Commentary

Driving insurance transformation with strategy-aligned M&A

Disruption is shaking the fundamentals of the insurance industry. This is true structural change, not just a cycle. New technologies, new competitors, new markets, new regulations, and changing consumer behaviours are all creating tremendous opportunities, and posing significant risk to the legacy insurance business model. To succeed in this dynamic environment, organisations are reevaluating their portfolio of business and rationalising their global footprint to strategically determine “where to play” and “how to win” in the future. One of the immediate consequences of this trend is the expected rise in deal activity in the global insurance industry.

Driving insurance transformation with strategy-aligned M&A

Disruption is shaking the fundamentals of the insurance industry. This is true structural change, not just a cycle. New technologies, new competitors, new markets, new regulations, and changing consumer behaviours are all creating tremendous opportunities, and posing significant risk to the legacy insurance business model. To succeed in this dynamic environment, organisations are reevaluating their portfolio of business and rationalising their global footprint to strategically determine “where to play” and “how to win” in the future. One of the immediate consequences of this trend is the expected rise in deal activity in the global insurance industry.

Can insurers deliver more value to customers?

From tracking drivers’ braking behaviour, to installing wearable devices on factory workers, to funding medical advice mobile apps, many insurance companies are trying to become more present in their customers’ lives. They know that earning greater loyalty will require interacting more with their customers and delivering more value as well. Insurers are finally paying attention to this customer-centric approach as an alternative to the traditional internal focus on products, agents, and in-year financial considerations.

Emergence of the InsurTech ecosystem in Asia

2016 has been officially been declared the year of InsurTech. The marriage of insurance and technology infused with entrepreneurial energy, InsurTech is attracting significant investments from the likes of sophisticated VCs who founded the new economy players like AirBnB and Uber.

From hype to reality: Examining the industry's ‘transformation'

Rather than consider the many exciting, and often challenging, technology-enabled developments that lie ahead, I thought for this article I would take a slight different tack. So let’s instead take a look at the reality of our industry from the perspective of where most insurers are today, and against that backdrop, what insurers can do to change.

The future of insurance in a digital world

Disruptive innovation is amongst the most referenced but least predictable trends to impact the insurance industry in a generation and it remains a pervasive challenge for many in this regulated industry. When surveying the insurance landscape across Asia, three key trends continue to play a significant role, leading innovations in theinsurer’s value chain.

A six-step framework for strategic change

Across the diverse Asia Pacific region, a number of forces are converging to create a pressing need for insurers to innovate throughout their entire value chain: premium growth is slowing, even as new markets open; consumer demands for digital products and services are increasing; competition within, and from outside, the region is growing; and regulators are developing more complex rules to protect consumers and reduce market risks.

Insurance trends in Asia

Customer Centricity and Technology remain the two key themes as the Insurance sector continues to seek growth amidst margin pressures, regulatory demands, and savvy customers in Asia.