The reality of international insurers withdrawing coverage or exiting specific regions is not just speculative fiction—it’s happening now. In Louisiana, insurers have departed due to heightened storm and flood risks, while in California, wildfires have prompted similar actions. Even State Farm, a major insurer, is suspending new sales and opting not to renew some of…
I’ve had reasons to think about Nigeria recently, in general but also from an insurance market and acquisition environment. I’ve helped several investors looking at Nigerian insurers over the years. Familiarity with the market and the expectations of these investors has bred complexity rather than contempt. This isn’t an easy diagnosis of land of plenty…
I’m listening to a legal “true crime” podcast. Guilty-as-anything defendant keeps complaining about this error, this oversight, this unfair ruling. But the thing is, none of those things really mattered. They didn’t materially contribute to the guilty verdict. The judge can say, when refusing an appeal, that those are “harmless errors” in that they did…
I love analogies. As analogies go, many things are well approximated by the “toss of a coin”. Gender at birth is not. And it’s not for two reasons, only one of which you can probably guess. The sex ratio at birth is not 1 boy to 1 girl. As of 2017, according to World Bank…
“My voice is my password† and similar phrases have begun to be used for secure voice authentication for banks and health insurers and other critical services that require security and privacy. It’s likely that several of your own service providers will roll this out in the next couple of years. Progress, right? The problem is…
I walk my daughter to school many mornings. On the way up the hill, we play a game. I tell three stories and she has to tell me which is untrue. So far it’s clearly been too easy as she gets them every time. That’s okay, I still plan to beat her at Carcassonne someday.…
Life expectancy is one of those funny measures with a cavernous gap between those who think they understand it and those who do. The latest controversy arose a few days ago a year ago (this post has been in draft for a long time…) because Russia is planning to increase the normal retirement age from…
Is this blog dead? No, but you could be forgiven for thinking so. I will be posting a little more frequently than over the last year. That isn’t a high bar. Given the long silence, there are quite a few topics I’ve been thinking about and discussing with friends and colleagues. You’ll have to check…
