Portfolio underwriting in 2026 (397)

InsTech - insurance & innovation with Matthew Grant & Robin Merttens

InsTech

Entrepreneurship, Business, Investing

4.9 • 51 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2026

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Robin Merttens moderates a panel with Tessa Wardle of QBE, Emily Stanford of Gallagher and Jonathan Spry of Envelop Risk, recorded live at the InsTech London event Some lead, others follow: Smart underwriting and broking strategies for 2026. As algorithmic underwriting and portfolio solutions reshape the London Market, insurers, brokers and reinsurers are rethinking how risk is placed, followed and managed at scale. Facilities are multiplying, digital trading models are emerging and data is becoming the foundation of increasingly automated underwriting decisions. Drawing on perspectives from underwriting, broking and reinsurance, the panel explores what portfolio underwriting really looks like in practice today. They discuss how facilities are evolving, why broker strategies are changing and what it takes to run sustainable portfolio capacity in a market that is becoming more digital and more data-driven. At the centre of the discussion is a growing tension between ambition and infrastructure. The market wants faster placement, smarter capital allocation and more algorithmic decision-making, yet many firms are still wrestling with fragmented data, legacy systems and inconsistent standards. In this conversation, Tessa, Emily and Jonathan share: Why portfolio solutions have become one of the fastest-growing models in the London Market How brokers are evolving their placement strategies as facilities and pre-placed capacity expand Why selecting the right portfolio leader is critical for long-term facility performance How improving data quality is becoming a prerequisite for digital trading and algorithmic underwriting Why incentives across brokers, carriers and reinsurers matter when it comes to better data How AI is reshaping risk, creating new liability exposures and changing how insurers analyse emerging threats Why capital providers are increasingly demanding greater transparency and portfolio insight If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on whichever platform you use or contact Robin Merttens on LinkedIn. Sign up to the InsTech newsletter for a fresh view on the world every Wednesday morning.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, hello, welcome or welcome back to the INSTECH podcast.
0:14.1	It's where, as always.
0:15.7	And this week, Robin is joined by Tessa Wardle, Director of Portfolio Solutions at QBE,
0:23.2	Jonathan Spry, CEO of Cyberreinsurance Specialist Invelop Risk, and Emily Stanford, executive director at Gallagher.
0:29.3	This episode comes from our February evening event in London, some lead, others follow,
0:34.5	where we brought together market leaders to explore how algorithmic and
0:38.3	portfolio-driven underwriting is reshaping the London market. Portfolio underwriting has suddenly
0:43.9	become the flavour of the month. Facilities are popping up everywhere, capital is flowing in
0:49.0	and everyone seems to have a strategy. But do we actually have the expertise, the data and the technology to make it all work?
0:57.2	Robin sits down with three people right at the centre of the shift to unpack what's really happening.
1:02.3	Tessa brings the perspective of a long-time portfolio leader at QBE.
1:06.4	Jonathan shares how AI and data are reshaping cyber reinsurance,
1:10.2	and Emily explains why brokers are
1:12.2	building their own portfolio facilities. So what happens when portfolios scale faster than the data
1:18.8	behind them? Why is data quality still such a stubborn problem in the market? And could AI change
1:25.0	not just underwriting, but the way capital providers engage with insurance.
1:29.4	Please offer coffee and I hope you enjoy the conversation.
1:42.9	So last session of the day we're're talking about portfolio underwriting in 26.
1:50.2	Tessa, Jonathan, Emily, come and join me.
2:00.0	As you will have spotted, this is a carefully selected panel.
2:04.5	We've got an underwriter, we've got a broker, and we've got a reinsurer.
2:09.6	So next to me is Tessa Wardle, who is the Director of QBE Portfolio Solutions.
	...

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