Insurers urged to innovate amid tech boom
The winds of technological change blowing through the insurance sector will not alter what life insurers do - but it will change how they do it.
That was a key message of Winfried Heinen (pictured) of Germany's General Reinsurance.
Heinen, chairman of the firm's board, made the comment during a talk on the future of the life insurance sector during the LIMRA-LOMA Latin American conference.
Insurers, he said in a presentation, citing a 2015 article from Harvard Business Review, must adapt and be alert but not overreact: "Incumbent companies do need to respond to disruption if it's occurring, but they should not overreact by dismantling a still-profitable business. Instead, they should continue to strengthen relationships with core customers by investing in sustaining innovations."
Heinen spoke about the risks the industry faces from new players in the form of agile tech companies, such as peer-to-peer premium pooling platforms, seeking to enter the fray.
He also discussed the main reasons why insurers today are under threat: a large amount of capital available for investment, speed of innovation and technological change, and changing consumer habits and expectations.
"The size of the wave of development that we are observing at the moment has a lot to do with the availability of capital in the market," Heinen said.
On the issue of changing habits and expectations, he said key goals are making life easier for today's tech-savvy consumers, who place much value on ease of access, transparency and trust, and tailor-made or personalized services.
Heinen cited the example of China's first fully digital insurance company, Zhongan Online. Launched in 2013, the P&C insurer offers 50 insurance products and turned a profit in its first year of operation.
He also cited UK's Vitality, an online P&C and life insurer which offers policyholders rewards for adopting healthy lifestyles.
Both LIMRA and LOMA are US-based global insurance industry associations.
The conference was held September 10-12 in Santiago, Chile.
Subscribe to the leading business intelligence platform in Latin America with different tools for Providers, Contractors, Operators, Government, Legal, Financial and Insurance industries.
News in: ICT
Dominican Republic launches connectivity project
The US$19mn fiber broadband project will benefit close to 143,000 people.
Fitch Baja Clasificaciones de GTD Grupo Teleductos a ‘A(cl)’; la Perspectiva es Estable
La baja en las calificaciones se basa en el mantenimiento de un endeudamiento alto y sostenido por sobre la sensibilidad dadas las inversiones fuer...
Subscribe to Latin America’s most trusted business intelligence platform.
Other projects in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT projects in Latin America: what stages they're in, capex, related companies, contacts and more.
- Project: Padre Hurtado Data Storage Center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Cable submarino Firmina
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Datacenter SP4
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Scala Data Center Campus (SSCL LMP01)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Datacenter SP3 (SGRUTB03)
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: BG02 Data Center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 weeks ago
- Project: Bogota 1 Data Center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Puente Alto data center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Southern Section Expansion of the FON Project
- Current stage:
- Updated:
2 months ago
- Project: Updating and expansion of the National Data Center
- Current stage:
- Updated:
3 months ago
Other companies in: ICT
Get critical information about thousands of ICT companies in Latin America: their projects, contacts, shareholders, related news and more.
- Company: ADTsys Software S.A.  (ADTsys)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: On.Energy  (On Energy)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Logespec SPA  (Logespec)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Intelisis Software S.A. de C.V.  (Intelisis)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Blue Yonder Group, Inc.  (Blue Yonder)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by the BNamericas’ researchers. However, it may have been...
- Company: ServiceNow, Inc.  (ServiceNow)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by the BNamericas’ researchers. However, it may have been...
- Company: Odoo S.A.  (Odoo)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Coupa Software Inc.  (Coupa)
-
The description included in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been modified or edited by the BNamericas’ researchers. However, it may have been...
- Company: NetSuite
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...
- Company: Sinfopac Internacional SLU  (SINFOPAC)
-
The description contained in this profile was taken directly from an official source and has not been edited or modified by BNamericas researchers, but may have been automatical...