Thursday 08 August 2024 - Company news

The 2010s (part II) – becoming Tokio Marine HCC

The year 2015 was a year of ‘hellos’, and not just because of the lead single in Adele’s third studio album that topped charts globally. It was the year the Tokio Marine Group acquired HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. and we became the company we know and love today, Tokio Marine HCC.

50th news 1

On June 10, 2015, the Tokio Marine Group announced it had agreed to acquire HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc., at the time one of the largest specialty insurers in the world.  The Company’s limited catastrophe exposure and lack of dependency on the property and casualty market cycle, along with its diverse portfolio of over 100 classes of specialty insurance products, made HCC an ideal match for the Tokio Marine Group. Through its acquisition, HCC gained a larger international footprint to turbocharge its expertise on a global scale that could be supported by the strength and reputation of the Tokio Marine Group. HCC could now compete with the largest insurers in the world and start offering clients expanded coverage.

This new combination would enable Tokio Marine HCC to flourish despite the challenges of the latter half of the 2010s.   

Facing new challenges

In 2016, we launched our European cyber coverage to address evolving cyber threats and more sophisticated state-sponsored attacks, such as ransomware and phishing. High-profile breaches, such as those affecting Yahoo, Equifax and British Airways, served as stark reminders of the potential scale and cost of cyber incidents.

But much like the Chicago Cubs who broke a 108-year drought with a World Series championship in 2016, TMHCC was quick to adapt to a rapidly changing regulatory landscape too. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in the US and Solvency II, which was implemented EU-wide in January 2016, introduced stricter regulatory environments. Not afraid to be held to the highest regulatory standards, we affirmed our commitment to the European region by establishing Tokio Marine Europe. This move allowed TMHCC to provide the continent with better access to insurance products, drawing on existing expertise.

Pushing for innovation

This era was marked by huge technological developments, both in the insurance market and elsewhere: iPhone sales reached $61.57 billion in 2018, a nearly 90% increase from just four years before; TikTok was launched in 2017 and had over one billion downloads in just two years.  Artificial intelligence algorithms began to emerge; and the volume of data created worldwide increased from approximately 15 zetabytes in 2015 to 41 zetabytes in 2019.

While insurers are often perceived as more conventional than other players in the financial services industry, they too embraced these new technologies as the Insurtech market boomed. By 2018, the sector had grown to $5.89 billion and continues to expand today, forecasted to reach $8.63 billion in 2024.

TMHCC was at the forefront of technological adoption when it established its Business Innovation Department in 2019. The team facilitates investment in operational efficiencies, customer experience and digital innovation to capture the cutting-edge technologies in the industry. 

A changing world

Politics in the West during this period became dominated by two events – the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit referendum - and gave way to dramatic global economic volatility. These events highlighted the need for insurers to maintain robust investment portfolios and recession-proof business strategies, while continuing to offer products meeting the needs of the market.

We were once again leading the way. This period saw AM Best upgrade its rating of TMHCC to A++ (superior) as gross written premiums reached almost $5 billion and headcount grew to over 3,000 employees by the end of the decade.

During the second half of the 2010s, TMHCC made numerous acquisitions to respond to these changing times. Producers Agriculture Insurance Company, a US crop insurance company, was acquired in 2015.  OnCall International, another service for TMHCC’s travel clients, was acquired in 2016. Expanding their product line for HCC Life Insurance Company, Medical Stop Loss and Organ Transplant coverages began to be written.  With the acquisition of QDos Contractors in 2018, TMHCC expanded its offerings for bespoke coverage to UK contractors.  And finally, in 2019, TMHCC acquired NAS Insurance Services, a California underwriter with a leading expertise in cyber and professional lines coverage.

TMHCC’s strong overall performance resulted in recognition from the Tokio Marine Group through the added responsibility in overseeing Tokio Marine Group’s UK and European business.

This is where this chapter in the firm’s history comes to an end. Stay tuned for the final installment of our series celebrating 50 years of Tokio Marine HCC.

You can find more about our 50th Anniversary celebrations here or read our previous blog post here.