Q&A
with Vahe Simitian, SVP of Risk Management, Alexandria Real Estate Equities
Q: How did Archipelago impact your insurance renewal?
A: Right off the bat, the improved data quality created a positive impact by verifiably reducing my modeled results. This helped as a key driver of how insurers underwrite our account is their modeling of our EQ exposures in California and PNW. Beyond modeling impacts, my underwriters appreciated how easy it was to securely access my data via the platform and analyze changes and exposure drivers as our portfolio has an active development and acquisition pipeline. And having evidence links to verifiable sources helped further differentiate the quality of my assets and my commitment to risk management.
Q: What first motivated you to work with Archipelago?
A: Maintaining my property data was a cumbersome process, and I was looking for a solution to make it easier for me and my stakeholders in the business. Our properties are developed, acquired, and managed by decentralized regional teams. We were keeping all our data in share-files and using emails to gather updates. We spent a lot of time tracking down loose ends, updating spreadsheets, and manually checking to ensure the quality of the information.
Q: When did it become about more than just the efficiencies?
A: During Archipelago’s initial "discovery” process, I introduced the Archipelago team to others in my business, such as property managers, facilities engineers, due diligence teams, and also my CTO and Chief Operating Officer. I was quickly struck by Archipelago’s affinity to my properties and to the people on the ground. They were able to identify great sources of information about our assets that contained a wealth of information, and they demonstrated how this data could not only be more efficiently sourced and connected on their platform but how the insights from this data could improve the quality of my data and drive a more differentiated understanding of my risk.
Q: Where do you want to go next with Archipelago?
A: Given our positive experience with their Placement Module on platform, we’re now getting ready to roll out their Property Module, which will help me close the loop on data across my properties’ lifecycle. The design is fantastic and reflects the input I gave Archipelago on the requirements for this crucial module. Among other benefits, I’m looking to not only drive better insurance outcomes with my data but to better assess and improve the resiliency of our assets. Risk Management can be so much more proactive than just insurance, and this capability will help me create more value for the enterprise.
