Commercial and specialty insurers are operating in an environment of economic turbulence driven by high inflation and are expecting an overall reduction in demand for commercial insurance due to decreases in trade. As well as a forecast downturn, carriers are facing catastrophe losses with increasing frequency, as major earthquakes and storms become the norm. To protect profitability, insurers may look for support to decrease their operating costs and drive informed risk decisions.
Capco’s expert advisory capabilities can help our clients through these challenging times. With the help of Capco, insurance organisations are building resilient business models that can respond swiftly to the change in market advancements. We partner with our clients to guide them through large scale transformation projects that will enhance their operating model and help them excel against their peers.
The commercial insurance market is experiencing its highest levels of mergers and acquisitions in recent years, with major deals taking place across Asia, US and European markets. The value of these deals was estimated as over $1bn globally in 2022. With any merger comes a variety of restructuring challenges – not least alignment of disparate technology platforms and data architecture.
Capco teams are well-placed to bring their knowledge of the insurance domain and their technology and data expertise to help our clients across their end-to-end transformation journey, from developing a future-proof architecture design, to integrating systems, standardising data and upskilling people.
As ESG takes a greater role on the agenda of commercial clients, it is increasingly important for insurers to demonstrate sustainable investment options. However, mis-selling remains a challenge due to the inconsistent application of data. Depending only on classifications and indices to identify suitable funds introduces risk and organisations must go beyond by seeking greater transparency on ESG issues to mitigate risk.
Capco offers services through our four proposition pillars that can support intermediaries in delivering the desired ESG end-state: strategy and governance, ESG data, risk management and reporting and disclosure.
In a challenging economic environment it becomes more important to innovate. Building compelling insurance products, unique propositions and meaningful partnerships are some of the ways in which insurers can differentiate themselves and attract customers and talent.
Capco works closely with insurance carriers to facilitate innovation and design. Our Capco labs bring deep expertise and creatively to solve client challenges and helm them to showcase their capabilities in new ways. We can support with specific innovation projects, or supplement these with project management capability to embed a truly agile approach to design.
Brokers have held a dominant position in the specialty insurance market throughout its history and are by far the largest distribution channel available to insurers. With increasing digitisation and a squeeze on profits, however, insurers may look to circumvent the broker to protect their premiums and build deeper, direct client relationships. For insurers to offer an appealing direct-to-customer proposition, they should have simple processes and provide meaningful insight. For brokers to stay relevant and grow their positions, they will need to build their advisory capabilities and demonstrate value to their clients beyond finding them the appropriate insurance coverage.
Capco can support insurers and intermediaries ensure they are best placed to take advantage of these challenges. By providing targeted advisory and digital transformation, focussing on process simplification and operating model optimisation, we can guide organisations through change and help them position themselves as indispensable to other parts of the insurance value chain.