by Bill Pieroni, ACORD President & CEO
The disruptive effects of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic run from the obvious to the subtle. Within the insurance industry, it is accelerating changes that high-performing insurers have already been embracing. As ACORD member firm EY stated in a recent article,
"For an industry that was already undergoing significant change on multiple fronts (including a high degree of self-disruption), COVID-19 is likely to act as an accelerant to important trends. In that sense, it’s bringing the future into much clearer focus. Insurers’ long-term plans suddenly have near-term urgency, as if the future arrived sooner than expected."
At the local onset of the pandemic, ACORD R&D was in the midst of updating our annual Insurance Digital Maturity Study. This analysis segments the top carriers worldwide by level of digital capabilities, and examines the correlation between digital maturity and financial performance.
Unsurprisingly, digitally mature insurers are proving more resilient as colleagues and customers find it necessary to engage and transact business through digital channels. Publicly traded insurers in the top tiers of digital maturity have achieved year-to-date returns 15% higher than their industry peers. Details will be released soon in the 2020 edition of the study.
In response to industry needs, ACORD has accelerated the development of both Next-Generation Digital Standards and ACORD Digital Solutions. We remain committed to helping our members embrace the benefits of digital data exchange.