Watchstone Group is a holding company with technology at its core.

Our businesses offer leading technology solutions primarily to the insurance, automotive and healthcare industries.

While we have a diverse portfolio, our operating businesses are unified by a set of shared commercial principles:

■We seek to anticipate change and we have the agility to exploit the dynamism of customer behaviour
■We invest in the people and technologies that will drive innovation and success in our markets
■We promote in-depth sector knowledge and experience as the starting point of value creation, and
■We strive for efficiency across our businesses through the optimal allocation of resources and good governance

                   

NEWS

26th Jan 2018 Pre-close trading update
11th May 2017 Prospective claim by Slater and Gordon
05th May 2017 Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016
27th Apr 2017 Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2016

VIDEO/AUDIO/PRESENTATIONS

May 2017 2016 Annual Report and Accounts
Jun 2016 Presentation-Results for the six months ended 30 June 2016
27th May Watchstone Audio Webcast-Financial Results
27th Jan Watchstone Group Outline Strategy

EVENTS

The 2017 Commercial Vehicle Show (CV Show)25th-27th April -UK (Hubio)
The Strategic Claims conference2nd March-UK (Hubio)
2017 Insurance-Canada.ca Technology Conference28th February-Canada (Hubio)
NRF's Annual Convention & EXPO (Retail's BIG Show)15th-17th January-USA (Tech Mahindra-Bronze sponsors/exhibitor)
2017 Commercial Vehicle Show25th-27th April-UK (Hubio Fleet-exhibitor)

WEBSITES




LINKS TO DEDICATED PAGES

pt Health
ingenie Updated 2nd June
Innocare Updated 2nd June

Usage based insurance (UBI): a game-changer for insurers

Telematics is here to stay. This transformational technology has the ability to change every aspect of the insurance value chain as we know it – and the innovation has already started. This train shows no signs of stopping, so it’s time to get on board…

So just how popular is this type of insurance?

According to a report by IHS Automotive, the number of consumer subscribers to UBI will reach 142 million globally by 2023, up from nearly 12 million in 2015. Currently, the US – the largest car insurance market in the world – leads the way with 5 million UBI policyholders in 2015, with markets in Italy and the UK coming in at a distant second and third. Activity continues to grow in France, Germany and Spain but unfamiliarity with the product and privacy concerns – especially in Germany – are still inhibiting its growth from a niche-like solution.

One particular area of growth for UBI is that of connected cars, which by nature will be synced with telematics, behaviour and insurance tracking, vehicle health and diagnostics.

The benefits of UBI

Through its use of real-time information on both where and, now crucially, how someone has driven, UBI offers numerous benefits to insurers and customers alike.

For consumers, it offers them the chance to have a direct impact on the price of their insurance premium. It will also provide faster accident assistance and support should an incident occur. However, research has shown that the use of telematics actually drives down the number of accidents as well as their severity.

For insurers, UBI means improved risk selection, reduced claim handling costs by around 55%, efficient fraud detection and ever-increasing customer interaction – which, in turn, will help boost both retention and brand loyalty.

Our end-to-end UBI solution with EIS (Enterprise Insurance Solution) provides actionable insights on your customer and their vehicle, which enables insurers to support relevant customer engagement, positioning your organisation as the driver’s trusted companion – a powerful value-add which has not before been possible. This collection of data, analytics and vehicle diagnostics works together to keep your brand front-of-mind, whilst encouraging safer driver behaviour thus reducing the risk of claims.

Who’s driving adoption?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s millennials, the digital natives, who have been at the forefront of UBI adoption. Recent research by Towers Watson revealed millennials were more willing to participate in UBI by downloading a new app or using an existing one when compared to other age groups, with 92% versus 81% and 88% versus 81%, respectively. What’s more, the research revealed that 72% of this digitally-savvy generation actually prefer this type of insurance to traditional premium calculator factors, such as location and age.

What are the potential problems facing insurers?

While the UK may have one of the most mature UBI markets in Europe, it is believed they currently account for only 2-3% of motor insurance policies. One of the biggest obstacles insurers face is overcoming consumer privacy and data ownership concerns. While technological advancements are generally seen in a positive light, there will be questions to be answered in terms of how data is collected and shared.

While younger drivers are incentivised by the premium savings, not all consumer groups see this as a motivation to switch. In order to increase further UBI adoption, insurers must appeal to all consumer groups by offering more personalised and innovative services and offers such as vehicle health and diagnostics. Only then will we begin to see mass adoption, soaring customer retention and a real change in the insurance game.

Find out more

Why not come and chat through the potential issues, and opportunities, that UBI raises with the Hubio team? We’ll be at the TINtech Insurance Network Technology Conference on 14 June 2016.

ingenie’s data technology at the core of ANWB Road Safety Initiative in the Netherlands
June 13, 2016/in Company News


ingenie has signed a 5 year licence agreement with ANWB, The Royal Dutch Touring Club that takes a substantial step towards improving road safety in the Netherlands.

Developed with its insurance subsidiary, Unigarant, ANWB’s Safe Driving Scheme will reward safer drivers with much more affordable insurance with discounts of up to 30%.

ingenie’s suite of data analytics and advanced algorithms developed over millions of driver miles have already been customised for the Dutch market for ANWB as part of a pre-launch pilot. This technology is core to the proposition, providing a clear picture of how the customer is driving, which is delivered via a smartphone based app to drivers. Customers receive a driving score and regular advice and feedback on how they can improve their driving behaviour. Good driving is rewarded with quarterly discounts of up to 30% over the year.

ingenie will provide its scoring, analytics, process design and telematics technology expertise, whilst Unigarant will provide all the insurance administration for ANWB’s insurance brand.

Cara Hurlock, Chief Customer Officer of ingenie’s B2B division, said: “Our experience in the UK market shows that relevant and engaging feedback together with a financial incentive improves driver behaviour and reduces the frequency of accidents. This scheme, is a significant step forward in improving road safety through the development of the mass market in telematics products.”

Frits van Bruggen, ANWB CEO said: “In building our capability, we were conscious that we had to have a credible partner, whose industry experience could accurately monitor and communicate driver behaviour. This measurement and conclusion will have a direct not only on road safety but an impact on the premiums drivers pay for their insurance. We are confident that ingenie base algorithms are the strongest in the Industry today.”

Watchstone Group plc CEO Indro Mukerjee added: “We are delighted that ANWB has chosen ingenie’s technology and business model as the core enabler for its new telematics-led Safe Driving Scheme and we look forward to helping ANWB grow this new business line.”

To find out more about ANWB’s Safe Driving Scheme, delivered using ingenie’s technology, please visit their website.

To find out more about ingenie, please visit www.ingenie.com.

14 June 2016
Watchstone Group plc
("Watchstone" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Approval of the Settlement of Navseeker litigation

Further to its announcement on 5 March 2015, Watchstone (LON:WTG) confirms that it has now received the approval of the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware USA ("Court"), in respect of the settlement of litigation in respect of Navseeker Inc ("Navseeker"), a subsidiary of Hubio Solutions Limited (formerly Himex Limited)("HSL"). HSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company.

The approval of the Court concludes the agreement of terms with the Plaintiffs for the settlement of litigation (Laurence Baker, et al. v. Hassan Sadiq, et al. and NavSeeker, Inc. C.A. No. 9464-VCL, Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware USA)("Litigation") and the associated acquisition of 11.67 per cent. of Navseeker not already held by the Company. The settlement has been made without admission of liability. The Company has been advised that the Plaintiffs' claims had no merit and the Litigation was being strenuously defended. However, given the alternative of an expensive and protracted continuation of US based litigation, the Board has determined that settlement is the best course of action in the circumstances. Notwithstanding the Board's belief in the strength of its defence to the Litigation, its outcome would still have been subject to the usual uncertainty that is an inherent part of any civil litigation.

Given the time that has elapsed since the provisional agreement of the settlement detailed on 5 March 2015 ("Proposed Settlement"), the Company has agreed, and the Court has approved, to a change to the Proposed Settlement. The Company will now settle the Litigation and acquire the shares in Navseeker held by the Plaintiffs and any other participating minority shareholder for a total contribution from the Company, HSL and/or the Individual Defendants and/or their insurance carriers of US$2.75 million in cash and will not now issue any shares in the Company as part settlement ("Approved Settlement").

Instead of issuing 684,770 pre-consolidation new ordinary shares of 15p each with accrued capital return proceeds of approximately £616,293 ("Settlement Shares") pursuant to the Proposed Settlement, the Approved Settlement replaces the issue of the Settlement Shares with an increase of US$1 million in cash (included in the US$2.75 million in cash detailed above).

http://otp.investis.com/clients/uk/watchstone_group/rns/regulatory-story.aspx?cid=1338&newsid=740215

From today at the TINtech event:

Hubio Group ‏@hubiogroup · 12 hours ago

Today's the day! Our CEO, Indro Mukerjee, is about to take the stage to open this year's conference

Hubio Group ‏@hubiogroup · 4 hours ago

#TINtech Indro Mukerjee, CEO Watchstone Group plc chairs today's final panel #insurtech @Aon_plc @HiscoxUK @MerttsR




twitter- Hubio Insurance
twitter- Hubio Group
twitter- Hubio Automotive

Industry appears ready to embrace InsurTech at TINtech 2016

TINtech 2016 was an unmissable event for us at Hubio. Usage-Based Insurance (UBI) and enterprise technologies are at the heart of our solutions, meaning that the key themes of the day were highly relevant and topical. As such, it was a privilege for us to actively participate in this year’s conference, with our CEO, Indro Mukerjee, chairing the opening keynotes and closing panel sessions and our Insurance Strategy Director, Neil Thomson chairing the panel discussion on The ‘Internet of Things’ Revolution.

The day’s discussions around how technology is driving strategic change in the industry and enabling business processes were attended by some 300 senior insurance executives, instilling confidence in our understanding that the market is ready to address and embrace the transformations that are becoming inevitable.

The challenge of IoT

It was inspiring to see some excellent interaction from attendees, particularly during the Internet of Things (IoT) debate, chaired by our very own Neil Thomson, who said:

“The challenge of IoT is understanding the consumer proposition.”

This is something we take seriously at Hubio and have worked hard to achieve. Prioritising the needs and behaviours of consumers is of increasing importance for the market, which stood out for us at the conference. Attendees were undoubtedly intrigued by the industry fast becoming able to connect more and more with its customers on levels which have not been previously achievable, in a way that isn’t instrusive and brings value to the customer.

That’s why we have created our Enterprise Insurance Suite (EIS) – a modular, easy to integrate insurance software that is designed to help you better connect with your customers.

Once you have tackled this question of understanding consumer propositions, the next is how IoT can empower your solutions. In a market of increasing connectivity, opportunities are constantly arising to enhance the collaboration between consumer, broker, agents and regulatory agencies. On this point, visitors to our stand on the day were keen to find out more about our insurance management system, with some fantastic discussions around our connected incident management capabilities.

Proactively embracing change

In addition to the questions raised at our stand, the conference itself was filled with thought-provoking debates and productive questions from an engaged audience, which we found reassuring.

Hubio CEO, Indro Mukerjee commented: “I was struck by how the industry is proactively embracing change, with an enlightened and not enforced approach. Vibrant discussions arose around the fact that many companies in the industry have learned to instinctively handle mixed mode relationships – being partners one minute and competitors another.”

The lasting impression of the day was the strong feeling of an industry determined to change and action faster – implement faster, succeed faster, fail then correct faster and generally learn faster.

We would like to thank the presenters, panel members, organisers and all participants who helped to make this a successful and useful event.

TINtech conference 2016 – “Insurance an industry ripe for change”
June 21, 2016 in Company News

Indro Mukerjee, Watchstone Group plc CEO, chaired the 2016 TINtech conference.

With some 300 senior insurance executives gathered to hear about how technology is driving strategic change in the industry and enabling business processes, it was an opportunity for the Hubio team to engage face-to-face with key stakeholders and influencers from the industry.

Read our CEO’s summary here.

Might as well highlight the The Insurance Network article too:

Chairman’s summary from Indro Mukerjee, CEO, Watchstone Group plc

It was a privilege to participate in this year’s TINtech conference and all the more so to chair the opening keynotes and closing panel sessions. With some 300 senior insurance executives gathered to hear about how technology is driving strategic change in the industry and enabling business processes, it was a really valuable to be invited to do this as a relative newcomer to the industry.



There were some 25 expert speakers and panellists and, with some excellent interaction from attendees, a number of thought provoking debates were sparked. These ranged from the revolution through digital technologies, to how the London Market would be transformed all the way to the industry being able to connect more and more with its customers.

I was struck by how the industry is proactively embracing change, with an enlightened and not enforced approach. Vibrant discussions arose around the fact that many companies in the industry have learned to instinctively handle mixed mode relationships – being partners one minute and competitors another. It was also pleasing as to how open people were to talk about their challenges.

My lasting impression of the day was the strong feeling of an industry determined to change and action faster – implement faster, succeed faster, fail then correct faster and generally learn faster.

I would like to thank the presenters, panel members, organisers and all participants who helped to make this a successful and useful event.

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

BEACH POINT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP increased their holding from
4,388,824 to 4,895,099 (10.68%), completed 22 JUNE 2016.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5365967

Feature in The Insurance Post June 2016 – “The Enabler”

Indro Mukerjee, Watchstone Group plc CEO, is on the cover of this month’s Insurance Post Magazine. His interview with editor Jonathan Swift is featured in the magazine and online.



Read the interview on Post Online here.

or from Post 51 onwards

Broker Forecast - Peel Hunt issues a broker note on Watchstone Group Plc
30 June 2016 | 08:20am

StockMarketWire.com - Peel Hunt today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Watchstone Group Plc [LON:WTG] and raised its price target to 315p (from 250p).

http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5369742/Broker-Forecast-Peel-Hunt-issues-a-broker-note-on-Watchstone-Group-Plc.html

http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/shares-search-results/w/watchstone-group-plc-ordinary-10p/broker-forecasts

Forgot it was the AGM today:

Annual General Meeting: 10:00 am on 30 June 2016

http://www.watchstonegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Final-Notice-of-Annual-General-Meeting.pdf

MAM news service (cough!) is playing up again.......

30 June 2016
Watchstone Group plc
("Watchstone" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Result of AGM


Watchstone (LON:WTG) announces that all resolutions at its Annual General Meeting, held earlier today, were duly passed.

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5370101

Reminder of tonight's award event:



TELCA 2016 Business Person of the Year shortlist (The Energy Live Consultancy Awards)

Energy Live News is pleased to announce the shortlist for Business Person of the Year. The following people have been shortlisted:

Nick Proctor, Amber Energy

Chris Shaw, Business Advisory Service

Kelly Ivison, Exchange Utility-Winner

Emily Groves, Indigo Swan

Peter Kirkham, Smart Utility Management

Gerard Duggan, Utilitrack

James Longley, Utility Bidder

Graham Cooke, Zenergi

The winner will be announced on 30th June at the awards ceremony held at the Honourable Artillery Company.

http://www.energylivenews.com/telca-2016-shortlist/

https://twitter.com/hashtag/TELCA2016?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

**********************************************
Energy Live News ‏@EnergyLiveNews · 46m46 minutes ago @16:20 01/07/2016

The Business Person of the Year award went to the wonderful Kelly Ivison from @ExchangeUtility Congratulations!
***************************************************

Link to historic 'Shareholder information'

Shareholder information

The directors have been notified, or are aware of the following interests in the issued share capital of the company in respect of the shareholdings, and related holding percentages, of the following significant shareholders and directors of Watchstone Group plc as at 23 June 2016.

Major shareholder information

Name--------------------------------------------No. of Shares-------------------% Holding

Beach Point Capital Management LLP-----------4,895,099----------------------10.63%
M&G Investments (Prudential)------------------2,916,666-----------------------6.34%
Dialectic Capital Management LP----------------2,307,438-----------------------5.01%
Sand Grove Capital Management LLP-----------2,305,383-----------------------5.01%


Subtotal------------------------------------------12,424,586----------------------26.99%

Current total shares in issue 46,038,333 as at 24 May 2016 with none being held as treasury and 1.97% being held “not in public hands” i.e. held by directors, directors of subsidiaries, trustees of employee share schemes / pension funds or any other substantial shareholders (>10%).

Director information

Name---------------------------------------No. of Shares-------------------% Holding

Richard Rose--------------------------------100,000--------------------------0.22%
Indro Mukerjee-------------------------------50,550--------------------------0.11%
Mark Williams---------------------------------50,550--------------------------0.11%
Lord Howard of Lympne----------------------12,608-------------------------0.03%
David Currie-------------------------------------1950--------------------less than 0.01%

Subtotal---------------------------------------215,658-------------------less than 0.47%

http://www.watchstonegroup.com/investors/shareholder-information/

AGM 2016 product and business showcase
July 6, 2016/in Company News

On Thursday 30 June 2016, we held our Annual General Meeting at which all resolutions proposed were duly passed. Our product and business showcase held immediately after the AGM provided further interest and value to the attendees.

The event gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase our businesses’ greatest assets, our people and our products, and to connect with our shareholders. Employees from ptHealth/InnoCare, ingenie, Business Advisory Service (BAS) and Hubio presented their respective technologies in an interactive event.

PICTURES FROM LINK AT BOP (or here)


Heather Shantora, ptHealth and InnoCare CEO, engaged enthusiastically with shareholders and discussed the opportunities to simplify and digitise clinic administration through the InnoCare software and the continual improvements the clinic business is making.

Representing ingenie was Mark Sterritt who showcased the platform that underpins ingenie’s telematics offering. Since launch in 2011, the brand has grown a policyholder base of approx. 40,000 young drivers, collected 600 million miles of driving data, amassed deep expertise and built models with 200 algorithms to deliver a successful usage-based insurance program. Our recently launched B2B proposition has already won a five-year contract with ANWB, the Royal Dutch Touring Club, as its first customer.

From Hubio, Andrew Betteley, Neil Thomson and Louise Robertson were present to demonstrate a beta version of the fleet dashboard, the connected car platform and discuss our Enterprise Insurance Suite activities. Following on from the TU Auto and TINtech conferences and increased marketing activities, Hubio is increasing its profile in the industry and becoming a more established brand having initiated extensive discussions with potential customers.

Andy Blake from BAS described our energy brokerage business which provides added value energy procurement and consultancy services and he also showcased the OpenView platform. OpenView allows UK companies to run multiple energy tenders by inviting suppliers to tender for their gas and power within an agreed live “auction” window.

The level of interaction and interest generated around our businesses was very encouraging. At the core of our businesses are people and products and we are pleased to have been able to share the development of both with our shareholders.

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARES

BEACH POINT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP have increased from 5,059,560 to 5,139,560 which equates to 11.16%, completed 05 JULY 2016.

http://www.iii.co.uk/research/LSE:WTG/news/item/2027264/holdings-company?context=LSE:WTG

Link to historic 'Shareholder information'

Shareholder information

The directors have been notified, or are aware of the following interests in the issued share capital of the company in respect of the shareholdings, and related holding percentages, of the following significant shareholders and directors of Watchstone Group plc as at 07 July 2016.

Major shareholder information

Name--------------------------------------------No. of Shares-------------------% Holding

Beach Point Capital Management LLP-----------5,139,560----------------------11.16%
M&G Investments (Prudential)------------------2,916,666-----------------------6.34%
Dialectic Capital Management LP----------------2,307,438-----------------------5.01%
Sand Grove Capital Management LLP-----------2,305,383-----------------------5.01%


Subtotal------------------------------------------12,669,047----------------------27.52%

Current total shares in issue 46,038,333 as at 24 May 2016 with none being held as treasury and 1.97% being held “not in public hands” i.e. held by directors, directors of subsidiaries, trustees of employee share schemes / pension funds or any other substantial shareholders (>10%).

Director information

Name---------------------------------------No. of Shares-------------------% Holding

Richard Rose--------------------------------100,000--------------------------0.22%
Indro Mukerjee-------------------------------50,550--------------------------0.11%
Mark Williams---------------------------------50,550--------------------------0.11%
Lord Howard of Lympne----------------------12,608-------------------------0.03%
David Currie-------------------------------------1950--------------------less than 0.01%

Subtotal---------------------------------------215,658-------------------less than 0.47%

http://www.watchstonegroup.com/investors/shareholder-information/

General news relating to the hubio/Mahindra collaboration:

Mahindra to develop range of autonomous electric vehicles
by Sam Sheehan
5 July 2016
http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/mahindra-develop-range-autonomous-electric-vehicles

Port in a Storm
July 7, 2016

For many Canadian insurers, particularly for mutuals, it all started on the farm. Mutuals, and even insurers focused on other markets, count farm insurance as an important part of their businesses.

However, over the years, as the country urbanized, and as other insurance markets grew, farm insurance shrunk in numbers and in priority.

While automobiles, new homes and new businesses have increased over time, the number of farms has decreased. This has had an impact on investments in insurance technology, with broker connectivity and portal solutions provider Hubio reporting that farm business has received less new technology than the more commoditized personal lines products, in which automation could be more easily replicated.

Farms have historically not received the same level of technology investment, Hubio notes. As a result, farms and agribusiness customers can face slower processing times to get new business quotes, incur delays in getting answers to their insurance questions, experience lags in updating their policies and renewals, and may see potential inaccuracies as a result of human errors.

***Full article from link below***

Hubio ranked second in new global UBI study of leading global telematics service providers

We are excited to have been named by PTOLEMUS Consulting Group as a leading global telematics service provider, ranking second in their dongle category and 3rd in Worldwide OBD dongle UBI Supplier.

PTOLEMUS used data and insight from the UBI Global Study, launched earlier this year, to calculate their UBI Supplier Rankings. The industry reference document comes with a Global Supplier and Markets Handbook, profiling the strengths and weaknesses of 38 telematics service providers, 14 technology providers and 16 mobile UBI service providers.

The rankings were built from a large variety of market-specific criteria across each distinct supplier category. The list of criteria is detailed in the ranking presentation, available to download here.

Thomas Hallauer, Research Director at PTOLEMUS commented: “The current market evolution confirms PTOLEMUS’ prediction of a growing diversity of devices used to collect driving and accident data, which creates opportunities, notably in the nascent smartphone UBI market.”

Device- and platform- agnostic UBI

We have developed our Hubio telematics platform such that it is capable of capturing and processing data points from any connected measuring device including OBD dongles, fixed black boxes and smartphone applications. This enables us to offer flexible telematics solutions with advanced driver behaviour analytics to insurers, so that they can configure the most appropriate UBI solution for their target market.

The very same robust and scalable core technology has been further developed into the Hubio Fleet solution, due to be released in Q3 2016. This platform uses OBD dongles and fixed black boxes to provide commercial vehicle fleet operators real-time location data across their fleet. We are also extending the same driver behaviour analysis that has been successful in UBI to Fleet, enabling operators to measure and coach their drivers to effectively reduce risks and improve fleet performance.

“This growing diversity of devices means the Hubio offering of a device- and platform- agnostic UBI solution is especially significant,” says Andrew Betteley, Hubio’s CTO of Connected Car. “Hubio solutions can be integrated with common databases and computer systems, making it ideal for the requirements of small, midsize and large insurers.”

Compete in a challenging market

Our UBI solutions create further opportunities for an insurer to effectively compete in an increasingly challenging market. Insurers wishing to run the solution as a pilot project can gain immediate telematics experience supported by our customer service team.

The solution is available to auto insurers, rental car companies, leasing companies, telematics service providers, telecommunication providers and telematics hardware providers.

“The PTOLEMUS study recognises that Hubio builds market-leading UBI solutions enabled by an unsurpassed global team that combines the talents of renowned insurance experts with the industry’s brightest technology innovators“, says Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Watchstone Group plc and founding CEO of Hubio.

Watch our video below to find out more about our end-to-end UBI solution: