40 Insurance Trends for 2011

By Claude Penland,
Associate of the Casualty
Actuarial Society
www.InsTrends.com
 One
• 40. Bermuda market may be getting crowded,
though Flagstone Re’s Chief Executive Officer
said to not count Bermuda out.
• 39. Worldwide Takaful (Islamic insurance) market
is growing fast.
• 38. Microinsurance market has promise in
developing countries, though it may take an
enormous effort.
 Two
• 37. The values of commercial-backed
securities on insurance companies’ balance
sheets may need to be marked down.
• 36. Consider these ten emerging risks for
insurance and reinsurance companies.
Reflect on the World Economic Forum’s
list, as well as Lloyd’s.
 Three
• 35. Look out for insurance brokers with guns on
the high seas.
• 34. Actuarial jobs are the #3 career, according to
CareerCast.
• 33. High-risk health insurance pools are only
attracting two percent of expected consumers.
• 32. There will be a number of insurance
technology challenges, including cloud computing
and mobile applications.
 Four
• 31. Obesity costs $300 billion per year, according
to the Society of Actuaries.
• 30. What is the future of insurance regulation?
Actuaries consider that question.
• 29. Alternative pharmacy networks are emerging,
according to Milliman.
• 28. The annual calls for the National Flood
Insurance Program to be privatized have begun.
 Five
• 27. Beijing, China automobile traffic is
among the worst in the world. Microsoft
Research Asia is studying how cabbies get
around for better ideas about efficient
driving.
• 26. MileMeter’s pay-as-you-drive metered
car insurance is growing in popularity.
 Six
• 25. Health record proposal to support
personalized, predictive, preventative and
participatory medicine.
• 24. Insurance mergers and acquisitions are
expected to increase globally in 2011.
• 23. Office of Personnel Management plans to
build a healthcare claims database.
• 22. Disgrace insurance for sponsors is now
available to protect their reputations.
 Seven
• 21. States are borrowing from the US federal
government to pay unemployment insurance.
• 20. Property and casualty insurance companies
increase their use of predictive analytics.
• 19. Some insurance runoff specialists are growing
up fast.
• 18. Rainfall contracts launched by the CME
Group.
 Eight
• 17. There are not enough qualified insurance
regulators in the United Kingdom. Solvency II is
contributing to that employee shortage.
• 16. United States insurance companies lose 6,000
jobs.
• 15. The combination of international financial
reporting standards (IFRS) and Solvency II will
place strain on insurance companies’ balance
sheets.
 Nine
• 14. Institute of Actuaries of India has plans to
expand throughout Asia.
• 13. US companies’ health plan “grandfathering”
with regards to health “reform” is still in flux.
• 12. Medicaid costs anticipated to increase a lot in
several US states.
• 11. New Hampshire is pushing for more locally-
domiciled insurers.
 Ten
• 10. CEO’s, CFO’s, Chairmen, Presidents, CIO’s,
General Counsels and COO’s are very well paid
among the largest ten property and casualty, health
and life insurers: a compensation comparison.
• 9. The Asian reinsurance market could
consolidate.
• 8. Virtual insurance, such as crop insurance in
FarmVille, might be on the rise.
 Eleven
• 7. Insurance claims adjusters and lawyers
are using social networks for investigations.
• 6. Sinkholes in Florida are becoming an
insurance problem.
• 5. Medical malpractice costs increasing.
• 4. Automobile insurance claims costs in the
United Kingdom are rapidly rising.
 Twelve
• 3. Saudi Arabian health insurance premiums
increasing 30% per year.
• 2. Mortality improvements may slow within
a few decades.
• 1. The Canadian insurance-linked securities
market should grow.