Monday, 13 February 2012
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
Insurance bosses were invited by AMRAE to debate in Deauville whether anything has changed in the insurance industry since the first Les Rencontres, back in 1993.But maybe the question should have been whether anything has not changed in the past 20 years?
Participants described an industry that has deployed much energy in an effort to cope with a fast-changing risk environment and the evolving needs of their clients.
And they argued that, for all the difficulties insurers have faced, they have been quite capable of meeting the challenges.
“The universe of risk is expanding for the last 20 years,” said Dennis Kessler, the CEO of SCOR. “The severity of risks is increasing too. There are more risks, and they are more severe and more interconnected,” he added.
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"The market is more difficult now than 20 years ago," agreed Jean-Laurent Granier, the CEO of AXA Global P&C.
According to Mr Granier, the shape of competition has changed, with a few global players currently disputing the market with a number of specialist companies that focus on particular segments.
As a result, companies have invested much in technology as they seek to boost productivity and become fully proactive with their clients, he said.
"Insurance companies have become much closer to clients," stressed Axel Theis, the CEO of Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty.
But to follow the evolution of clients, they have also been forced to globalise their businesses. "It is not enough to internationalise, you have to globalise," he said. "Otherwise you won't be able to cope with complexity and the other challenges we are facing," added Mr Theis.
The sheer size achieved by many leading companies as they seek to increase their international interests presents its own set of challenges for the industry, according to Evan Greenberg, the chairman and CEO of ACE.
"Clients' balance sheets have become more significant, and they have globalised their businesses," he said. "Clients can take on more risks themselves. They are taking all kinds of risks, and I believe that the industry is responding fairly well to that," said Mr Greenberg.
But there are some things that have not changed much in the past two decades, although they are likely to change in future.
"All of us here [on stage], we are all white and we are all male," Mr Theis said. "I am sure that 20 years from now, things will have considerably changed."
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