OVERVIEW

The Insurance industry as a whole is undergoing a metamorphosis. All the lines of business or segments within the Insurance industry such as Property & Casualty, Life, Health, and Reinsurance are facing specific challenges that are also transforming the industry.

Property and casualty: The challenge is to find better ways to manage catastrophic risks. One new model is a public and private partnership to manage large scale catastrophic events.

Life: The challenge is meeting the needs of an increasing diverse population, especially the aging segment, which is growing rapidly. Customers are demanding new, customized products.

Health: The demand for consumer-directed healthcare is a challenge that is redefining the health insurance market.

Reinsurance: Gigantic catastrophic risks exist which require multiple partners for sound risk management. The Reinsurance line of business will take precedence going forward.

In addition to these specific segment challenges, common industry challenges come into play as well:

• Innovating products and services: many current insurance products and services are now commodities with little differentiation
• Consolidating companies: market pressures have spurred fast growth in mergers and acquisitions
• Redefining distribution channels: buying patterns have shifted away from the agent and agencies channel
• Outsourcing, Nearshoring and Offshoring: cutting costs and increasing efficiencies continues as a strong trend within the Insurance sector
• Meeting tough regulatory compliance requirements: new regulations such as Solvency II and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) bring increased pressure for Insurance companies to provide timely and accurate information.

return to top