A new State Street survey conducted by The Economist Intelligence Unit reveals that 82 percent of insurance executives worldwide believe that driving expansion into new geographical markets is a challenge for their companies, and 27 percent of them consider it to be a major challenge.
On a regional basis, the Asia Pacific region had the highest percentage of executives who said this was a major challenge (30 percent), followed by Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) (27 percent) and the Americas (25 percent).
The research also highlights a key reason for insurance companies expanding internationally with 72 percent of respondents saying that growing the share of their home market is a challenge (23 percent say it is a major one).
In terms of expansion, the research also reveals that 82 percent of insurance executives surveyed believe effectively allocating capital to the most business- critical priorities is a challenge. Also, 31 percent feel the creation of global platforms is a ‘major’ challenge (only 11 percent don’t see it as a challenge).
David Howie, senior vice president and head of State Street Global Services’ insurance business in the UK, said, “Many insurance firms are eyeing global expansion as a response to more muted growth prospects in domestic markets. As insurers ramp up their expansion efforts, they are looking to gain greater coordination and consistency across their multiple local businesses that may typically have been more independent.”
The State Street 2013 insurance industry survey was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit during April 2013. More than 300 responses were received from insurance executives globally across all industry sub-sectors, including life insurance companies, casualty firms and diversified insurers. Half of respondents were C-suite level, while the remainder were in senior management positions. The geographic breakdown of respondents was 36 percent from Asia Pacific, 26 percent from the Americas and 38 percent from EMEA.
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