Theses
Strategies
ETFs
about volt
research & blog
Theses
INVESTMENT Strategies
TESL ETF
about volt
research & blog
Theses
Investment Strategies
etfs
about volt
research & blog
Theses
Investment Strategies
etfs
about volt
research & blog
Lemonade

Insurance, reimagined

The insurance industry is one of the largest and oldest industries in the world.

Insurance is an over-$5 trillion industry worldwide. As of October 2020, 2.83 million people work in insurance in the United States alone. And most insurance  companies are over one hundred years old (if not older), established during and/or shortly after the Industrial Revolution.

Problems with present day insurance

large workforce
Over 2.83 million employees in the US working in expensive brick-and-mortar buildings
old
Most companies are over 100 years old and have become complacent
Large industry
$5 trillion world-wide; 45 insurance companies in the Fortune 500
disliked
Customers are often frustrated with the claims process and doubt that their claims will be paid
Lacks innovation
Despite technological advances (Internet, AI, smartphones), insurance has changed very little

Insurance is ripe for disruption

Despite being a large, old, and disliked industry (elements that point to the need for change), insurance has undergone very little innovation, despite the arrival of the Internet, artificial intelligence, and smartphones.

Numerous “InsurTech” companies have arisen (Root, Policygenius, Next Insurance, Lemonade), but none have caused significant disruption...

...yet.

First Principles

How can these problems with insurance be solved from a first principles analysis?

“First principles is a physics way of looking at the world. And what that means is you boil things down to the most fundamental truths . . . and then reason up from there.”

Elon musk

consumer delight

Insurance should be driven by customer satisfaction. Delighted customers trust their insurance company and stay for the long-term.

data-driven + AI

Whichever company can acquire big data and use artificial intelligence (AI) well creates a competitive advantage.

Digitally native

Digital architecture reduces costs, while still creating excellent customer service and more efficient workflow.

Lemonade’s take on insurance

We believe Lemonade is taking on insurance in an innovative way.

Their approach to customer delight and digital architecture sets them up to disrupt the insurance industry.

1

Increasing customer delight through...

1.1 Behavioral economics

Behavioral Economics

Definition

Behavioral Economics is the study of psychology as it relates to the economic decision-making processes of individuals and institutions.

"Today’s insurance construct makes our peers invisible (strike 1) and casts our insurer as our adversary (strike 2). Lemonade’s insurance model changes both, eliminating the adversarial dynamic, realigning incentives, introducing transparency."

Lemonade CEO Daniel SchreiBER

“The Honest Truth About Dishonesty”

1.2 A Transparent flat fee

Insurance companies have an incentive to deny claims in order to boost profits. Lemonade’s transparent flat fee removes the incentive to deny claims since revenue is fixed.

1.3 charitable giving

Any leftover money is given to non-profits chosen by customers such as the American Red Cross, Teach for America, and UNICEF.
‍
Lemonade’s Giveback Program removes the incentive for customers to commit fraud because such actions would essentially be “stealing” money from their chosen charities.

2

Harnessing the Power of Big Data

Lemonade collects 100x more data points than traditional insurance companies when customers use their app. Lemonade uses a fully digital claims process. For example, when you make a claim, you take a video on your phone and explain what happened. Lemonade knows your location, the date/time, how long you took to fill out each part, whether you changed your answers, your tone of voice, facial expressions, any hesitation, and so many other small, but revealing data points.

Lemonade’s AI carefully analyzes your video submission for signs of fraud, especially non-verbal cues that traditional insurance companies cannot and do not collect since they do not use a fully digital claims process.

Lemonade’s Data Advantage

By using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning Lemonade continually improves their underwriting, gets better at detecting fraud (by analyzing videos sent in by claimants), and streamlines their internal workflow and customer interaction.

These continual improvements ultimately lower their loss ratios (a key metric for their success) and overall operating costs.

Data Integration

Lemonade’s use of AI and automation extends to their internal processes through their digital internal workflow manager, AI Cooper.

This allows for a level of data integration among departments that is not possible with traditional insurance companies where departments are siloed off from each other and rarely (if ever) communicate with each other.

3

Developing a Digital Platform

In terms of personnel and property, traditional insurance companies tend to still have large workforces that work out of expensive buildings in expensive cities. Even outside of big cities, traditional insurance companies tend to have agents in too many physical brick-and-mortar locations.

These are high costs that are no longer necessary in the 21st century with the Internet (and how easy it is to work from home), AI eliminating the need for rote human tasks, and widespread smartphone use.

AI Chatbots

AI Maya handles customer service and sign-ups, while AI Jim handles claims. By creating an excellent user interface (UI) and user experience (UX), Lemonade is able to:

‍
1. Streamline customer interactions
2. Process claims quickly (often in a matter of seconds)
3. Cut costs by needing to employ far less human employees/agents

AI Automation

AI automation allows Lemonade to do things other companies cannot easily do. For example, Lemonade's AI can automatically create fire and storm warnings based on NASA satellite data.

During the California Woolsey Fire and Camp Fire in 2018, Lemonade’s Project Watchtower was able to detect heat signatures allowing the Lemonade team to turn on their Catastrophe Response Procedure and form a war room to focus their energy on that area. They were able to relocate 71 families to safety.

first principles

Lemonade’s Tech Stack

Lemonade’s tech stack employs AI to streamline interactions with customers and within the company, allowing Lemonade to have far fewer employees than traditional insurance companies.

Lemonade estimates that competitors employ one person for every 150-450 customers, whereas Lemonade employs one person per ~3,000 customers.

Be a part of the Insurance Disruption.

Lemonade is harnessing the power of AI to delight their customers and rapidly gain market share. Explore how our Fintech Disruption Strategy aims to take advantage of these changes.

more about Our Strategy

©2021, Volt Equity (“Volt”). The content and proprietary research found on this site, unless stated otherwise, has been entirely produced by Volt. None of Volt’s proprietary content may be reproduced or referenced, in full or in part, in any other publication without the expressed written consent of Volt. The content should not be considered investment advice and is for educational purposes only. Content is subject to change without notice. Volt does not seek to solicit or offer any of its products or services to any persons to whom doing so would otherwise be prohibited under the laws applicable to their place of citizenship, domicile or residence.

Some of the content on this site may contain forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements related to future expectations, based on Volt’s current outlook and assumptions. However known and unknown risks and uncertainties may cause actual results to materially differ from what is expressed in such statements. Any and all subjective claims and statements made on this site regarding companies or securities are strictly the beliefs and views held by Volt and are in no way meant to be an endorsement by Volt of any company or security and nor is it meant to be a recommendation by Volt to buy, sell, or hold any security.

Past performance is no guarantee of future returns.

Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal capital. Unless otherwise noted, any performance returns presented in these materials reflect hypothetical performance. Hypothetical strategies and indices presented are unmanaged, do not reflect any fees, expenses, transaction costs, commissions or taxes, and one cannot invest directly in any of these. The results presented should not be viewed as indicative of the adviser’ skill and do not reflect the performance results that were achieved by any particular client. During this period, the adviser was not providing advice using any models mentioned and clients’ results may have been materially different. Hypothetical model results have many inherent limitations, some of which, but not all, are described herein. One of the limitations of hypothetical performance results is that they are generally prepared with the benefit of hindsight. In addition, hypothetical trading does not involve financial risk, and no hypothetical trading record can completely account for the impact of financial risk in actual trading.

While an option overlay is intended to improve performance, there is no guarantee that it will do so. Utilizing an option overlay strategy involves the risk that as the buyer of a put or call option, the buyer risks losing the entire premium invested in the option if the buyer does not exercise the option. Also, securities and options traded in over-the-counter markets may trade less frequently and in limited volumes and thus exhibit more volatility and liquidity risk.

The content on this site is not intended to serve as financial advice nor should it be the sole basis for any investment decisions. Volt does not purport to provide any legal, tax, or accounting advice. Investors should be aware of the inherent risks involved in investing in the markets and that past performance is not an indication of future results. Investors should also understand that there is no guarantee that Volt’s investment strategies or decisions will prove to be profitable. For full disclosures, please go to our Terms & Conditions page.