Tuesday, 28 September 2021

Insurers worldwide exchange views on future challenges and opportunities for the insurance industry at inscom 2021

9/28/2021 - Under the motto "Rethinking Insurance - TURN VISION INTO VALUE," msg presented a new edition of the insurance conference munich (inscom) on September 20 and 21. For the first time, the major industry event was held in hybrid format. This meant that around 150 decision-makers from the insurance industry were guests at the Hilton Munich Park Hotel while up to 440 spectators from 38 countries took part in the event virtually. The focus of the two days was on the future of the insurance industry with regard to the major trends of today and tomorrow  – including cloud, platforms and ecosystems.

msg board members Rolf Kranz, Dr. Aristid Neuburger and Dr. Jürgen Zehetmaier kicked off the event with a three-part keynote address. Moderator Cristián Gálvez began by asking about the global drivers and their impact on the insurance industry. For Dr. Jürgen Zehetmaier, digitalization accelerated by Corona and the increased demands for sustainability and corporate social responsibility are factors that have gained in importance. These two topics in particular have fundamentally changed customer requirements for insurance companies, their offerings and IT systems. "For the industry, this means above all that the efficiency of IT systems can be significantly increased and thus meet dynamic customer expectations," Zehetmaier said. "The insurance industry therefore continues to hold high potential for automation and optimization.”

msg.Marketplace launched as one of the first B2B marketplaces for the insurance industry

Dr. Aristid Neuburger complemented Zehetmaier's contribution with further technological aspects and the need for new, digital business models: "Connected lifestyles are becoming possible, working in the cloud the standard. To accompany and support our customers in the digital transformation as msg, we have founded a new business unit, msg digital," said Neuburger. Through this unit, the msg group is channeling all competences so as to offer a comprehensive range of solutions and to be able to support customers end-to-end in the entire transformation process - from initial management consulting on the objectives to transformation consulting to the corresponding products and implementation.

Neuburger also addressed the increased relevance of platforms and digital B2B marketplaces in the insurance environment. In this context, he announced the launch of msg.Marketplace. This is one of the first marketplaces for the insurance industry and is currently features the first services from the areas of claims handling and input/output management. The offering will be successively expanded over the coming months – besides digital services from the msg group, also with digital services from partner companies.

Accompanying statutory health insurers in the healthcare ecosystem

Rolf Kranz continued the topic of platforms and ecosystems, addressing the special role of the "healthcare" ecosystem. This ecosystem comprises a large number of market participants whose role models are changing. Sector boundaries between the individual players are breaking down, which, on the one hand, creates more competition. On the other hand, however, the players are increasingly forced to work together in order to be successful. "The health ecosystem should be understood as an aggregate of different ecosystems," Kranz said. "The question remains as to how, for example, health insurers position themselves in this context – as a service partner, product provider or, in fact, as an orchestrator? As msg, we aim to support them holistically and in partnership - from implementation to strategic orchestration of ecosystems.”

Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert provides an impressive conclusion

The keynote address was followed by various presentations on related topics by the big names in the industry. For example, Dr. Alexander Vollert, Chairman of the Executive Board of AXA Konzern AG, devoted his keynote to the question "Why the world is getting more complex and insurance is getting simpler". Another keynote on "Market development in life insurance" followed the next day by Dr. Alexander Wimmer, Chairman of the Executive Board of Allianz Lebensversicherungs-AG. Also noteworthy was the speech by Jens Ringel, Managing Director of Versicherungsforen Leipzig. He presented exclusive insights into the recently published study "Claims Management 2025 - Strategies and Fields of Action for the Claims Ecosystem". Other highlights were the two podium discussions on the topics of "Platforms and Ecosystems in the Insurance Industry" and "The Insurance Industry's Path into the Cloud". A thought-provoking conclusion was also provided by this year's special guest, Prof. Dr. Norbert Lammert. In his closing speech, the former German Bundestag President addressed the major global challenges facing Germany and Europe.