Insurers face stronger competition over transformational changes

Nigerian insurance sector in the next few years would be witnessing transformational changes that will not only affect operations, but would bother on coping with new regulations, increased consumer appetite and new technologies.

The change would disrupt growth trend of individual companies, and those that fail to respond to new transformational changes would be over-taken by their peers in a competition analysts say would be very fierce.

According to PwC 17th Annual Global CEO Survey, insurers are facing as much change in the next five years as they’ve seen in the past 50, but concerns are that many companies have been slow to respond to the transformational changes in the market, so favouring more proactive competitors.

The report also notes that insurers face the challenge of how to capitalise on the growth potential created by a wealthier and longer living global population, while grappling with the accelerating and potentially disruptive impacts of technology, new regulation and fast changing customer expectations.

Sector leaders however recognise the rapid changes in their marketplace, and so see technological advances as the trend most likely to transform their businesses over the next five years, followed by demographic changes, and then shifts in global economic power.

What once seemed to be far in the future is becoming reality in today’s insurance marketplace. The digital experience is increasingly defining service standards and new analytical techniques are offering the opportunity to more effectively price coverage and control risks.

According to the analysts, the insurers who take advantage of these developments will have clear insights into how the marketplace is changing, where they’re best able to compete, and be agile and decisive enough to respond quickly to important challenges and opportunities. They also will use the latest developments in technology to enhance customer profiling, reduce costs, and improve customer experience.

The urgency of responding to these challenges is heightened by the extent to which the markets are witnessing aggressive competition from other financial services sectors and a new breed of nimble, tech-enabled entrants. In fact, half of the insurance CEOs see new market entrants as a potential business threat, far more than in any other financial services sector.

Modestus  Anaesoronye