Who is PURE?

Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) is a policyholder-owned insurer dedicated to creating an exceptional experience for responsible high net worth individuals and families. They provide customizable coverage throughout the U.S for high-value homes, automobiles, jewelry, art, personal umbrella liability, watercraft, and flood.

PURE was founded by some of the most knowledgeable and experienced professionals in insurance to challenge the industry’s conventional thinking. They recognized that policyholder-owned companies consistently delivered the greatest value and customer satisfaction.

Further, they saw that the leading specialist companies could offer broader coverage and more personalized service.

PURE combines both of these into a world-class consumer experience.

PURE: Tokio Marine Partnership

In 2019, PURE and Tokio Marine announced the sale of Privilege Underwriters, Inc (PUI), the parent company for the attorney-in-fact managing the reciprocal exchange on behalf of PURE members, which would become a division under Tokio Marine’s HCC Insurance Holdings, Inc. PURE’s CEO, Ross Buchmueler continues to operate PURE and execute his vision for a holistic risk advisory solution for members.

Tokio now brings a $200B balance sheet to help PURE execute on its strategic plan and can provide partnered solutions for additional insurance needs outside of private client property & casualty. This helps PURE expand its offerings without betting its financial security. 

In short: we love this partnership. It will help PURE achieve its next evolution within the industry without diluting service or gambling the reciprocal’s assets.

PURE Insurance – Value Proposition

Touting its reciprocal ownership structure, PURE emphasizes alignment of interests and transparency. As they put it: “our membership supports our objective to charge the right price — not the highest price the market will accept.”

Backed by equity partners Stonepoint, KKR, and XL Group,  PURE has a very low cost of capital and strong strategic partners which help it continue to be recognized as a great place to work and a well-run operation while maintaining great customer satisfaction (net promoter score over 70 each year).

Underwriting

In an era of unprecedented catastrophic losses, PURE carefully curates its members to assure the best risks are included in the reciprocal exchange. In addition, there is a focus on proactive risk management tools to help members prevent and manage loss exposure before it happens.

Investing heavily in loss prevention allows them to not only have great claims experiences but offer the most competitive pricing in the marketplace.

In recent years, PURE has been relatively unaffected by California wildfires and Texas floods, helping them underwrite to one of the best combined ratios in the insurance industry.

Innovative Product Development

While the basic principals behind insurance remain the same, the risks they must cover continually evolve. PURE has spearheaded a new generation of insurance products for successful families and high net worth individuals by being nimble and quick to market.

• They pioneered private client cybersecurity insurance with their Starling product
• PURE redefined umbrella liability limits by leveraging its reinsurance partnerships to reduce overhead and pass savings to its members
• They were one of the first to offer private residence equipment breakdown and include smart-home devices

While insurance can only go so far with its advancement, we are certain PURE will continue being at the head of the pack for years.

Private Client Focus

In some instances, it may be a detriment that PURE cannot be a one-stop shop for aviation, small commercial, and other needs common in the family office space. A more optimistic view is that this allows them to focus on their core strength and be the best in their niche.

A doubly optimistic view would be that PURE is not weighed down by managing a book of transactional automobile losses, commercial real estate slip-and-falls, or class actions suits against big businesses.

For now, we consider PURE’s niche focus to be a benefit. Time will tell if they will expand into other areas but smart money says “no”.