Insurance: the new trends

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Yet 2021 had started well with the arrival of the first vaccines. The economic recovery of the first half of the year was quickly replaced by a great deal of gloom with the appearance of the new Omicron variant in early December.

In this context of uncertainty, where mixed feelings of hope and disappointment prevail, insurers and reinsurers continue to resist. Backed by solid equity capital, they will end the year 2021 with results, in principle, better than the profitable ones exhibited in 2020.

In fact, the health crisis has had little effect on the profession. It has, however, taken its toll on public finances. As a result, Covid-19 widened the gap between poor and rich countries, with those who are struggling to obtain vaccines on the one hand and those who put hundreds of billions of dollars on the table to support the economic and social fabric on the other.

For insurers, 2021 is the year of digital transformation, especially in the field of customer relations. This digitalization will lead to a distancing between the insured and the insurer, a development that will challenge the traditional distribution channels based on proximity.

In the end, the real debate of 2021 will be about the status of insurance in society. The strict enforcement of the terms of insurance contracts, which in their majority exclude the pandemic, has been perceived by policyholders as a lack of solidarity.

Beyond this misunderstanding, the year 2021 has seen the emergence of systemic risks potentially as devastating as Covid-19. Climate change, cybercrime, supply chain disruptions and pandemics are events that governments and insurers are required to face together in the interest of all parties, including policyholders.

Atlas Magazine N°187, January 2022 [1]