Study Identifies Key Factors for Insurers to Successfully Navigate the Digital Journey
PEARL RIVER, New York and LONDON, Aug. 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- ACORD, the global standards-setting body for the insurance industry, today released its 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study of the world's top 130 insurance carriers.
A rapidly evolving insurance ecosystem, paired with financial uncertainty amid a global pandemic, have led to a need for insurers to modernize that is more urgent than ever. Yet the ACORD study indicates that much work remains to be done. Among the 130 largest worldwide insurers, fewer than 30% have truly digitized the value chain while 13% are not leveraging digital technologies within their current business processes. Further, more than half of the insurers in the study are still exploring how digitization can be applied against their business model.
The ACORD 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study is the 4th edition of this annual study, and includes data and insights current as of July 2020. The study assessed each company's digital maturity relative to its peers; compared the extent of digital capabilities with the level of value creation; and identified the issues, implications, and most importantly, execution imperatives around successful digitization. The findings provide a clear framework for identifying deficiencies and targeting key improvements.
"The insurance industry is at a critical inflection point," said ACORD CEO Bill Pieroni. "However, there is no other industry better equipped to quickly identify, understand, and mitigate risk. As the industry increasingly understands that failing to digitize is a known risk, and that the benefits are material, insurers will place increasing value on its importance."
The study found that companies embracing digitization to develop new, technology-enabled operating models throughout the enterprise significantly outperformed the industry, and saw a direct correlation between digital maturity and total shareholder return.
"The pace of digitization continues to accelerate throughout the industry in the U.S., London, and worldwide," said Chris Newman, ACORD's Managing Director – Global. "With digital initiatives underway across the insurance ecosystem, stakeholders are finding that they must embrace emerging technologies to stay competitive in the global market."
The full 20-page ACORD 2020 Insurance Digital Maturity Study white paper, which includes strategic and execution imperatives for successfully developing digital capabilities, is free to download for ACORD members. For more information or to download the white paper, please visit www.acord.org/research.
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