsh’s latest Global Insurance Market Index.
However, Josh Ladeau, CEO of Trium Cyber, is not worried that this new power will also drive prices to remain stable because cyber bookmakers are well aware of what is possible and must keep prices above the dangerous price.
“The market has really changed. I don’t think it’s just a temporary fix. There is an acknowledgment of the transporters and recyclers that the volume of the past few years was not sustainable and would give us a big problem if there were major industrial events,” said Ladeau in an interview with. Insurance Journal.
“There will be price fluctuations during the year, but I think there’s a fair understanding of the exposure, and the amount and severity of what’s being said.”
Even at the reinsurance level, there has been a big problem, as concerns about large exposures are growing, he said. “Reinsurers have looked to absorb losses at a lower rate. So even though you’re seeing direct reinsurance growth, there’s been a slight decline in terms of losses in reinsurance contracts.”
Ladeau noted that industry players are well aware that the ever-increasing growth and over-competition is not good, especially given the number of cyber losses in 2020, he emphasized.
“Despite high growth over the years, the cyber insurance market has faced all sorts of economic challenges,” Trium Cyber said on its website.
According to Swiss Re, the main driver of the growth of the cyber insurance market has been the increasing number and severity of cyberattacks, which has led to increased awareness of the risk. “In the US, the largest cyber market, payments grew by 74% in 2021. Standalone policy payments increased by 92%, led by an increase in the number after ransomware incidents that caused the number of deaths to increase in 2020,” said the Swiss Re in his report. titled “Cyber insurance: building resilience in the digital transformation,” published in November 2022.
Swiss Re said the cyber market has huge potential because most losses are uninsured. “Based on the annual estimate of the global loss at US $ 945 billion [according to a report from McAfee]almost all of the risk remains unsecured,” said Swiss Re, noting that one estimate from the Geneva Association puts the security gap at 90%.
Check out the Great Insurances
Unlike some of its competitors who tend to target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Trium Cyber focuses on large enterprises with revenues of more than $1 billion, with strong security.
“Historically, this has helped us a lot in terms of performance,” Ladeau said.
In a large part of the market, there is a lot of emphasis and investment in security and their IT outsourcing – or their ability to use secondary and advanced solutions when they have a cyber problem, he said. “Some businesses are able to run their systems offline, which allows them to maintain their business even after it’s gone.”
Some organizations have multiple levels of redundancy so if a primary sponsor goes down, “they can fail an additional sponsor.”
On the other hand, small businesses – SMEs – are one of the most difficult areas in the market today, he warned. “I don’t know if there is enough value for small businesses. Obviously, time will tell if that is the case.”
Small businesses with similar networks, equipment and systems, and less investment in security measures can be affected in the event of a systematic or clustered incident, he said.
Many of these small companies do not employ a chief information security officer (CISO) and have outsourced their IT and IT security, he continued. Their knowledge and control over their cyber security may be less than the middle market, while the middle market, in turn, has much less control than large market customers, he said.
In addition, there are more SMEs than Fortune 1000 companies. As a result, if the margin is combined for all small businesses – which in the US number in the millions – the price would be much higher than that of the Fortune 1000 companies – even with the higher margin purchased by the companies adults, Ladeau added.
“When you go upstream and enter the big market at the risk of each person, there is a lot of loss on that account, on one account, because they buy high margins.” What can be done on the ground is more than the defeat of the authorities and the establishment of redundancies, to support the profit of the sector, he explained.
Swiss Re estimates that the total cost of cyber incidents targeting SMEs is three times higher than that of large companies, and the cost of an investigation typically ranges from US$20,000 to US$100,000 for a company with revenues of less than $50 million. .
Floor Displays
Instead of writing, the dependence of the low technology is carefully analyzed – because they can create a representation of the current situation. “We understand who relies on what technologies and how they rely on them, and then we position our book around that.”
One well-known example of water scarcity can be found in the airline industry. Ladeau said about 40% of airlines use at least one form of booking technology, or this technology as one of their main booking features, which increases the potential for integration. “But such shared trust can be found in industries as diverse as healthcare and financial institutions.”
Individual risk assessment includes customer security assessment, system recovery, incident response and disaster recovery capabilities and time-saving measures, he explained.
“Given our limited attention span and threat selection methods, I feel that, by far, we have a way to close.”
As a former cyber historian, Ladeau knows what he’s talking about. He said: “The only line I wrote was on the Internet. “I have always focused on the profitability of my business, and I have been able to write a profitable business for the past 15 years, including the last three or four years.”
After joining the founding team in September 2022, he helped Trium Cyber look for Lloyd’s legitimate way to become the first cyber syndicate, Syndicate 1322.
Previously, he led Aspen’s global platform, and prior to that role, he was the head of Allied World where he developed the company’s cyber risk platform.
About Trium Cyber
Underwriting on behalf of Lloyd’s Syndicate 1322, using Lloyd’s “A”-rated, leveraged paper, Trium Cyber has the support to underwrite $50 million in the cyber market by 2023.
The only carrier that offers cyber and technical fault & abandonment cover, the company can take up to $10 million, and always sends a line of $5 million, bringing about $1.5 billion of new energy to the US market.
Trium Cyber operates its own proprietary underwriting, real-time claims platform and cyber risk management services.
Ladeau said the company differentiates itself by being able to make decisions in the U.S., which is critical in cyberspace where real-time loss scenarios are common.
This is different from third-party claims or professional claims where claims are settled in weeks, months or years, he said.
“In cyber, you’re often exposed to what they’re saying hours after it happens. Being able to immediately engage with what they’re saying is very important. Being in the US that’s close to our partners and customers is very important to differentiate what we do,” added Ladeau.
“This agency only writes through one US company. There is no open business written from London.”
Although Trium Cyber may eventually provide information to Europe, Ladeau said, in 2023 and beyond for the foreseeable future, it will only focus on threats controlled by the US.
The company is backed by Pelican Ventures and third-party sponsors.
What’s in a Name?
The name Trium Cyber has Latin roots. Trium is a brand of trēs (or three), according to the company’s website.
The insurer said it offers three key features to support its insurers, and more broadly, to promote market stability and better control of cyber risk:
- Proprietary underwriting methodology
- Risk management capabilities
- Real-time waste reduction services
Related:
Heads
Carriers Cyber Profit Loss InsurTech