September 29, 2023

An Interview with Acturis Co-CEO Theo Duchen: Why did we acquire Broker Buddha?

We sat down with Theo Duchen at Acturis to dig a little deeper into why they chose Broker Buddha, and their vision for our shared future. 

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At Broker Buddha, we recently announced some exciting news—our acquisition by insurance technology solutions provider Acturis

While Broker Buddha will continue to operate as usual and become part of Acturis’ portfolio, we thought you’d like to know their side of the story. So, we sat down with Theo Duchen at Acturis to dig a little deeper into why they chose Broker Buddha, and their vision for our shared future. 

So, let’s get started.

Jason: What attracted Acturis first to work with Broker Buddha?

Theo: Firstly, we love the innovative platform. It plays a vital role in driving broker efficiency while delivering a superior and digitally-enhanced customer experience. Following that, user feedback has been great. It’s impressive to hear what a positive impact it’s had on reducing the amount of administrative tasks for agents while making quotes and renewals a stress-free experience for everyone. This favorable response confirmed that Broker Buddha would be an ideal partner for our collaboration and expansion. 

Jason: What are the synergies you would describe between Acturis and Broker Buddha?

Theo: We’ve spearheaded broker-carrier connectivity in several markets and our streamlined processes help brokers manage their tasks and responsibilities productively. 

Alongside this, Broker Buddha offers a fantastic outlet to boost client engagement and optimize their experience through efficient tools such as interactive smart forms that allow brokers and their clients to assign questions along with their natively integrated eSignature capabilities. Bringing these together allows a world-class customer and broker experience.

Jason: In your view, what are some of the biggest challenges in the insurance industry right now?

Theo: Customers have always valued the expertise and advice that an insurance broker can offer. But now, they also expect choice, speed, a digital experience, and convenience. However, much of the traditional infrastructure makes this arduous work for an insurance broker, delaying and reducing customer options. 

At Acturis, we play an important role in providing brokers with the right tools to deliver the optimal experience that customers want and deserve. We constantly assess trends in the market and when we identify challenges, we make sure we have a solution.

Jason: How do you see this acquisition having a wider impact on the insurance industry?

Theo: Starting out in the UK, and expanding globally in France, Germany, and Canada, we have a proven track record of bringing increased connectivity to each region we’ve entered. That’s why we see a huge opportunity to make life better for US brokers and customers through digital tools. Our partnership with Broker Buddha is the perfect chance to start bringing our expertise and experience to the US market, enhancing the daily lives of insurance brokers and their customers. 

Jason: What aspects of Broker Buddha is Acturis most excited to see developed?

Theo: We’re strong promoters of streamlining the insurance application process and staunchly oppose the idea of re-keying any information. As such, we’re excited about the gradual integration of Broker Buddha to a wide range of new AMS platforms. This will free up a significant amount of brokers’ time leaving them to spend it with clients, sharing their expertise and knowledge.  

We’ve always adopted an open approach to APIs as they allow agents to access multiple carriers' systems from a single interface meaning they can retrieve various products with varying coverage options and pricing. This provides agents with up-to-date information on products, rates, and underwriting guidelines and ensures an efficient customer experience which is more likely to attract and retain clients. Due to these benefits, our partnership with Broker Buddha and expanding our software integration with more carrier platforms is appealing to all parts of the insurance chain.

Jason: What are some key trends in the insurance industry to look out for in the future, and how will we see the Acturis acquisition of Broker Buddha feature in that?

Theo: We see three key trends emerging and growing pace across the industry: 

  • Digital connectivity between brokers and carriers
  • Greater customer-broker digital experience 
  • Increasing use of data to enrich the insurance process 

Both Acturis’ and Broker Buddha’s platforms were designed with excellent digital data transfer and customer experience in mind.

Acturis is a market leader in Europe and Canada, and through our new partnership with Broker Buddha, we plan to use our expertise to support Broker Buddha’s continued innovation. This will secure our spots as industry leaders in broker-carrier digital collaboration.

Jason: What are the long-term goals of Acturis and Broker Buddha?

Theo: We’d like to expand our leadership in transforming the traditional insurance landscape through greater connectivity and interfaces between customers, brokers, and carriers. Clearly, this will not happen overnight, but the benefits of a connected world are too great to ignore. Through this acquisition and partnership, just as in other markets, we expect to see significant progress.

If you’d like to learn how Broker Buddha’s various services and solutions can benefit your agency, take a look at our range of client testimonials

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