Pulse Check – State of the European Insurance Industry 2021

How can insurers survive and thrive in this new digital era? In a just-completed survey sponsored by Hexaware Technologies, ISG interviewed more than 200 insurance and technology ecosystem executives across Europe to get their perspectives on what needs to change for insurers to succeed.

The European insurance industry is at its digital tipping point. The rise of millennial buyers, emerging competition, margin pressures, and a tightening regulatory environment have come together to create a perfect storm. What we’re seeing here is a ”survival of the fittest” situation; only agile, data-driven, and digitally enabled insurers will survive in the coming years.

But are companies already working on the right issues? Is insurance digital transformation already on a safe track? The second edition of our annual ISG Pulse of the Insurance Industry Survey explores which priorities are actually at the top of the agenda. Our discussions ranged from managing customer centricity to the emergence of hyperscalers, to competing for data, optimizing internal operations, and building the insurance industry of the future.

Core Findings

• Nine of 10 respondents say improving customer experience is the most important driver of their digital transformation efforts
• Expanding their platform business tops the list of priorities for insurers
• The most often cited benefits of digitalization are cost savings and greater process efficiency
• Insurers’ biggest digitalization concern is increasing vulnerability to cyber attacks

Download the survey report.

About the authors

Bharti Nagraj

Bharti Nagraj is a Research Specialist with ISG Research. read moreread less

Amit Dengle

As the director and research advisory lead for ISG in EMEA, Amit leads the design and implementation of business growth strategies for C-suite clients with managed services providers. Amit is a trusted strategy design partner and financial services industry expert who publishes thought leadership content, delivers keynote addresses and designs go-to-market strategies. read moreread less

Frank Heuer

Frank Heuer is a Senior Advisor at ISG Germany. His main areas of coverage include the digital workspace, communications, social business & collaboration, cloud computing with a special focus on workspace/unified communications & collaboration as a service, and security.

The focus of his work is on advising ICT providers on strategic and operational marketing and sales issues. Mr. Heuer act as speaker on conferences and in web casts and is a member of the IDG expert network.

read moreread less