Identifying future trends and engaging in risk partnerships on new technologies are at the heart of Munich Re’s strategy

Property and casualty reinsurers have displayed underwriting discipline during this year’s renewals, continuing with rate corrections that began several years ago, despite the pressures of abundant capacity. Prices continued to harden during the first half of 2021 – albeit with slightly less momentum than last year – in a trend that will likely continue into the January 2022 renewal season.

There can be little doubt that COVID-19 has accelerated the move to a digital-first society, forcing many more traditional organisations to fast-track their data and digitisation journeys.

Cybersecurity start-up ActZero has announced a strategic partnership with cyber insurance provider Zeguro to create a cyber risk management program for small and mid-sized businesses.

Climate change will help propel a threefold surge in property insurance premiums over the coming two decades, according to a study published on Monday by Swiss Re.

This Spring, UK regulator, the FCA announced a ban on the unfair practice of ‘price walking’ in the insurance industry.

Technology, machine learning, robotic process automation, data aggregation and analytics – in recent years, the insurance industry (like many other sectors) has been motivated to make use of those tools to improve their operations and enhance their underwriting, pricing, and loss control capabilities.

Technologies are emerging that enable omnipresent, real-time connectivity between the people and businesses being insured and their insurers, and that is fundamentally changing the business of insurance.

The insurance industry needs to think about sustainability through both an underwriting and an investment lens, says ESG analyst Xuan Sheng Ou Yong.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a wave of “remote” services in areas that allegedly required physical presence. It made us reimagine age-old practices and bring innovation to how businesses are operated, including insurance.

COVID-19 has given direction to insurtech trends to lean towards digital solutions. If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we cannot really make accurate predictions about the future. However, it has also been a major catalyst of change as several industries underwent rapid and rampant transformations. These changes have now translated into the ‘new normal.’

Afilio, a Berlin based Insurtech, has secured USD13 million in highly competitive Series A funding to support the expansion of their ‘Peace of Mind-as-a-Service’ platform offering users digital estate management services.

When a human being or even an animal faces risk, there can be one of two reactions – fight or flight. Risk is inarguably ubiquitous and something that most of us deal with on a daily basis. However, rather than fight or flight, sometimes the best way to deal with risk is to buy protection. And, this is where the insurance industry plays an integral role.

India is the second-largest insurtech market in Asia-Pacific, accounting for 35 percent of the US$ 3.66 billion insurtech-focused venture investments made in the country, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data.

Insurtechs have stepped up to turn the $5 trillion insurance industry on its head. This radical upheaval hasn’t happened yet. But the insurance industry’s tech monopoly has already begun.

As more and more people are in search of integrated digital experiences it has become imperative for insurance service providers to embrace the digital disruption.

Chubb chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg has been a voice for the (re)insurance industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As leader of the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty (P&C) insurer, Greenberg has used his platform to speak out about the “impossible” task laid at the feet of the insurance industry – to cover the cost of the global pandemic alone. c

In the last year or so we’ve seen a number of insurtech startups go public, including Root (auto insurance), Metromile (car insurance), and Lemonade (rental insurance). But should we be worried?

What a first half of the year in the European insurtech scene: over €1.7B was invested across 52 deals. That’s basically more than 2019 and 2020 combined!

Short-term insurers say they went above and beyond for their customers in the past year and aren’t greedily gobbling up savings from lower claims.

As the “next digital pandemic,” cyber risks are increasingly becoming a problem for insurers themselves, according to an industry expert.

Specialist managing general underwriter (MGU) Carbon has promoted Director Nick Tye to lead as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Stephen Card in the role.

In today’s age, the best way for many businesses to move forward is to embrace digital transformation.

The pandemic has heightened financial inequality, climate change risk and the threat posed by ‘zombie’ companies.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” The introduction from Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities” may be an apt description of today’s property insurance landscape. While numerous opportunities exist, insurers face a variety of challenges—some often unforeseen.

Sønr’s chief executive predicts that insurtech M&A will double in 2021 – so far, 45 deals have been completed in the first six months of the year.

Insurers lose billions each year due to losses caused by major catastrophes like earthquakes, floods and storms. In 2020 alone, Aon estimated that insured property losses from natural disasters in the U.S. climbed to around $74 billion in losses, much higher than the 10-year average.

You can add another item to consumers’ pandemic shopping list: life insurance. The number of life insurance policies sold jumped 11% in the first quarter from the same time a year ago, according to the industry research firm Limra.

Jérôme Itty knows all too well the challenges of onboarding new hires in a remote work environment. “I’ve experienced it myself,” said AXA XL’s chief operating officer in the Americas.

The insurance revenue landscape is shifting in a myriad of fast-acting, unexpected ways. In our recent Insurance Revenue Landscape 2025 study, we were able to analyze customer demands to understand the trends shaping global revenue pools. Based on this research, we predict that the insurance industry will be influenced by the following four areas of innovation.

Bright Health Group Inc. shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, the latest issue to test investors’ appetite for new health-care companies that have yet to show profit but are aiming for high growth.

While most insurers offered financial relief for customers, a more limited number of insurers launched financial assistance specifically for agents and partners.

The expectation that hundreds of so-called zombie companies will fail over the next few years and drag on the economy is among the major concerns prompting insurers to reduce risk and charge higher premiums, a trend likely to continue as failures increase, Swiss Re AG said on Tuesday.

Usage-based insurance (UBI) has finally come of age in the US insurance sector. Insurers have spent the last 20 years exploring the potential of telematics with alternating curiosity, commitment, and disillusionment.

The insurtech companies featured on the 2021 Forbes Fintech 50 are innovating in a space that has long been associated with antiquated processes and practices—and lots of paper.

Data has always been of high importance to insurance companies when undertaking multiple basic functions. With digital transformation taking over, insurance technology is in the spotlight as a growth concept in the sector.

Mike Karmilowicz of Everest Insurance shares details about his company culture, the threat of cyber and how technology will impact the insurance industry going forward.

Insurance is infamous for having one of the highest customer acquisition costs of any industry.

More than a year after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re also seeing big shifts in consumers’ expectations for health and life insurance. This has generated significant innovation from insurers.

Even the most vigilant insurers and reinsurers scanning the risk landscape for potential future liability problems are likely to fall into landmines.

Health insurance is critical in nature, but a couple of years ago, it was more of a fringe benefit provided by startups (and other small enterprises) and not a key trigger for recruiting and retention.

Aon UK Chief Executive Julie Page has underlined the need for re/insurers to embrace and enable the disruptiveness of insurtech innovation, especially as the world attempts to recover from COVID-19.

AI, blockchain, analytics, BI, automation & emerging technologies will fundamentally change how risk is assessed, how products are developed & how customers interact with insurers.

When much of the global economy locked down last year, insurers, facing estimated losses of more than $100 billion globally, reached straight for their red pens to strike pandemic cover from all new business policies.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett has a message about the insurability of Elon Musk’s future SpaceX missions. “It would depend on the premium,” the Oracle of Omaha joked Saturday during Berkshire’s annual shareholders’ meeting, live streamed on Yahoo Finance.

Marc Rowan steers firm toward future as credit-investing titan catering largely to insurers with ample cash to park

Trend-led brands will help establish the ‘winning insurance brokers for the next decade’

The insurance industry as we know it is changing. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, insurance carriers understand that they have to either innovate or fall behind. In this post, we will take a look at what that innovation looks like in practice and what industry leaders are learning about the art of innovating sustainably and at scale.

The insurance industry has proven its resilience. Through the disruptions of COVID-19 and massive claims from storms and other catastrophic events, valuations have gradually improved.

Insurtech broker Cover Whale has announced a new partnership with Smart Choice. Under the partnership, Cover Whale’s streamlined truck insurance platform will be open to Smart Choice agents in select states.

Technology is redefining the very way our world works. From general knowledge to private data, we as a cohort have access to more information than any others through the course of human history.

Insurance services are promises that only really get tested in the event of a claim, according to Mark Stephenson, head of business development and market relationships at Liberty Specialty Markets, which is why it makes sense to integrate claims across the entire business.

The Covid-19 pandemic has ushered in ample opportunities by accelerating the digital transition of tasks that were once considered mundane.

The insurance industry has been developing fast in the past few years. Companies have been focused on growth and increasing their Gross Written Premiums (GWP), but are facing increasing challenges such as tough competition, a low interest rate environment, growing customer expectations and regulatory scrutiny.

COVID-19 has placed insurers of all shapes and sizes before a host of unaccustomed challenges. But as vaccines are rolled out and we move beyond the acute phase of the pandemic, there are increasing opportunities on offer as well – where insurers can play a role in addressing the pain points that consumers and businesses face in the new normal.

The increased amount of data cloud providers can provide as more information moves to the cloud will help underwriters write cyber risk and their policyholders in turn, say insurers and a cloud provider.

The pandemic has changed a lot of things — online shopping, at-home entertainment, work arrangements, take out and food delivery — and telemedicine.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face as a society. With climate-related catastrophe losses continuing to climb, insurers are in a unique position to recognize just how high the stakes of climate change truly are.

Touchless digital insurance, for years a mirage somewhere in the future for the insurance industry, is here to stay thanks to Covid-19. High-growth breakout successes of the past few years such as Lemonade, Hippo, Next, Root and–if I may be bold, my company Neptune–highlight how innovation in the use of data can change every aspect of the insurance supply chain.

Most all players in the insurance sector are digitising – some more seamlessly than others. This phygital (meeting of the physical and digital worlds) trend is becoming omnipotent, with a blend of automation and human expertise now the norm.

Trevor Carvey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Underwriting Officer (CUO) of newly launched P&C reinsurer Conduit Re, has said that he expects 2021 to mark a “generational transformation” in the way the re/insurance industry operates.

Johanna Von Geyr, partner and EMEA lead banking, financial services & insurance at ISG, explains why insurance firms need to adopt open data.

Clearcover has raised $200 million in fresh capital as part of a late-stage financing round led by Eldridge, the investment firm helmed by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Todd Boehly, the digital car-insurance startup will announce on Tuesday.

Over the past ten years, the world has become increasingly on-demand in order to cater to the preferences of Gen-Zs and millennials. The on-demand generation refers to being able to order things easily and quickly as the need for them arises. Examples of on-demand services that are currently dominating the world including Uber (rides), Airbnb (housing), and Instacart (groceries).

Over the past ten years, the world has become increasingly on-demand in order to cater to the preferences of Gen-Zs and millennials. The on-demand generation refers to being able to order things easily and quickly as the need for them arises. Examples of on-demand services that are currently dominating the world including Uber (rides), Airbnb (housing), and Instacart (groceries).

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the threat and likelihood of cyber security breaches for organizations, Munich Re’s 2020 cyber risk report found. Despite the growing risk of cyber attacks, its insurance coverage products and services are still failing to catch up.

The insurance industry isn’t exactly synonymous with “cutting edge,” but that’s changing thanks to modern technology. Insurtech is completely upending the way the insurance companies operate and how consumers access coverage.

New generally available release includes features that provide major quality of distributor performance improvements for carriers looking to optimize and expand distribution channels.

Astorya.io, which aims to serve as the search engine for Insurance and Banking technologies, has published a blog post, titled InsurTech Europe: 10 Years Of InsurTech In Europe Analyzed Through 800+ Startups (based on data from astorya.io).

The insurance industry has been in the midst of digital transformation in recent years – but experts say this technological shift has been accelerated by the need to address the unprecedented challenges brought about by the pandemic.

The future of insurance is here. Insurers can no longer wait on the sidelines. They must get in the game. What game you ask? The game of who will win the hearts and wallets of tomorrow’s insurance customer.

From the SolarWinds breach to the recent Microsoft Exchange server breach, 2021 is already shaping up to be a landmark year in cybersecurity.

The pandemic has facilitated the digital transformation of the global economy, and the insurance industry may be the next major market that’s ripe for disruption.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many companies across all markets reevaluate what it takes to survive and grow during this global crisis. In the Insurance industry those tools are innovation and M&A activity.

Recently, there has been a seismic shift in the C-suite with most the likes of the CFO and CIO, among others, taking on much more strategic roles in the business. One roll though, that has largely remained unchanged for decades is that of the Chief Underwriting Officer.

Auto insurers are redefining themselves as mobility companies and in the future will be seeking to own the mobility experience using a vast mobility ecosystem, ideally building those ecosystems around their brands.

The pandemic has obliterated any lingering doubts that operating digitally is the only way to do and to stay in business—it’s ‘go digital’ or stare at that wall until the unthinkable happens.

Insurance aggregator GramCover provides affordable, customised, and well-rounded insurance products designed for agriculture and rural India. Founded in 2016, the agri insurance startup aims to become the centre of all risk and insurance in villages, ‘gai se gaadi tak’.

What’s to be seen is whether there will be savings in terms of moving to a microservices architecture vis-à-vis when compared to legacy. Microservices with analytics will be the next normal for any life insurance company.

Data and analytics firm GlobalData expects COVID-19 to be far and away the most important theme for the insurance industry in 2021, but that sustainability will continue to be an essential long-term issue.

Insurance providers have long struggled to incentivize behaviors that minimize risk — and thus save everyone money. In the past ten years, however, insights from behavioral science have given providers a new framework for encouraging healthy behaviors. Connected devices can translate those behaviors into cost savings.

“Specific and deep.” That is the type of service brokers need to be providing their clients in the cyber insurance spaces, says Shannan Fort, partner, financial lines, cyber at McGill and Partners. To be successful, brokers need to clearly understand their role and have a firm grasp on the remit of their responsibilities.

From flooding to social unrest, we offer our international experts’ predictions on the opportunities and challenges that the property insurance market may face in the coming year and beyond.

Many advisers insist that innovation leading to faster underwriting is the key to growing the individual protection market because online shopping generally has driven a customer demand for instant gratification and a personalised experience.

What are the main Insurtech disruption trends of 2021? In this article four of the UK’s leading insurtechs discuss the decline of traditional insurance and the rise of disruptive innovation in the sector

In Europe and across the world, there’s hope that life will start to return to normal this year. But although people may begin to work, socialise and travel as we used to, the way we purchase insurance – and indeed what we want from our insurers – will never be the same.

Looking ahead, insurance regulators should be more likely to allow more significant technical advancement and use in the insurance industry since, during the pandemic, many innovations were allowed and successfully used.

Insurers in 2021 will be doubling down on streamlining, reinforcing their core businesses and updating technology, and M&A will help them get there as it did in 2020, according to a new Bain & Company report.

Interoperability and Compatibility With insurance agencies resorting to the use of digital tools, insurers must maintain a common data environment and set protocols to achieve interoperability and compatibility across all systems.

Last year, Getsafe launched in the UK – marking the start of the company’s expansion into new markets. Despite the challenges presented by the global pandemic, Getsafe pushed on with its agenda, including gaining $30 million in new funding and beginning partnerships with leading price comparison websites. It’s time to look back on 2020.

Managing general agencies (MGAs) in Canada are currently engaging in very little mergers and acquisitions activity among themselves because the market is still growing organically and is less mature than in other countries, the managing director of the national MGA trade association told Canadian Underwriter recently.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic will be felt by the insurance industry and its customers well into 2021 as consumers and businesses continue to face economic challenges, according to a new survey by consumer credit reporting firm TransUnion.

The desire to travel is strong. While lockdowns, travel restrictions and ongoing Covid-19 outbreaks have seriously hampered our wanderlust in 2020, vaccinations give us some optimism for travel in 2021.

With automated claims processing, the turnaround time for settlement will be measured in minutes rather than days or weeks.

Newly enfranchised consumers want to stay empowered, and chatbots have been around for a while, so could this be their moment?

The total number of global ransomware reports increased by 715% in the first half of 2020 year-over-year, according to Bitdefender’s Mid-Year Threat Landscape Report 2020.

CB Insights Analyst Niall Williams discusses InsurTech-related findings of two recent reports.

The start of a new year presents a good opportunity to reflect on changes over the past 12 months and predict what lies ahead in the next. As we can see a distant end to this difficult period, it’s time to reimagine the world’s future.

A new report by Travelers reaffirms the company’s belief that the auto insurance industry will play a “critical role” as lawmakers, regulators and society adjust to innovations in transportation, including the shift towards autonomous driving.

The future of insurance as-a-service, especially for claims, requires an action-based model that leverages on-demand support.

Increasingly digital customers are demanding more from insurers. They want help preventing injury and loss. And insurers who re-invent their offerings with AI capabilities will be poised to deliver. 

Experts looking at the InsurTech sector for 2021 see both more of the same and new things ahead. Some predict more IPOs, M&A and partnerships. Others expect new InsurTech ideas to fully take root, such as the embedding of insurance into every financial and retail transaction.

With assets under management of around €10 trillion, insurers in Europe have plenty of financial clout to drive changes that will promote sustainability earn them more trust among customers.

After a year of economic turmoil, the US emerged from 2020 with its insurtech crown intact. American companies accounted for 39 places in FinTech Global’s InsurTech 100 (2020) – almost double that of its closest competitor. Of the insurtech megarounds completed by the third quarter, 75% took place in the US, with insurtechs flourishing in startup strongholds like Silicon Valley and New York, and across the Midwest and South.

Throughout the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic challenged insurers to better understand customer needs and preferences while also accelerating digitization efforts.

Today when we speak about digital transformation within insurance, it can sound like it is something relatively new. In actuality, technology has been playing a pivotal role in the insurance industry for decades.

As we look back on 2020 – and aren’t we all glad to be doing that? – it’s safe to say that the rate of change in the insurance industry accelerated at least tenfold.

Both startups and established players in the reinsurance industry are likely to have a strong focus on expense efficiency in 2021, according to Dmitry Mnushkin, President of Bermuda-based insurance and reinsurance software specialists, Treefrog Consulting.

The head of New York Life Ventures talks about the impact of the pandemic on the world of InsurTech investment.

Three out of four consumers (76%) would welcome assistance from their insurer in dealing with cybersecurity threats as the pandemic drives more consumers online, according to a new report from Accenture.

We cannot wait for 2020 to be over. Despite what we all feared in March, insurtech has continued to flourish, with lots of capital supporting the sector in public and private markets, closer integration between incumbents and startups, and promising solutions for long-time needs in SME and cyber.

From dematerialization to personalization. From IoT to Machine Learning. From Virtual Reality to gamification…and more. Here are the top 10 digital trends for insurance.

Cyber insurance has been identified as a key growth area for London, according to a study conducted by the City of London Corporation and Accenture.

In an interview with Karen Webster, Hippo CEO Assaf Wand made the case that online platforms can solve the pain points of getting claims paid, but also set up a steady oversight of home maintenance that keeps trouble spots to a minimum.

The rise of the sharing economy has dramatically reshaped marketing thought and practice. The projected revenue from sharing accommodations and transportation alone will surpass $335 billion in 2025. The recent initial public offerings of Uber and Lyft exemplify this remarkable growth.

Insurtech company Cuvva is urging the insurance industry to make their coverage options more flexible for UK students travelling back home for Christmas.

Braxtone Group unveils new motor claims recovery platform after graduating from regulatory sandbox of Bahrain Central Bank.

It’s not just tech behemoths who are invading the turf of insurers these days and giving the industry a run for its money.

If the last nine months have made anything clear, it is that the pandemic has fundamentally changed both buying and driving habits for UK motorists. The latest Tempcover research has revealed that online-only used car sales had increased fifteen-fold during the pandemic among 2,000 survey respondents.

Insurance companies should pay close attention to insurtechs—not because they’re coming to attack, but because they’re coming to collaborate. For established insurers, insurtechs can be digital enablers that drive the adoption of digital technologies along the value chain.

Connected vehicles, especially fully autonomous vehicles, are going to profoundly change the nature of car insurance – particularly the ways in which insurers assess risk and set premiums