Spring is in the air. Somewhere in the world, the crocuses have sprouted and yet there is no decisive action on combatting climate change. And how the weather is changing rapidly everywhere. Nonetheless, it is spring and with it, comes hope.
Our cover story this March is on motor insurance – the mainstay of many insurers’ portfolios around the region. Yet the talk is that motor insurance, as we know it, will be completely revolutionised with robots taking over the road. The transition to the world of driverless cars is taking place at a breakneck speed in some markets though, in several others, motor insurers are still sitting pretty on old-world concepts on compulsory insurance. In the 5th Asia Motor Insurance Conference in Manila at the end of this month, with the ambivalent theme of the future of motor insurance, we challenge the market on what or who will be underwritten in motor insurance in the days of driverless cars. Will it be the car, the car owner, the manufacturer or the software designer? Or will motor insurance be made redundant – a victim of the Internet of Things? To get the answer,
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Our Country Profile is on the Philippines which has become a strongman of Asia. There is renewed hope in the industry with consolidation and greater penetration, driven in part by the financial inclusion drive and increasing microinsurance facilities.
With the Philippines looking at moving towards risk-based capital (RBC), we are hosting our 3rd Asia RBC Conference in Manila to offer tips to insurers on being fully and strategically prepared for RBC with the right mind-set and skills set. Consultants and reinsurers are on stand-by to help with the process, as will industry leaders from the other markets who have been through the journey.
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This March, we keep you busy with several important events. Aside from the Motor and RBC conferences, we also have our Health Insurance and Healthcare Conference where we make the dynamic call for strategic, defensive, inclusive health covers for all from cradle to grave. This is not a Pollyanna dream, but something health insurers can do by tapping on digital data intelligently and working closely with healthcare providers and, at the same time, curbing the excessive greed of medical specialists, hospitals and pharmas. Can insurers take on the old world to bridge the gap?
In the parade of events, March is also the month of our Broker’s Summit where we remind all that the world still needs brokers. We salute the unique role they play and, through the Summit, hope to unleash the power of the smart brokers to rise above disruptive innovation.
I end with a reference to our just-concluded 17th Asia CEO Summit where the resounding verdict was that insurers are just not doing enough to take the lead in the world of “organised chaos”. Insurers have to do more in this world of speed, InsurTech and social media, as insurance is still not appreciated nor understood outside the industry. We just need to spread the word of insurers and reach out to the non-believers. The Summit resounded with fantastic ideas and strategic tips for CEOs to get cracking.
As the March rains continue, do revisit your plans for the rest of the year to ensure that you have sown the right seeds so that, with the sun’s love, they will become the pride and joy of your great harvest for 2017 where nothing is the way it seems. Keep at being the best you can be.
Sivam Subramaniam
Editor-in-Chief
Asia Insurance Review