<strong>By: Celent's Michael Fitzgerald</strong>

<h2>Practical Steps Insurers Can Take to Respond</h2>

<strong>AM Best's prospective change to the company rating methodology to add an assessment of insurers’ innovation efforts is a significant signal that they consider innovation an intrinsic element of the strength and solvency of an insurer.</strong>

Recently Celent's Michael Fitzgerald released a new insight titled <strong><em><a href="https://www.celent.com/insights/687918918" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.celent.com/insights/687918918&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1560497990286000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGSDt9hQKJwQXVqHk4dO1sXsnLxvQ">Maximizing Your Score on the AM Best Innovation Assessment: Practical Steps Insurers Can Take to Respond</a>. </em></strong>In the research, Michael Fitzgerald, found AM Best states that they consider innovation a factor in the long term success of insurers. Going forward, assessing innovation capabilities will impact the rating of an insurer’s strength and solvency.

AM Best announced a prospective change to their company rating methodology to include an assessment of insurers’ innovation efforts. This is a significant signal that innovation is now mainstream and an expected way of doing business in the industry.

To help insurers prepare, this paper analyzes AM Best’s draft paper, Scoring and Assessing Innovation and identifies practical steps that can be taken to maximize their score.

"<em>This report outlines specific actions that insurers can take to respond effectively to the innovation assessment. Recommended actions are provided in the key areas of Leadership, Culture, Resources, and Processes/Structure</em>," says Michael Fitzgerald, a Senior Analyst with Celent's Insurance Practice.