28 May 2019

Commercial Risk Europe: Insurance leaders ready to embrace change

Globally, it found, leading insurance companies are embracing the future and capitalising on technological advancement and innovation much faster than other industries. Concerns about technological change and other digital disruptive elements have eased among insurance companies and sentiment shows that insurers are ready to embrace the new wave of change.

The pace of change in the insurance industry has taken place more rapidly than originally anticipated and is expected to accelerate further. According to the survey results, the three aspects insurance CEOs are most concerned about are:

• The speed of technological change (31% – down from 51% in 2018)
• Changing consumer behaviour (21% – down from 31% in 2018)
• New market entrants (10% – down from 22% in 2018)

Meanwhile, CEOs of private businesses are less optimistic than they were a year ago about the strength of the global economy, and their own organisation’s ability to grow revenues.

Only 33% of private business leaders are very confident about growing revenue in the coming 12 months, compared with 38% of executives in publicly traded companies. Although 43% of private business CEOs expect the global economy to improve in the next 12 months, as many as 30% expect it to decline, compared with only 6% in the previous year’s survey.

According to the survey results only 32% of private businesses are likely to pursue a merger or acquisition compared to 43% of public company respondents. Consequently, private businesses are more likely to look inward for organic growth – achieved through operational efficiencies and new products or services – rather than enter new markets.

Full article on Commercial Risk (subscription required)

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