Technology innovation will provide the biggest growth opportunities for reinsurers in 2017, according to a new survey by Guy Carpenter & Company.
Now in its fifth year, Guy Carpenter’s study aimed to identify the top opportunities and threats to profitable growth next year and determine the most disruptive technologies impacting the industry, it said.
The survey found 42% of the 107 insurance and reinsurance professionals interviewed believe tech innovation represents the greatest opportunity to grow their business. That was followed by the creation of new products (25%) access to new geographic markets (13%) acquiring talent (12%) and M&A at eight percent.
“One of the most important findings we can take away from this year’s survey is the significant growth opportunity that technology innovation continues to bring to the (re)insurance industry,” said Tim Gardner, CEO of US operations for Guy Carpenter. “The industry must be prepared to not only understand and manage the risks associated with these rapid advancements, but to also utilize these innovations to create actionable business intelligence and realize profitable growth opportunities.”
On the other hand, one-in-three respondents ranked cyber security as a top threat to profitable growth in 2017. Regulatory and rating agency changes (21%) global economic and political uncertainty (17%) operational inefficiencies (16%) and catastrophe/non-cat losses (10%) are other threats mentioned in the survey.
“Insurers are facing an increasingly complex market that will require them to be nimble and innovate in order to remain competitive,” Gardner said.
Respondents expect the continued rise of big data to cause the most disruption to the reinsurance industry over the next five years. Other significant factors include: technological innovation (29%), the aging population (15%), Millennials (13%) and expanding urbanization (5%), Guy Carpernter finds.
