In his inaugural address at the 17th India Rendezvous yesterday morning, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) member (non-life) Thomas Devasia said, "IRDAI is supporting the insurance industry to build strategically on the enormous successes of the innovations and successes of India's digital public infrastructure."
The Indian insurance market, currently growing at 14-15%, is a dynamic melting pot of opportunity, with the IRDAI's clarion call to achieve "Insurance for every Indian by 2047" expected to catapult the industry to even greater heights.
A record number of 800 delegates from 35 countries have registered for the 16th India Rendezvous that kicks off in Mumbai today.
Despite all its hiccoughs, 2020 had some silver linings too. The pandemic year saw an investment of around $26bn in digital health by venture capitalists and this is likely to increase nine-fold in the next five years and likely to touch $238bn by 2026.
Traditional distribution models within general insurance are changing quickly and moving to insurance becoming much more of a part of ecosystems with third party distributors. "These may be e-commerce, or travel, or mobility, or all sorts of insurance purchased in the context of everyday life," said Boston Consulting Group managing director and senior partner Anupam Sahay during yesterday's InsurTech panel.
Speaking on the topic of climate change and COVID-19 systemic risk considerations, RMS director of market and product specialist Hemant Nagpal said that both climate change and the pandemic were systemic risks.
In his welcome address, GIC Re chairman-cum-managing director Devesh Srivastava said that the COVID-19 pandemic was a huge challenge to the insurance sector in India and the basic definition of the protection gap was questioned.
A panel discussion chaired by Moody's Investors Service senior vice president, financial institutions group Benjamin Serra looked at insurance/reinsurance credit trends and rating outlooks for the industry.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the way it is managed would lead to higher risk-aversion in society, SCOR Global P&C deputy CEO Laurent Rousseau predicted in his industry keynote address on the opening day of the India Virtual Rendezvous 2021 yesterday.
On day one of the 14th India Virtual Rendezvous 2021, AM RE Syndicate CEO Shevawn Barder was on hand to provide an overview of the US market, particularly the programme market.