If John Snow, one of the main characters of the TV-Show Game-of-Thrones, would be working in the insurance industry. He would say: “Winter is coming – to the insurance world”. Maybe he would be Commander of the Insurers Watch guarding the regulatory wall saving the industry. Well, this wall has not only been crushed in the last season of Game-of-Thrones but also in the insurance industry. New market entrants are flooding through the gates.
My article published in the book “Risk Mutation – the logic of restructuring insurance ecology with technology” talks about the new era of insurance – with a focus on the European perspective. I am very thankful to Mr. Feng Shu, Executive Vice President Beijing Insurance Research Institute, for making this article and translation possible.
Here a short summary: In the article I talk about how one of the core competencies of insurers – risk management – could become the source of new revenue streams. For example through risk consulting and claim prevention. In addition I underline how Big Data and Automatization revolutionizes underwriting, especially considering that most actuary models did not change structurally in the last 100 years. I also touched claim management as an area with a lot of structural problems, but also big potential. In addition I make the point that one of the biggest life threats to traditional insurers – in my personal view – is their cultural legacy and lack of agility. This comes along with technological legacy, which delays digital transformation. Considering that time is the one thing traditional companies don’t have during disruption, tech legacy could cause tremendous damage if not addressed soon. At the end of the article I talk underline that there is a strong insurtech ecosystem that will – independently of individual fails – prevail and in some way or the other change the industry. I end the article by saying that I believe that the insurance industry is an exciting place to be – and now is the right time. What do you say?
