Insurance leaders believe next 3 years more critical than last 50
The next three years are more critical to the insurance sector than the last 50 years have been.
That’s the view of most chief executives of large US insurers, polled by KPMG for its 2016 CEO Outlook Survey. Forty-one per cent strongly agreed with the statement while another 34 per cent agreeing and 20 per cent somewhat agreeing. Just 5 per cent did not agree.
With the insurance industry in transformation, 90 per cent of the leaders said innovation is either top or among their personal agendas, although only 37 per cent said innovation within their organization is “accelerated”.
Most of the insurance CEOs said they were optimistic about the industry but highlighted concerns about the loyalty of customers. They plan to leverage disruptive technologies to improve customer relationships, sales and service offerings.
Cyber coverage to stem decline in commercial pricing says Swiss Re
Demand for cyber insurance will continue to grow in 2017, helping to ease the pricing decline in global commercial lines business according to a new outlook from Swiss Re.
The global reinsurer’s report concludes that emerging markets will be important for the growth of the insurance industry; driving non-life and growing strongly in the life sector.
Global growth for life insurance is forecast at 4.8 per cent for 2017 and 4.2 per cent in 2018 in real terms.
"The insurance industry faces headwinds, with moderate economic growth, and still ample capacity in the markets creating a challenging pricing environment," says Kurt Karl, Swiss Re's Chief Economist. "Nevertheless, premium volumes continue to grow, in both the advanced and emerging markets along with economic activity and an increase in the insurance penetration rate, particularly in emerging markets."
Although the election of Donald Trump was not explicitly incorporated into the forecast for the US, Swiss Re’s conclusion is that it is unlikely to have an impact on insurance markets in the next 2 years.
Vision plan satisfaction rankings revealed
Combined Insurance/
Chubb has been rated top for satisfaction by vision plan members with a score of 793 points from a possible 1000 in a J.D Power survey.
Overall, the sector saw growth in satisfaction based on metrics including coverage, cost, communications, customer service and reimbursement. The overall satisfaction rating among vision plan members was 753, up significantly from 707 in 2015.
“Improvements in communication are likely helping members better understand what they are getting for their money, and how to use their plans,” said
Rick Johnson, director of the Healthcare Practice at J.D. Power.
EyeMed was second in the rankings with a score of 775 and third was UnitedHealthCare/Optum with 762.
“As the entire healthcare ecosystem becomes more customer-focused, vision plans will need to continue to communicate their demonstrated value in order to keep pace,” Johnson said.
