Times they are a-changing…

It’s been almost 700 years since the first insurance contract was issued, and yet it’s only been in the last few years that insurers have faced fundamental changes in the way their industry operates. 

In the PWC biennial publication, part of the global Insurance Banana Skins series published with the Centre for the Study of Financial Innovation, we saw that these changes are front and centre of the risks New Zealand insurers are experiencing. 

Transformation is leading the risks New Zealand insurers are facing, with change management and technology two of the most pressing risks here in New Zealand and across the globe. 

Driving both is a need for insurers to transform their core operations and build a customer -centric value proposition. It’s a positive that insurers are aware of this risk across New Zealand. The next challenge is to convert that awareness into successful organisational transformation. 

While change management and technology were the two highest -ranked risks the sector faces, it’s the intersection of the two that will provide many of the biggest challenges for insurers. The transition to a digital business model, upgrades to core IT infrastructure and new services enabled by emerging technology like AI all exist in this collision point between the two biggest risks for New Zealand insurers.

Download: Reinventing insurance, one step at a time
A New Zealand perspective on how the change management imperative will redefine the industry