AkinovA: the first new regulated insurance market since Lloyd’s

AkinovA, the electronic insurance marketplace, is believed to be the first new regulated insurance marketplace since the formation of Lloyd’s in 1871, having been granted the Bermuda Monetary Authority’s (BMA) first Insurance Marketplace Provider licence.

AkinovA was formerly part of the BMA’s regulatory sandbox, a light-touch regulatory environment where insurtechs have more space to innovate.

It has now been awarded a full licence, enabling it to facilitate the transfer of re/insurance risks and host brokers, agents and capital providers from the US, UK, EU, Bermuda and Canada. It can now transact with market participants representing capital in over 40 jurisdictions.

AkinovA is also licenced to facilitate the trading of insurance contracts, securities and collateral that is ancillary to the insurance business sourced through cat bonds, notes and preference shares.

AkinovA gives market participants access to capital beyond the traditional insurance market, where around $1.4 trillion of capital is hunting for yield. It also provides access to news, data and analytics from its users and partners, and provides facilities for secure communications between participants.

Henri Winand, chief executive of AkinovA, said the market needed a neutral, digital-first and regulated electronic environment within which risks and capital take centre stage, backed u p by reliable third party data and analytics.

He said: “This is the moment when brokers are hunting for the right capital to deliver the right products to their clients at the right price and when insurers and reinsurers seek better and more effective ways to connect with capital markets and new risks. Add to this data providers and modellers seeking new sources of revenue and investors hunting for new sources of yield.”

Dennis Mahoney, an advisor to AkinovA and a former chairman of the World Insurance Network, said: “AkinovA enables cover buyers, brokers and risk carriers to strive for the mutual benefits which can only be delivered by a trusted, secure, frictionless, transparent, efficient platform. Congratulations Bermuda!”

The BMA created the new category of insurance intermediary as part Bermuda’s Insurance Amendment Act 2019.