Tackling Multinational Risk with Tech

In 2020, Nationwide joined with Generali Global Corporate & Commercial to form N2G, which specializes in multinational insurance coverage. Why did Nationwide want to engage with Generali?

Generali was looking for a strong partner to help support its own global clients, based outside of the United States, with corresponding risk needs in the United States. Generali has maintained a presence in the United States over a very long period of time but sought to enhance its capabilities to support all of its clients in all 55 U.S. jurisdictions across lines of business. At the same time, Nationwide and its own clients had corresponding risk needs outside of the United States. So when Generali came knocking, Nationwide was in a unique position to say, “Yes, we have an equal but opposite need outside of the United States.” Thus the formation of N2G to support U.S.–domiciled multinational companies with their risk needs, and then to support Generali clients around the world with their own needs in the United States, focused exclusively on commercial clients for traditional property and casualty lines of business. So we’re able to serve clients in over 180 countries and territories.

What are the leading trends today in providing multinational insurance coverage?

Economic uncertainty has remained a key theme really over the past 15 years. And while the economy in most markets has improved, it’s remained less than stable. Certainly the stability of geopolitics has remained a concern for most of our clients as well. Economic uncertainty, continued labor shortages, and the impact of tariffs and trade agreements have caused our clients to think long and hard about where their risks are located and what risks may be generated as a result of those risk locations.

What are N2G’s leading challenges in covering clients?

The very quick adoption of artificial intelligence, how that impacts everything within organizations, and how does that play into cybersecurity and implications on their employee populations, as well as threat actors. I think what has changed really is the rapidity of change.

How does the N2G approach differ from traditional multinational insurers?

It really comes down to our ability to leverage our technology. Not only do we benefit from the technological infrastructures of Nationwide, a company that’s been around for almost 100 years, and Generali, a company that’s been around for nearly 200 years, but our own custom-built, global-oriented, technology platforms. The technology employed by N2G is almost second to none. It allows for quick risk-decisioning by our underwriting teams, and it allows for better transparency, both from an underwriting perspective—on how we’re thinking about a particular risk, how we’re structuring our risk solutions—as well as ultimately how we’re communicating, not only with the client and the broker, but with our offices around the world.

What can you tell me about the need for accurate global exposure mapping?

Many of our clients have had to rethink their supply chains and their delivery chains in a very uncertain economic and geopolitical environment. Many of the countries where these services can be provided and where these raw materials can be sourced perhaps lack infrastructure. They lack some of the building codes that we may find in more industrialized parts of the world. And that creates additional risk from a stability perspective. But also: How quickly can we rebuild in the event of a fire? If there’s a product liability loss, are there medical facilities available for us to help an injured party or an injured worker get back to health and ultimately get back to work and being productive?

Global exposure mapping allows us to help clients plan [and] put risk solutions and insurance solutions in place in the local jurisdictions in which they’re operating, and ultimately develop a response team around those local operations.