Hokodo partners with SCOR Global P&C’s Channel Syndicate

LONDON, September 19th, 2018 – Hokodo, the world’s first dedicated provider of commercial “Insurance-as-a-Service” to protect the trading exposures of small and medium sized businesses, is partnering with the Channel Syndicate and SCOR Global P&C to develop a range of insurance products which will be underwritten and distributed using Hokodo’s technology.

Richard Thornton, one of Hokodo’s founders commented:

“After spending four years working for a multinational insurer — initially as the Group Chief Risk Officer — it became apparent to me that traditional insurers, lenders and brokers were failing to effectively serve small and medium sized businesses and to give them easy access to appropriate and affordable financial products and protections designed to meet their particular needs. My Hokodo co-founders and I concluded the only way these problems were going to be solved was to start our own business and to tackle the issues head-on.”

Hokodo’s insurance solutions will be delivered via Application Programming Interfaces (“APIs”) which can be easily integrated into the cloud accounting platforms, online marketplaces, and other technology platforms used by most small and medium sized businesses.

Hokodo is launching its service with an invoice protection product insuring small and medium sized business owners against the risk that their customers will fail to pay the covered invoice when it falls due.

“Late payment of invoices is one of the leading causes of small business failure across Europe,” said Thornton. “In the UK, for example, the Federation for Small Business estimates that 50,000 small businesses fail every year because they are owed payment on their invoices. Although the insurance industry has developed commercial products to address this problem, the products are rarely readily or economically available to small and medium sized businesses. This is a major problem Hokodo aims to fix.”

The insurance products underwritten and distributed using Hokodo’s technology will be backed by the Channel Syndicate, a unit of SCOR Global P&C. “SCOR Global P&C and the Channel Syndicate have been great partners for us,” commented Louis Carbonnier, co-founder at Hokodo. “Their open and transparent approach to doing business impressed us from the start; and once we agreed the terms of our partnership, the Channel Syndicate ‘s effective execution capability got us up and trading in record time. SCOR and Channel are business partners that understand innovation and back it up with real delivery”.

Will Thorne, Innovation leader at the Channel Syndicate, believes Hokodo’s solutions could be transformational for the commercial insurance market. “We expect that accounting packages, and other technology platforms used by small and medium size business owners will grow to become a critical distribution channel for commercial insurance. In Hokodo we have found a team with unparalleled expertise to execute on this exciting opportunity”.

Although Hokodo is launching with an invoice protection insurance offering, in partnership with SCOR Global P&C and the Channel Syndicate, Hokodo’s ambition to readily and economically make available insurance products to protect business-to-business trade goes much further.

“Whenever two businesses trade with each other, they are exposed to risks,” said Carbonnier. “We believe that we can help mitigate all those risks through our Insurance-as-a-Service solutions — be they goods in transit risks; professional liability risks; or performance risks. Working closely with the risk transfer experts at SCOR Global P&C and the Channel Syndicate, we will be developing a range of covers to address these broader exposures and to help small and medium businesses trade safely.”

About Hokodo

Hokodo is a Managing General Agent which operates as an Appointed Representative of Innovative Risk Ltd. Hokodo designs insurance and finance solutions that protect companies participating in B2B trade. Through its APIs, Hokodo empowers its distribution partners to offer simple contextual insurance products at the point of transaction, thereby bridging the gap between financial services and corporate clients. By drawing on a range of data sources and applying machine learning techniques, Hokodo is able to manage risks effectively and create sustainable value for the whole supply chain.

About the Channel Syndicate and SCOR Global P&C

The Channel Syndicate is managed by The Channel Managing Agency, a fully authorized Lloyd’s Managing Agency. Led by a strong management team and supported by experienced underwriters, the Syndicate started underwriting in 2011 and has subsequently significantly expanded and diversified its operations. With a client centric focus, its underwriters are accessible and empowered to make decisions and work collaboratively with clients to meet their most complex insurance needs.

The Channel Syndicate is a business unit of and is supported by SCOR Global P&C, the non-life segment of the SCOR Group (a tier 1 and the world’s fifth largest reinsurer, rated AA- by the leading international rating agencies). In 2017, SCOR’s gross written premiums were €14.8bn, of which Property & Casualty comprised approximately €6bn.

For more information visit: www.channel2015.com and www.scor.com