ISO To Develop Analytic Products
3/1/2005
National Underwriter Life & Health

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) announced that it has formed an independent division to develop new analytic solutions and enhance existing products and services for professionals who classify and evaluate risk and detect fraud.

ISO Innovative Analytics (IIA), with offices in San Francisco and Jersey City, N.J., will concentrate on new product development, focusing initially on analytic solutions for insurance underwriting, claims and rating, said Jersey City-based ISO.

IIA is currently developing underwriting predictive modeling analytics for personal auto, workers' compensation and homeowners lines of insurance, as well as predictive models for claims, ISO said.

Daniel Finnegan, president of ISO's Quality Planning Corporation subsidiary based in San Francisco, will lead the new unit, ISO said. Vice President Christopher Perini will oversee projects, manage market and customer research, and coordinate IIA activities throughout the company.

Our new division brings together a diverse team of innovative professionals with advanced qualifications in actuarial science, statistics, mathematics, econometrics, operations research, marketing, data modeling and decision theory, said Frank J. Coyne, ISO's chairman, president and chief executive officer. Companies in many fields, including insurance, finance, health care and real estate, are turning to predictive scores and analyticsósimpler but more powerful tools to help make underwriting decisions and adjudicate claims.

Analytics uses statistical analysis to discover relationships and predict outcomes, ISO explained. Companies in the insurance industry and other industries are using analytics to reduce expenses and make more profitable decisions.