Munich Re, US CEO Kuczinski on the Future of Insurance

This article is part of Carrier Management’s series on the Future of Insurance.

Tony Kuczinski, President and CEO of Munich Re, US

Q: What major changes do you see on the horizon for the property/casualty insurance industry in the next 10 years? What will insurance companies, insurance leaders, the industry and its workforce look like in the next decade? What risks will they insure?

Kuczinski (Munich Re, US): The insurance industry is in a period of change driven by the same disruptive forces that have already transformed many other industries. Concurrently, the very nature of risk is changing, along with the tools we use to assess, manage and mitigate it.

How big is this change? A 2017 survey of industry insiders, regulators and observers conducted by PwC and the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation (CSFI) found that change management is the biggest risk facing the global insurance industry over the next two to three years. Four years ago, it ranked No. 15. Success in this environment demands perpetual innovation and the ability to reimagine the world of risk. Yet, this must come at a time when many in our industry are saddled with business models that haven’t changed much in the last 200 years.

Going forward, innovation will help our industry shed historical encumbrances, such as legacy IT systems and relatively low customer focus, to ultimately expand the boundaries of insurability. It will lead us to embrace new business models that are more data-reliant, customer-focused and service-driven.

Success in this environment demands perpetual innovation and the ability to reimagine the world of risk. Yet, this must come at a time when many in our industry are saddled with business models that haven’t changed much in the last 200 years.

For example, who would have imagined the accelerated pace of mobility, now moving well beyond telematics to the realm of autonomous driving? Or that the legal realities of widespread drone use would so quickly create a substantial market opportunity? Or that risks associated with natural catastrophes, such as flood, would become part of a changing risk landscape due to factors such as coastal building and a warming climate?

Clearly, the future of our industry, and of commerce, belongs to those who innovate.

Ultimately, our industry has two choices: We can put our heads in the sand, which I believe will lead to our demise; or we can jump into the fray and leverage the transformations around us to create new products that meet customers’ changing needs and address more complex risks while tackling fundamental changes to insurance pricing and operating models.

As insurance startups not only continue to emerge but to mature and scale over the coming years, we will need to fully engage in order to build on today’s ongoing advances in customer experience, engagement and acquisition and help to drive the changes to how insurance products are designed, priced and operated. We must provide our clients new insight, access to new technologies and tools for distribution, and service and product opportunities that will help them adapt to a changing market and enhance their business opportunities.

Clearly, the future of our industry, and of commerce, belongs to those who innovate.

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