By 2015, IT security could be the third biggest risk for insurers

Insurance companies around the world see product development and better customer focus as the biggest growth opportunities, according to EY's latest international industry survey. The report also shows that current macroeconomic trends and the regulatory environment remain a major challenge for the sector. Insurers are also paying more and more attention to IT security.

“It is clear from a list of the top ten risk factors and opportunities that insurance companies still need to take significant steps to grow and be competitive. They need to optimize their capital and asset strategies, pay attention to price competition, and better meet consumer expectations than before. In a changing market and regulatory environment, they can only be successful if they apply the latest technical solutions and make every point of the business flexible, ”said Tamás Seregdy, Director of EY Business Advisory Services.

EY's study also makes it clear that insurance companies need to prepare for lower profits and a tighter regulatory environment in the new economic environment, he added.

Hungarian insurers can gain experience in the banking sector

In the Hungarian banking sector, the focus of the theme and development projects for years has been on improving the business intelligence that can be extracted from customer data, the targeting of the customer experience and customer offers, and increasing customer retention by predicting dropouts. We believe that it would be expedient for the insurance sector to use the experience gained during these banking projects, said Tamás Seregdy.

Product development and customer focus in focus

In the list of opportunities, company leaders ranked distribution and product development first. This is followed by fairer administration than ever before to strengthen customer satisfaction and customer trust. In third place is currently the transformation of sales in order for companies to meet changing consumer expectations. The weight of the latter issue is shown by the fact that according to insurers, by 2015 this will be the most important growth opportunity for their company.

Macroeconomic trends are the biggest challenge - there is a growing risk to IT security

Based on responses from industry decision-makers in 65 countries, current macroeconomic trends are the biggest challenge for insurers. Second on the list is the regulatory environment, and third is the financial and economic crisis in the eurozone.

Issues related to data security and cybercrime are a growing problem for companies. According to respondents, by 2015, IT security could be the third biggest risk for their company.