Insurance executives around the world expect to see growth over the next 12 months, according to a survey just released by KPMG International and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

KPMG’s survey (‘A Glimmer of Hope: Growth prospects in the global insurance industry and the escalation of risk and capital management’) of 315 industry executives from 49 countries in March and April 2009 shows that more than half the respondents expect an improvement in organic growth (55%) and expect an improvement in growth by acquisition or take-over (53%) during the next 12 months.

Respondents are also positive about their business prospects as they relate to premium volume (53%), expense ratio (53%) and capital reserves (47%). They are least positive about their share price, with only 40% of respondents expecting to see an improvement in this area.

Concern over the impact of the weakened economy, and particularly the capital markets, has increased insurance companies’ focus on risk management, the survey found.

Both regulators and government showed double-digit growth in terms of influence on company risk management policy and execution; ratings agencies decreased the most, with their influence falling by half to 14%.

Tags: Report

This entry was posted by Garry Booth on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 1:44 pm and is filed under Insurance Commentary.