2 October 2006
Advisen Ltd
Strategic Partnership with Web Connectivity
Advisen Ltd. (“Advisen” or “the Company”), the leading provider of exposure and market data, analytics, and benchmarking to the global commercial insurance industry, and Web Connectivity Ltd. (“Web Connectivity”), the foremost provider of standards-based XML messaging Gateway solutions for the commercial insurance industry, are pleased to announce a strategic partnership.
Web Connectivity’s Gateway is allowing commercial insurance organisations to enable a greater efficiency in the end to end Insurance process. The Gateway also enables the implementation of the London market reform agenda and allows organisations to drive down the cost of doing business in the London market.
Under the terms of the partnership, Advisen will licence and also distribute the Gateway software (including customer support). Advisen is headquartered in New York and will be Web Connectivity’s exclusive partner in North America and Bermuda. Having opened offices in London, Advisen will also help Web Connectivity grow in Europe.
Web Connectivity’s Gateway solutions are for clients who need to exchange business data as well as documents using the ACORD Reinsurance and Large Commercial (RLC) and ACORD Document Repository Interface (DRI) standards respectively. These immediately-available solutions include EnabledB2B, a complete messaging Gateway and EnabledR2R, a messaging Gateway for documents only.
“Aon selected Web Connectivity as one of its preferred solution providers to enable Aon’s Clients and Markets to connect to the Aon Gateway,” said Ian Summers, Director of Change Strategy for Aon Ltd. “Web Connectivity’s Gateway product and integration expertise has proven to work, and their knowledge of the ACORD standards has assisted greatly during implementations.”
Mason Power, Managing Director, Advisen Europe commented: “Others have produced electronic trading systems to help the industry reform. To date, the market has not embraced those products. Web Connectivity is not about replacing anyone’s process or systems – it is about enabling existing systems to talk to each other in a standardised and agreed format, ACORD.
“With a blue chip client list, Web Connectivity has the best products available. Its solutions have been proven to work for brokers and carriers for the transfer of documents and business messages in support of submissions, claims and closing details.
“Our clients’ goal is to deliver a higher level of service to their customers and to adhere to the principles of contract certainty and this partnership will provide more tools to help achieve that goal.”
Tom Ruggieri, CEO of Advisen said: “Insurance professionals have always been excellent negotiators, but the closing process has historically been hampered by the lack of appropriate technology. Advisen’s partnership with Web Connectivity will help transform the end to end process including pre-placement, submission, closing and servicing of claims. The combined offering will increase transparency and efficiency and help insurance professionals make better-informed decisions.”
James Willison, Managing Director of Web Connectivity, commented: “Web Connectivity is very excited by the partnership with Advisen. We have delivered operational messaging gateways to London Insurance Market clients and we are now looking to develop our client base outside of the London Market to any organisation wishing to send and receive electronic data using international standards. We look forward to working closely with Advisen in this respect.”
Further information, please contact:
Mason Power, Advisen Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)7809 143 620, e-mail: mpower@advisen.com
James Willison, Web Connectivity Ltd
Tel: +44 (0)20 7264 2188, e-mail: James.willison@webconnectivity.co.uk
Peter Rigby/Alexandra Parry, Haggie Financial
Tel: +44 (0)20 7417 8989
Notes to editors:
Advisen
Advisen Ltd. provides carriers, brokers, risk managers and other insurance professionals with an integrated analytics and information platform for insight to make key commercial insurance and risk management decisions. Over 40,000 insurance professionals use Advisen every day for news and insight into underwriting, marketing and purchasing commercial insurance. Advisen's web-based applications incorporate data, analytic tools and research on over 1.7 million global assureds and 80 industries.
Advisen clients gain higher value on the above information through analytic functions such as: benchmarking, work-up and submission templates, insurance program management, policy & law comparisons, loss & exposure analysis, corporate governance, financial metrics, news and significant litigation data.
Visit www.advisen.com or call +44 (0) 7809 143 620
Web Connectivity
Web Connectivity, launched in 2003, focuses primarily on enabling companies to exchange structured and/or unstructured information using ACORD data and messaging standards. Its EnabledB2B Gateway allows instant communication with other parties using the ACORD Messaging Framework, and the Reinsurance and Large Commercial (“RLC”) and Document Repository Interface (“DRI”) standards. A winner of multiple awards by ACORD, Web Connectivity’s was the first platform to have been certified by ACORD for this combination of standards. Firms that only wish to transfer documents with other parties internally or with its clients or trading partners may use the EnabledR2R solution. For more information see the Company’s website at http://www.webconnectivity.co.uk