Arch Re grows its Program Business with Mendix Self-service Portal
Arch Re Facultative is a supplier of facultative reinsurance in the US and Canada; and a subsidiary of the Arch Capital Group, a worldwide provider of insurance and reinsurance products.
Established in 2007, Arch Re Fac is a young, dynamic company with a focus on efficiency and a firm commitment to customer service.
Facultative reinsurance is the reinsurance of individual risks by offer and acceptance, wherein the reinsurer retains the ‘faculty’ to accept or reject each risk offered. By its very nature, this process involves a considerable amount of interaction and processing. Reinsurance programs are contracts between an insurer and reinsurer to bundle together facultative transactions that are similar in their terms and conditions, in an attempt to fill the space between pure facultative transactions and treaties.
“What we needed to stay in the program game—and before many client companies would even consider our proposal—was a more efficient mechanism for clients to report the risks subject to the contract. We really did not have a choice,” says Philip Augur, Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Arch Re Fac.
Finding the best software implementation workbench and most suitable vendor
Arch Re Fac was looking for a user-friendly, web-based Program Portal, which could be accessed by their client insurance companies’ underwriters. With nothing suitable available off-the-shelf, Arch Re Fac was looking for an implementation platform to support its program contracts; to design, develop and deploy its own Program Portal for client underwriters to access these programs in order to submit risks.
This software application supports reinsurance programs and provides client underwriters with the necessary online functionality to submit risk contracts and process the information in a structured, easy, and efficient manner. Considering that, the Program Portal is only the first online customer service for Arch Re Fac, the application also needed to be agile and scalable to support future initiatives.
“I investigated several software vendors and wound up with a shortlist of two,” says Augur. “I believe both final candidates had superior products that were technologically equal. What really made me select Mendix was the fact they are a young organization, like ourselves, and with the same passion, drive and motivation.”
Fully automating program creation and processing
Using the Mendix Platform, Arch Re Fac is able to configure new reinsurance programs based on clients’ unique characteristics and pricing structures.
Once a program has been deployed, the respective underwriters and their managers have access to an array of functions through the web-based Program Portal, installed on Mendix Business Server and running under the Mendix Portal.
Using the Program Portal, an underwriter can submit a risk and the application verifies whether that risk fits the terms of the contract. If that is the case, the price is instantly provided and the client can bind. Risks that do not meet the terms of the contract can be submitted for special acceptance without losing any of the data already entered. This application also communicates Arch Re Fac’s structure and price for the Special Acceptance to the underwriter, who can subsequently bind using an application function. In addition, clients can endorse and cancel risks - be they under the terms of the contract or Special Acceptances- using the Program Portal.
On the reporting side, the Program Portal provides underwriters and managers with a real-time overview of their bordereaux, as well as any pending tasks and activities. Regarding security, Portal administrators are able to authorize, manage and control user access to all programs and risks.
Mendix provides a very fast implementation platform and excellent support
Most of the application design and development was done by non-technical people. “Application development was a collaborative effort, and I worked closely with three Mendix business consultants,” says Augur. “I also relied on two Arch Re people for general business requirements, and two program experts for client-oriented input and feedback.”
Although there were no critical deadlines to meet, “we did have project targets, which we set and had no problem keeping,” says Augur. “Development started in November 2008 and we went live in February 2009. While it is too early to provide a full evaluation report on the business, financial and technical benefits of using Mendix and developing this portal, what I can say is that I am pleased with the end-product, the platform and the team used to build it.”
Augur cites two reasons for this: “The application implementation cycle with the Mendix platform is the fastest I have experienced in my more than seven years in various IT projects. You can take a business idea or application change and realize it much more quickly with this platform. Equally important to the project were the Mendix consultants I worked with. They were very quick studies, and could easily apply business concepts they’d just been introduced to later challenges. Furthermore, they would think through all the ways the Mendix platform could be leveraged to address our needs.”
“The application implementation cycle with the Mendix platform is the fastest I have experienced in my more than seven years in various IT projects. You can take a business idea or application change and realize it much more quickly with this platform.”
- Philip Augur, Chief Operations Officer at Arch Re Facultative
