Verisk Analytics (VRSK) Barclays 23rd Annual Global Financial Services Conference summary

Strategic transformation and focus

• Transitioned from a multi-industry to a pure-play insurance data and analytics provider, following the divestiture of the energy business and a strategic reset outlined in March 2023.

• Maintains a strong focus on supporting profitable underwriting in the insurance sector, leveraging advanced data and analytics.

• Continues to invest in product development and innovation, with a go-to-market approach centered on industry partnership.

• Upgrading ERP systems and finance tools, with benefits expected to materialize in 2025.

• Finance organization is evolving to be more forward-looking, enabling business agility and strategic planning.

Capital allocation and investment priorities

• Strong free cash flow and margins support a disciplined capital allocation framework focused on returns and insurance-only opportunities.

• Investments are directed toward technology, people, and internally developed software, with a near-complete migration to the cloud.

• Active in M&A, targeting businesses that are leaders in their fields, with a flexible approach to deal size and a focus on adjacencies like life insurance and specialty markets.

• Will return capital to shareholders via dividends and buybacks if attractive investment opportunities are not available; dividend increased by 15% this year.

• Buyback strategy combines a steady base with opportunistic repurchases.

M&A and international expansion

• M&A pipeline includes small, medium, and large targets, prioritizing best-in-class products and proven market leaders.

• Life insurance acquisition (FAST) accelerated growth from mid-single digits to over 20% CAGR, leveraging customer overlap and Verisk’s scale.

• International strategy focuses on platform acquisitions in the UK and Germany, building end-to-end workflow solutions and leveraging U.S. experience where applicable.

• Expansion outside the U.S. and Western Europe is customer-driven, with presence in APAC and global risk modeling through Extreme Event Solutions.