Zurich North America’s CEO Foley on the Future of Insurance

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

Mike Foley, CEO, Zurich North America

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?

Foley (Zurich NA): The world is becoming riskier every day. It’s more interconnected than ever before. With the rate of change happening so fast, it’s really a fascinating time for us to manage risk.

Insurers that use data to garner insights and are large enough to have scale will stand out from the pack. Right now, the advancement of analytics coupled with underwriter judgment is driving better risk selection and pricing. We know underwriters who use insights from models to augment their decisions have better outcomes. After conducting a recent study of underwriters’ decision-making, we found that individual pattern recognition is not always sufficient in today’s complex world. We set them up for success by having the right technical capabilities available to them. At Zurich North America, we developed nearly 30 predictive models that are being used today in claims, underwriting and for prospecting.

At Zurich North America, we developed nearly 30 predictive models that are being used today in claims, underwriting and for prospecting.

When thinking about the future of the industry, the talk now is all about technology. Digitization and automation alone are not keys to success. What really matters is how we connect with our customers and gain a clear understanding of their needs. Our strategic focus is on the customer. Our success comes when we make our technical capabilities a competitive advantage, develop relationships that build trust, and deliver propositions and capabilities that reflect what our customers value.

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