Executive Insights: Plymouth Rock's Martin on the need for courage

What the industry needs now is the tenacity to level the playing field with emerging players in insurance markets as well as to attract the next generation of professionals, according to Plymouth Rock Home Assurance’s Bill Martin.

When asked for his take on the three biggest issues facing the insurance sector today, Martin explained: “Courage is one. Established leaders in home insurance are watching startups get regulatory treatment that we stopped asking for — less seasoning before licensing, more leverage and lower capital requirements, 100% paperless digital and running at a loss for multiple years,” he said of the need for courage. “Regulators want to help the incumbents innovate and succeed just like startups, so insurers should be asking for similar consideration when new products are introduced.”

Martin currently serves as president and CEO of Plymouth Rock Home Assurance, which covers all property insurance for Plymouth Rock. Additionally, he oversees the company’s reinsurance program.

His time in the insurance industry stretches back more than 30 years, during which he has held a variety of senior-level positions with companies such as Progressive, Travelers and Farmers Insurance. Prior to joining Plymouth Rock, Martin served as president of Bankers Insurance in St. Petersburg, Fla.

An avid skier, sailor and sports fan, he is also a trombonist and led the trombone section in the band at Stanford University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science.

PC360: In addition to the need for more courage, what are the other two biggest issues you see facing the industry today?

Martin: Talent is a second issue and a corollary to courage. Sometimes it takes a certain level of ignorance of what we shouldn’t do to attempt something truly innovative. Excitement and world-changing opportunity are what outstanding employees look for. We have the elements of them in our industry.

The third is capital flow. There is — by leaps and bounds — enough capital available among investors to allocate to the insurance industry in a way that will cover risks we have, in the past, written off as uninsurable.

That includes flood, cyber, pandemic business interruption, terrorism, etc. The problem is that capital is not being deployed to our industry because the incumbent investors and reinsurers don’t want the competition for their dollars — too much capital can reduce margins. How about allocating less of a particular risk to more capital pools but insisting on rate adequacy? Our investors expect us to charge the technical rate … and when our returns show we are charging the technical rate, capital will flow into our industry enough to expand it to emerging risks and segments we gave up on with less of a capital pool to spread it in.

PC360: What skill sets should the next generation of insurance professionals be developing?

Martin: We need people skilled at using massive data sets to predict and quantify unique and rare risks accurately. In the insurance world, you are using artificial intelligence and big data for good rather than evil — reducing risk in a risky world.

We also need more creativity and critical thinking about how we meet customers’ needs in unique ways, and how we can bravely create markets for offerings never imagined before today. Finally, we need more heroes — people who do more for others than anyone can be reasonably asked to do. That will attract more talent and help customers be more satisfied with how insurance operates. I am not sure how you build that last skill set, but I want them here.

PC360: In your opinion, what have been the most significant changes for the insurance industry in the last decade?

Martin: We have greatly improved our talent, even as we can take it to another level. In the past, the growth in insurance markets raised all boats. We still have emerging risks that are growth opportunities, but we are also becoming a mecca for talent that wants to change how we approach even mature markets.

Second, I think that data, technology and sophistication in our approach to risk have improved exponentially in the last ten years and will only accelerate in the decade ahead.

PC360: With more employees working remotely, how can companies still promote a feeling of camaraderie or being part of a team, and is that important to their success?

Martin: They can’t. I think we will find that even the most distributed workforce needs personal unplanned interaction on a regular basis. Today, employees are asking for a hybrid model because they want a choice. Over time, if we offer the choice, most will choose to come back because it will improve their personal enjoyment of what they do, their learning opportunities around other experts, their potential for career advancement, and membership in an organization and team they enjoy being around rather than far away from.

PC360: How can we improve the insurance industry’s reputation with the public?

Martin: We can improve by having more heroes, offering something more than competitive prices and having more fun. Some of the big carriers have introduced fun into the branding. Where else can we introduce it? Can we have fun and help the world? I’d argue no industry is in a better position to do so.

PC360: How would you describe the insurance industry to someone considering it for a career?

Martin: It is a place where the most courage, determination and creativity can win. And you can achieve while doing good for people. What other industry tries to make money by helping people recover from the worst things that can happen in their lives? It touches everything and improves everything. It deserves the brightest that can be applied to the industry’s challenges.

PC360: What are some of the benefits of working in the insurance industry?

Martin: Today, just about every opportunity you might be intrigued by exists somewhere in the insurance universe — from health care to the data and physical sciences of loss prediction and loss control to invention and innovation to capital markets and investments to climate change. You can find the role you want to make your career here, and create your magnum opus.

PC360: What are some of the biggest misconceptions about the industry?

Martin: The math does not work when you pay everything a lawyer or a claimant might ask you to pay. The insurance industry would crumble if it didn’t say “no.” But in saying “no” to people — having that awful duty — we aren’t trying to make more money. What we make on a policy is minimized by competitive pressures, not by refusing to pay legitimate claims. So, the biggest misconception is that we don’t want to pay legitimate claims to make more money. That is baloney promoted by those who profit off assigning evil intent to the good employees in our business.

PC360: What was the most valuable piece of advice anyone has ever given you?

Martin: Two pieces I use regularly: “Every great insurance story is a distribution story,” and “your altitude is determined by your attitude.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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