I conducted our annual electronic survey of IIS participants in Berlin today. The most significant area of concern for non-Life insurers were risk management (ERM), profitability and meeting customer demands (products/distribution). Life insurer top concerns were distribution followed by investment opportunities to meet benefit demand.
Top financial issues for everyone were managing risk (ERM) competitive pricing, and capital management. Growth issues were new market opportunities followed by organic growth. Key operational issues were organizational talent (39%) followed by productivity, efficiency and expense controls (29%).
If I ever heard a scream for industry standards, this was it. Relying on costly and inefficient proprietary standards for moving information developed by a transitory staff is hardly a success strategy. Long term success will depend on a policy of adopting and deploying industry standards and requiring compliance from all the vendors that supply software and services to your firm.
The top industry issue was new markets (24%) followed by pricing/profitability (21%). The greatest threat to the industry was immeasurable risks (41%) followed by inadequate human capital (27%) and regulatory challenges. When asked why they attended the IIS conference, they replied: timely topics, industry leaders and networking as the top reasons. If you're doing business globally, this is the "business" event you need to attend. You already know the best insurance "systems" event to attend. :-)
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