- Adapting to change, embracing innovation and promoting social good
The insurance sector is made up of companies that offer risk management in the form of insurance contracts. The basic concept of insurance is that one party, the insurer, will guarantee payment for an uncertain future event. Meanwhile, another party, the insured or the policyholder, pays a smaller premium to the insurer in exchange for that protection on that uncertain future occurrence. As an industry, insurance is regarded as a slow-growing, safe sector for investors. This perception is not as strong as it was in the 1970s and 1980s, but it is still generally true when compared to other financial sectors.
The insurance sector is fundamentally rooted in risk management. All policies written are analysed with various risks considered, and actuarial analysis is performed to understand the statistical likelihood of certain outcomes better. Based on variances between statistical data and projections, policyholder premiums are adjusted, or benefits are reevaluated. Generally, premium amounts paid within the insurance sector are a function of the risk associated with the related individual, property, or item being insured. In some cases, insurance companies will partner with banks to market their products to the bank’s customers. This practice, known as bancasurance is more common in Europe, but is finding a foothold in the United States.
One of the more interesting features of insurance companies is that they are essentially allowed to use their customers’ money to invest for themselves. This makes them similar to banks, but investing happens to an even greater extent. This is sometimes referred to as ‘the float.’
Insurance is a contract in which an individual or entity receives financial protection or reimbursement from an insurance firm in the form of a policy. The company pooled the risks of its clients to make payments more affordable to the insured. Insurance policies are used to protect against the risk of big and small financial losses resulting from damage to the insured’s property or liability for damage or injury to a third party. There are many different types of insurance policies from which to choose, and almost anyone or any business can find an insurance company willing to insure them for a price.
The premium is the cost of a policy, which is usually expressed as a monthly cost. The premium is determined by the insurer based on the risk profile of you or your business, which may include creditworthiness. The policy limit is the most an insurer will pay for a covered loss under a policy. Maximums could be established for a certain time period (e.g., annual or policy term), for a particular loss or injury, or for the whole policy term (also known as the lifetime maximum). The deductible is a pre-determined amount that the policyholder must pay before the insurance company will pay a claim. Deductibles act as a deterrent to submitting a large number of small claims.
Insurance market size and forecast
Insurance market size was valued at US$6,313.33 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach US$12,726.96 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.21% from 2024 to 2030.
The year 2023 saw record profits for insurers and reinsurers, driven by a combination of strategic actions and the absence of major catastrophes, accompanied by favourable returns on investment portfolios. The insurance market in Q1 2024 presents a more favourable outlook for organisations. While certain lines and geographies face specific challenges, overall market conditions are stabilising or easing, with most insurers in growth mode and actively seeking insurance dollars which increases competition for business.
Overall market conditions are stabilising or easing, with most insurers in growth mode. Staying close to market guidance and insight will help us to make the most of current market conditions.
Challenges in geopolitical risks and terrorism
Geopolitical risks and terrorism continue to pose challenges in the insurance market. The political violence and terrorism sector is experiencing capacity reduction and pricing increases. Insurers are actively de-risking in certain areas of the world, which can create gaps in coverage. If you have exposures in these areas, you will need to be proactive and engage with the market early to secure appropriate coverage.
Climate change
Climate change is leading to more frequent, smaller catastrophe claims, which are particularly impacting primary insurers in the current market. Despite the lack of a singular major event, total catastrophe losses for 2023 still amounted to about $100 billion, placing it in the top ten most costly years for insurers, and 2024 has started out with above average catastrophe loss.
Changing trends in D&O and cyber insurance
Pricing in the directors’ and officers’ (D&O) insurance market has been reducing materially over the past 18 to 24 months. Rates have also started to fall in the cyber insurance market. A number of insurers have tightened their stance on war exclusions in policies, leading to some movement of business to insurers willing and able to offer capacity.
While the cyber insurance market initially experienced rapid growth and uncertainty, it is now stabilizing. Looking ahead, however, increased ransomware claims payment activity could cause some volatility to return.
Next steps for Q2 2024
The insurance market is continuing 2024 in a more relaxed state, driven by a more stable macroeconomic environment with reduced inflation and with insurers no longer focusing on remediation efforts.
While most insurers are profitable and have growth ambitions, the market is relatively delicately balanced and conditions could yet shift if there are major natural catastrophes this summer or if there are significant court awards that test the adequacy of insurer loss reserves.
It remains vital to understand your risk and insurance position in the context of current conditions. In particular, you may need to review insured values to reflect inflationary trends. You should also call on analytical insight to strategically market your risk program early. This is one way to achieve optimal results aligned with your risk management and broader organizational goals.
The growing global economy, coupled with urbanization, are some of the significant drivers of the insurance market. Rising disposable incomes in many countries enable more people to afford insurance coverage, while urbanisation leads to increased exposure to risks, such as higher traffic density, property theft, and environmental hazards. Governments around the world also play a pivotal role in driving insurance market growth. Regulatory initiatives and incentives to promote insurance coverage create a favorable environment for insurers and encourage individuals and businesses to protect themselves against potential risks. The Global Insurance Market report provides a holistic evaluation of the market. The insurance industry had a difficult year in 2023. While carriers can expect to see improvements in their combined ratios and profitability in 2024, they still face many of the same challenges as the last few years.
Several major insurers experienced multiple rounds of layoffs and early retirements, leaving these companies to rely on leaner staff to meet their business goals.
In property and casualty (P&C), carriers must navigate ballooning loss ratios. Claims expenses are increasing — driven by a mix of high repair and replacement costs due to inflation, social inflation and surging natural disasters. The latter, in particular, have driven property reinsurance rates up by as much as 50% in the US. All of these factors have led many P&C insurers to stop issuing new policies or exit certain markets altogether in 2023.
Comparatively, the life insurance and annuity sector has been more stable. Rising rates have boosted net yields, balance sheets have remained robust and premium trends have been favourable as demand for savings and retirement products has grown. Yet, headwinds including inflationary pressures and risk transfer in the annuities and pension realm remain concerns.
To successfully navigate today’s challenging and dynamic market, insurers must rapidly innovate —and do so from a sound technological foundation. The ongoing divestment of key markets is not a long-term strategy for success, so insurers need to fundamentally rethink their pricing, products and broader operations to thrive in today’s environment.
New products designed to promote better relevance and accessibility have emerged over the last few years and will continue to grow in popularity in 2024. These include offerings like on-demand insurance for gig workers, and usage-based products, informed by telematics and sensor data to drive behavioral-based pricing.
Insurers are also looking to expand the set of value-added services they offer customers. Examples include supplemental health and wellness management services offered through P&C carriers, and specialized retirement vehicles offered by life and annuity carriers.
Insurers are also partnering with lenders to offer home loans or refinancing options, and even security systems to help reduce home insurance rates. Market demand is also growing in areas like excess and surplus, as well as cyber insurance.
The industry is also experiencing a cultural shift, as insurers think more critically about their role in risk prevention versus serving purely as risk transfer agents.
Bringing these offerings to market quickly and effectively requires insurers to embrace agility and ensure they have a solid technology foundation in place. Legacy systems command a significant investment of IT resources and expense to maintain, are hard to upgrade and provide lackluster user and employee experiences.
Companies should begin transitioning from on-premises, legacy systems to cloud-based offerings. To date, a minority have done so, with only 38% of L&AH-only and 33% of P&C-only carriers having implemented replacements or upgrades of legacy or modern on-premises core systems.
As they reimagine their technology stack, insurers can also start bridging the gap between the present and future with low-code/no-code solutions. These offerings allow insurers to quickly assemble customized applications and workflows that accelerate their business.
Insurance companies should also identify ways to optimize their vendor footprint to eliminate redundancies across systems and maximize value through connectors and APIs that bridge different technologies together.
Backfilling institutional knowledge gaps in highly specialised areas like underwriting and claims adjusting will not be easy, and carriers should look to digital technology and task automation as ways to support the next generation of employees.
Millennials and Gen Z are attracted to companies that are digitally savvy, offer flexible work arrangements and allow for career growth. Equipping these employees with tools and systems that eliminate tedious manual work and endless paper-pushing is essential to employee satisfaction and productivity.
The next wave of this evolution is embedded insurance, where insurance policies are offered at the point-of-sale of another product or service. Embedded insurance has continued to gain traction and is allowing insurers to meet their customers where they are in new and exciting ways.
Examples of this phenomenon are widespread and include offering homeowner’s insurance as an embedded part of real estate transactions, pet insurance at the veterinary office and auto coverage through the dealership. Yet even as the distribution landscape grows more diverse, the agent/broker channel remains dominant. Technology is an important factor in customer satisfaction and often drives new sales—particularly as consumers increasingly turn to agents as the channel of choice for obtaining new policies. As they expand their strategic partnerships, insurers should think critically about how to effectively onboard new partners and ensure they have clear visibility into the terms of those relationships. They should also continue to invest in the agent experience, creating systems and workflows that make it easy for agents to do business with them.
Today’s insurance consumers don’t simply demand more innovative products and expanded access across multiple channels; they also want better experiences that make buying insurance and engaging with insurers throughout the lifecycle simple, fast and frictionless.
Insurers must make sure all stages of the customer lifecycle—from policy sales, agreement signing and disclosure provision to claims submissions and servicing requests—can be seamlessly completed and signed across multiple digital channels. This allows specialized staff, including contact center representatives, agents and adjusters to focus on the most complex questions and claims handling tasks, ensuring policyholders receive the best experience possible.
The year 2023 will be long remembered as the year that generative AI joined the public discourse. The insurance sector is no exception, and we can expect that the velocity of those conversations—around the use of AI, data and analytics—will only increase this year.
Insurance firms are primed to implement analytics and intelligence across numerous applications. AI has the potential to improve risk assessments for actuarial and underwriting processes, automating FNOL and claims resolutions, detecting fraud and enabling self-service via chatbots.
When applied to the many agreements and contracts underpinning insurance operations, AI can meaningfully empower insurers to uncover risks, unlock efficiencies and maximize the value of their contracts. Specifically, AI can help teams extract and understand terms of agreements, search and analyse their trove of agreements, and create and co-author new agreements.
Change is accelerating all around us, possibly at a faster pace than in any period in history. Shifts in climate, technology, workforce, and customer/societal expectations combined with macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility are compelling enterprises across the globe to transform their tech infrastructure, products and services, business models, and organisational culture to adapt not just to fuel profitability but to remain relevant and survive. The insurance industry is no exception. In fact, these colliding forces could potentially be the catalyst that sparks reinvention both in how the industry conducts its business and in its overall purpose and role in society.
Insurers have the potential to achieve even greater social good largely because they already act as society’s “financial safety net,” providing a backstop against financial loss for innumerable risks worldwide. However, more insurers are realising they have a bigger role to play in helping prevent risk, mitigating loss severity, and closing life and non-life protection gaps in global markets, especially in the face of the growing number of what appear to be financially unsupportable risks.
Existential threats, such as catastrophic climate change, the explosion in cybercrime, and concern over vast uninsured and underinsured populations, are driving many insurers to reimagine how to confront disruptions caused by the changing environment and help consumers across all segments prevent or mitigate risks before they occur, rather than merely paying to rebuild and recover after the fact. Even while the most extreme events may appear unavoidable, insurance combined with proactive risk management can still help minimize the degree of their impact on affected individuals and communities.
The author, Nazir Ahmed Shaikh, is a freelance, writer, columnist, blogger and motivational speaker. He writes articles of diversified topics. He can be reached at nazir_shaikh86@hotmail.com