Reinsurance survey finds new prospects despite tough conditions
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jun 2015
A global reinsurance survey conducted by insurance software business Xuber found that despite tough industry competition and transformation, executives recognised that the turbulent conditions create new prospects. Organisations that embrace technology, particularly analytics and big data, and fuse it with their in-house expertise and knowledge stand to thrive, said the company in a statement.
The study found that better use of analytics and modelling was cited by 71% of executives as the top opportunity to refine the identification of risk/reward to empower better business decisions. Meanwhile, partnering with third party capital was the second top business opportunity with 69% of respondents listing it in the top five.
Third party capital, despite being raised as one of the key challenges the industry faced, was also seen as an opportunity as “reinsurers understand that new investors entering the market do not possess the unique expertise to expertly manage risk”. As such, reinsurers have a distinct opportunity and advantage over alternative capital.
Xuber’s survey also noted that the soft market remains a key issue among reinsurance executives. It was revealed that 81% of respondents listed soft market conditions among their top five concerns, while competition from third party capital (66%) was second, followed by mergers and acquisitions (M&A) (66%).