Global Reinsurance Leader Gen Re Validates Huami's PAI Health Assessment System for Life Insurance Underwriting

A recent white paper from Gen Re, the global reinsurance giant, shows that Huami Technology’s (NYSE: HMI) PAI health assessment system can be used for life insurance underwriting decisions. In particular, data such as physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness generated by the system provide a novel reference basis for assessing mortality risk in life insurance underwriting.

PAI (Personal Activity Intelligence) is a novel exercise and health assessment system that evaluates the impact of physical activity on cardiac health based on physiological metrics collected by wearable devices, particularly heart rate data. It also assesses cardiorespiratory fitness using indicators such as biological age and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max).

PAI was developed through a 25-year health study involving 45,000 participants and has been further validated using big data from over 730,000 individuals, accumulating more than 1 million person-years of data. Published studies have demonstrated that maintaining a PAI score of 100 or higher can effectively reduce all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates, thereby extending life expectancy.

Gen Re’s research white paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the four primary functions and characteristics of Personal Activity Intelligence (PAI) in insurance scenarios: First, users can derive PAI and cardiorespiratory fitness scores using wearable devices equipped with heart rate monitoring capabilities. Second, PAI is correlated with mortality rates. Third, PAI can independently assess mortality risk without relying on other traditional risk factors. Furthermore, a single assessment of PAI or cardiorespiratory fitness can predict mortality risk for many subsequent years.

Ammon Dixon, Vice President of Strategic Research at Gen Re, stated that their analysis confirmed the PAI health assessment system can be used to predict mortality risk in life insurance underwriting.

It is understood that the study protocol utilized datasets from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), with a total of 208,840 person-years, including 25,014 surviving subjects and 2,080 deceased subjects. In its white paper, Gen Re also provides a detailed account of how it validated the PAI Health Assessment System; for further details, please refer towww.genre.com/whitepaper-validating-pai-score。

For general users, the PAI health assessment system provides clear and straightforward guidance on the amount of exercise required to improve or maintain cardiorespiratory endurance, thereby helping them reduce health risks. For corporate partners, Huami Technology offers insurers a comprehensive suite of tools—including mobile apps, APIs, and visual data dashboards—to enable accurate and convenient monitoring of the health status of insured individuals.

PAI is owned by Huami Technology, a cloud-based health service provider that boasts globally leading smart wearable technology. Leveraging powerful artificial intelligence algorithms and big data analytics capabilities, it offers 24/7 health monitoring services. Currently, Huami Technology has established a comprehensive health and fitness ecosystem, encompassing wearable devices such as smart bands, smartwatches, and sports earphones, as well as exercise- and health-related products including treadmills, weighing scales, body fat scales, and footwear and apparel accessories. In 2019, Huami Technology’s shipments of smart wearable devices reached 42.3 million units, accounting for 26% of global shipments in the same category.

As a member of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Gen Re is one of the world’s leading reinsurers in life/health and property/casualty insurance. It has received excellent ratings for financial strength from all major global rating agencies. With capital totaling $14.8 billion, Gen Re generates annual premium income of $11 billion.