Predictions for 2018: Zurich's Roy Standish

Increased rate of change, disruption and innovation
No one will be any stranger to stories around the pace of change, but year after year we see changes that weren’t predicted.

But it’s not just changes to existing practices, products, or markets that we need to expect, we also need to be nimble enough to deal with things which are entirely new!

We will face new risks, new ways of helping people mitigate them, and new ways to reach those customers.

I obviously can’t predict what 2018 will bring, but insurers and brokers need to make sure they’re positioned so they can capitalise on whatever it brings and make sure our customers continue to get the support they need in their own highly evolving worlds.

More consolidation
The year 2017 has seen numerous examples of corporate activity in both the insurer and broker worlds - and I think this particular theme will continue apace in 2018.

Across the smaller end of the scale in all industries we have seen a growth in the sharing economy, and that can sometimes lead to consolidation of actual businesses too.

Our own research with the UK’s SMEs has shown time and time again that smaller businesses - including insurance brokers - are looking for ways to maximise efficiencies by sometimes working with competitors to lower their operating costs, and this can often lead to relationships which bring about merger activity.

Survival of the fittest
This is nothing new, but it’s something which becomes more and more evident.

Long-successful firms can no longer rest on their laurels, and the need to continually innovate and competitively tackle whatever market they are in - and this is of course true within our industry.

Customers large and small are becoming more demanding - why wouldn’t they - and those firms which can meet those demands will be the only ones who win!