Intangic MGA, a data science-driven, London-based cyber Managing General Agent (MGA), has been launched with backing from AXA XL, offering innovative new cyber insurance cover for large public corporations headquartered in the UK.
The company is led by an executive team with a unique combination of expertise from insurance, data science, financial markets, and cyber security to offer a new model for the cyber insurance market.
"It really just comes down to thinking differently about the problem," said Ryan Dodd, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Intangic. "The security teams at large corporations have to manage cyber threats all day, every day. Our approach assesses cyber as a high-frequency risk. By accepting cyber attacks as 'constant', we can measure a link between how these attacks are managed and the financial impact they have on corporate operations. Our parametric triggers make this link visible, enabling fast recovery from covered material breaches and giving corporations a new type of insurance risk transfer. By doing this, we have converted cyber risk to a language the board understands."
Intangic MGA has worked with AXA XL for its cyber policy, CyFi, which is underwritten by AXA XL Insurance Company UK Ltd. Intangic offers public corporations with cover of up to $15 million (£ 12.5 million) in the UK market to cover losses from material cyber breaches. Plans are underway to extend this offering to the U.S. market.
"This is a simple and innovative solution to a complex problem," said Luis Prato, Chief Underwriting Officer, UK & Lloyd's at AXA XL. "Intangic's policy and the mechanisms behind it create a different way to approach risk and unlock capacity for cyber for large public corporations, helping them to strengthen their cyber risk programme."
"Companies are looking for a new approach from the market and a clear, fast recovery from their insurance protection – our product offering provides this," said Mark Heath, Head of Insurance and Chief Underwriting Officer, Intangic MGA.
The policy has two simple parametric triggers: the level of malicious activity targeting a company, and a subsequent loss in value. The triggers ensure that all parties have a transparent dashboard for the real-time monitoring of risk activity – a first for an underwriter in the cyber insurance market. When both triggers have been met, the claim is quickly paid to get the business running efficiently again.
Intangic MGA is bringing new capacity to the market to complement existing cyber indemnity cover. CyFi product provides smart parametric cyber cover that strengthens rather than replaces existing cyber indemnity policies. There is no claims adjustment. When both of the triggers are met, there is a fast payout in days, not months.
By analysing thousands of corporations over several years, Intangic found that companies struggling to manage the financial impact of cyber attacks have, on average, a 250% higher probability of suffering material losses compared to peers who had better cyber attack management. CyFi was designed to address the problem of constant cyber threats as early as possible to lower the probability of customers suffering significant losses from attacks.
"We brought multiple areas of risk expertise together to think about cyber differently and, through data science, we have converted what is considered an invisible risk into something more measurable and – ultimately visible – to large corporations," said Mr. Dodd. "We want to demystify cyber to anyone outside of our customers' cyber security team. We can, as a result, help risk managers improve the overall effectiveness of their cyber insurance programmes, including timely payouts."
Ryan Dodd leads data science, technology and product vision at Intangic, bringing real-world cyber and financial modelling experience, including 20 years as hedge fund manager (inc. Man GLG) and structuring financial risk products. Joining Mr. Dodd at Intangic MGA is Mark Heath as Head of Insurance and Chief Underwriting Officer. Mr. Heath has 35 years of insurance experience, including senior executive roles in both underwriting and broking at AIG and Aon. Mr Heath has decades of experience across many different classes of insurance including innovative solutions with a background in risk financing and captive reinsurance. Mr Heath heads up the MGA. Debbie Durkan has joined Intangic MGA to lead growth and client distribution. Ms. Durkan was most recently Chief Client Officer at Marsh Commercial and prior to that Global Head of Development at Bowring Marsh. Debbie has over 25 years of client growth and development experience within major Broking houses.
Dana Deasy was appointed as Chairman of Intangic and advisor to Intangic MGA. Mr. Deasy's previous roles include Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the US Department of Defence, CIO and MD at JP Morgan Chase, and CIO at BP. In addition, Chris Key will serve as a Director of Intangic and advisor to Intangic MGA. Mr. Key is a former Chief Product Officer at Mandiant, the market leader in threat intelligence and expertise gained on the frontlines of cyber security. Chris was also Founder and CEO of Verodin, Inc. (acquired by FireEye/Mandiant). Intangic is backed by Paladin Capital Group, with European General Manager and Principal Ken Pentimonti on Intangic MGA's Board.
