Change management and cyber risk are insurers' top risks
Source: Asia Insurance Review | Jul 2017
Global Cyber
The global insurance industry’s ability to confront structural and technological changes is now the greatest risk it faces, according to a new survey of insurers and close industry observers.
According to the Insurance Banana Skins 2017 biennial survey conducted by PwC and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI), change management is at the head of a cluster of operating risks which have jumped to the top of the rankings. No. 2 is cyber risk, with anxiety rising about attacks on insurers themselves as well as the costs of underwriting cyber-crime. Other major concerns include the adequacy of insurer’s internal technology systems and new competition, particularly from the ‘InsurTech’ sector. Technology (No. 3) is a common theme in virtually all the major changes facing the industry.
Regulatory risk, which topped the last three editions of this survey, has fallen out of the top five this year. This is largely because recent regulatory changes are settling in to business as usual (eg Solvency II), though the cost and complication of regulation continue to be a concern. A