The long-term policy issues underpinning the insurance industry are diverse. They include the effects of everything from changes in demographics, advances in data science, cyber risk, adverse weather events and natural disasters, low interest rates, and much more. Actuaries can provide valuable insights in these areas by applying their expertise and encouraging appropriate adaptations in the insurance sector and beyond.
Reforming the private sector has been a hot topic this election as companies are coming under ever-increasing public scrutiny. Businesses are under pressure to not only turn profits, but do so in an ethical way, for the benefit of the consumer. In insurance we have seen this trend develop, as regulators advance principles on, for example, fair pricing and protecting vulnerable customers, as well as the rise of data science and how it can be used to protect rather than penalise consumers.
The long-term policy issues relating to the insurance world are diverse, reflecting the wide reach and range of application of insurance right across the globe. Policy concerns are both national and international, with the impact of changes in demographics, advances in data science, cyber risk, adverse weather events and natural disasters, low interest rates, insurance inclusion and much, much more. Actuaries can provide valuable insights in these areas by applying their expertise and encouraging appropriate adaptations in the insurance sector and beyond.
The COVID-19 crisis, Brexit (and its implications for Solvency II) and the ongoing focus on insurance conduct regulation are making for a busy 2021. As the insurance world, policymakers and wider society emerge from the shadow of the pandemic, the role of insurance and how it needs to adapt to the emerging ‘new normal’ interconnected world will be the focus of much attention and effort. It is important that the insurance world does evolve, as the protections it can offer society has scarcely been needed more. Actuaries are sure to play their part in pushing insurance along its evolutionary journey.
Steven Graham, Technical Policy Manager
