New Global Insurance Thought Leadership

We are pleased to announce the launch of the second survey in a two-part global insurance series - Getting the balance right – Long-term capital, risk and regulatory challenges for insurers.

Launched in Zurich on November 10, 2009 at the Reactions Global Insurance Conference sponsored by KPMG International, this thought leadership explores the challenges that the industry will face in the next few years. Namely capital management; the rising importance of the risk function; the increasing interdependency between these two disciplines; along with growing regulatory changes in and impact upon the industry.

Key messages
• Regulatory changes are seen both as an opportunity to create financial stability and stronger risk management, but also a barrier to (short-term) growth. The findings also indicate scarcity and high cost of capital, and higher capital requirements are considered barriers to growth for insurers.

• Drivers for improving risk and capital management are business related, not as a result of compliance; as such it is crucial that insurers adopt a proactive approach to regulatory change to improve business performance.

• The importance of risk governance is rising up the agenda, evidenced by the increasing trend in appointing a Chief Risk Officer. The survey findings highlight that the majority report to the Chief Executive or the board, however there is also a challenge to improve the understanding and expertise at this level and coordinate the risk function with other parts of the business.

• Poor data quality is seen to be the biggest obstacle to improving risk and capital management, however there is little investment in this area.

Please click here to download the PDF