Paris, may 19, 2017 A new study by the consulting firm Oliver Wyman and Policen Direkt, a company specialized in the InsurTech, analysis of the economic models of this emerging sector and identifies the winners and losers.
Download the free guide
Boost your gains
Entitled ” The InsurTech sifted : bubble is transient or new frontier ? “the study is the first in-depth analysis of the impact of the InsurTech on the whole of the insurance sector (The study is available here in its entirety).
“The InsurTech has become a topic in scope for the entrepreneurs, investors and insurers,” says Dietmar Kottman, partner of Oliver Wyman and co-author of the study. “The new technologies are already having an impact on the insurance industry on a global scale : they result in many changes, often for the benefit of the consumer “.
So far, the observatory of the InsurTech shows that we are only at the beginning of the exploitation of all the advantages of innovation in this sector.
“A good share of current investments in the InsurTech seem to be driven by the desire to apply to the world of insurance the classic logic of the e-commerce,” stresses Nikolai Dordrechter, director general of the investment company Policen Direkt and co-author of the study. “Some areas are already surinvestis and will experience a decline. But there are still real opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors “.
The observatory of the InsurTech identifies and explores the economic models possible, at different levels of the value chain. It also identifies the actors that stand out : the operators of the InsurTech, established actors of the insurance or reinsurance industry, specialists in new technologies or companies in the secondary sectors.
The study highlights several observations about the actors present on the different segments of the value chain (submission, distribution and operations) of which :
· Proposal : this segment relates to companies developing products and services based on the insurance. This segment is the most restricted but also the one who undergoes the most change. In fact, there is a significant discrepancy between the current activity level of the InsurTech and its predictions of success. It is home to “pockets” attractive generating little activity for the moment, but offering investment opportunities unexploited. Companies positioning themselves for example as partners in risk management are likely to attract the interest of insurers in place. Conversely, companies InsurTech specialized in the new risks of digital (cyber insurance or insurance dedicated to companies digitally very active), as are the companies proposing to offer ” more than a simple insurance “, suffer a strong competition from traditional insurers.
· Distribution : renew the sales process to insurance is the perspective that generates the largest number of businesses around the world. However, this segment suffers also, in some areas, a disconnect between attractiveness and level of activity. The online brokers targeting specific, for example, face strong competition and limited means to differentiate. It is almost certain that not all will survive. But there are also areas where the economic model seems to be promising. This is the case, for example, professional platforms, or ” financial partners personal companies InsurTech offering personalized financial.
· Operations : this segment, dedicated to the management of insurance companies, is that where the consistency between the level of activity and the probability of success is highest. The activity of InsurTech is high on the american continent, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), arriving just behind. This segment is the one where companies that launch in the InsurTech have the opportunity to be dominant. Claims management continues to be an area conducive to the InsurTechs with a strong market potential. The underwriting activities are also attractive, but the competition of reinsurance companies is strong.
As shown in Nicolai Dordrechter, ” the fact that companies InsurTech conquered such and such a specific field does not mean that the insurers established will become obsolete. Moreover, the majority of these companies are focusing their efforts on collaboration with the current world of insurance. Few start-ups are positioning themselves as opponents of direct “.
“The first wave of companies InsurTech has produced a lot of activity without really disrupting the sector, concludes Dietmar Kottmann. Soon there will be a second wave, more impacting, more creative and more ambitious, capable of modifying in depth the way the insurers cover the risk. The question is how the sector will respond “.
About the study
The observatory of the InsurTech is constructed from a proprietary database, involving more than 1,000 enterprises in the sector associated with other relevant actors such as FinTechs are moving towards the world of insurance or of the actors of the new technologies helping to solve the problems of the insurance in a comprehensive manner. Policen Direkt and Oliver Wyman have classified all of the creations of enterprises by type of economic model and positioned each of these types in the value chain (submission, distribution, operations). The observatory of the InsurTech uses a comprehensive framework to assess the 19 types of economic model and identified according to their market potential and their chances of success. The approach allows to identify winners and losers among the identified actors.
Download the free guide
Boost your gains
