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Swiss Re’s Mumenthaler urges fresh solutions to growing protection gap

2nd March 2018 - Author: Matt Sheehan

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Swiss Re, Christian Mumenthaler, has used his statement in the company’s 2017 financial review to urge reinsurers to address the growing protection gap using innovative solutions.

Christian Mumenthaler, Swiss Re CEOMumenthaler’s statement draws attention to the US $153 billion deficit in global insurance coverage, and the threat this gap poses to those without awareness or access to insurance.

The CEO stresses that the figure “represents too many people that will not have the financial support necessary to rebuild their lives when natural catastrophes strike in the future. It also represents a threat to entire economies.”

Moreover, Mumenthaler warns that this figure will continue to rise and that “the need for insurance is increasing due to developments such as population growth and the concentration of assets in catastrophe-prone regions.” He alludes to the year’s disaster events in Florida as an example of the industry’s inability to keep up with these trends using traditional models.

Mumenthaler proposes that Swiss Re lead the way in meeting these challenges by positioning itself as a ‘risk knowledge company’. By this, he means that the company “applies its 154 years of risk knowledge and partners with our clients so that, together, we can develop innovative insurance solutions that reach more people. In doing so, we are making the world more resilient.”

Additionally, he advocates using technology to find new solutions to providing mass insurance coverage. Mumenthaler cites Magnum and iptiQ as examples of how Swiss Re is already innovatively utilising technology in its coverage. Magnum is a piece of life and health insurance software that provides automated risk assessments and instant underwriting decisions, while iptiQ is a digital life insurance platform.

Mumenthaler’s comments follow Chairman Walter Kielholz’s message in Swiss Re’s annual review, which warned of the profound impact that technology is likely to have on the reinsurance industry in the near future.

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