AXA Chief Exec Thomas Burbell clearly sees the big tech giants Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple etc the competitive threat rather than Lemonade and other "disruptive" insurtechs.Parallels the themes expounded in "The future of insurance is happening without insurance firms" by The Economist.
"Axa’s strategy for dealing with competition from big-tech companies is to become their partner of choice. “I don’t think [big tech] will always go into the business [directly],” Mr Buberl argues.
I analysed this in "Axa boss predicts competitive threat from Faangs".
Anthony Hill in the Evening Standard yesterday warned that "Insurance needs a rethink but is ducking the big problems". Talking of Aviva and RDA in the UK he says:-
"Expect talk of digital and the move from loss-making concepts to profitably attracting a lot more customers; and sustainability, where Aviva has a good tale to tell but has been hiding its light under a bushel.
It is all good stuff but will it actually meet or attempt to meet insurance’s bigger problems? The past two chief executives also talked about strategy in similar terms, but Aviva takes a long time to turn round. Shareholders still think it is bureaucratic, lumberingly big and insular.
Tulloch might also have to decide whether general insurance is worth the candle. Andy Haste, when he was at RSA in 2010, proposed a £5 billion merger with the general insurance side of Aviva.
Aviva said no. But now Tulloch has separated general insurance from the savings side, so RSA, now run by Stephen Hester, could again be looking for a deal.
It would not solve any of the real challenges facing the industry but City advisers would make a fortune, and it would stop insurers worrying about the real issues, at least for a time. Rather like it has done for the past 50 years."
There are seismic changes building for insurers and tech giants. Time to stop ducking the issues?
Of the others, Google sits in the middle – it’s brand reputation is less important that Apple, and is not as synonomous with its hardware division. Also, its near monopoly on search leaves consumers with few choice alternatives: the mass defection to Duck Duck Go is unlikely to happen, regardless of what the privacy nerds envision. Will Tech companies become insurers? The best bet is that Amazon is already in the process with Haven, Google and Apple will take a hybrid model approach, at first working in collaboration with insurers, and over time, start to offer more insurance products as they get comfortable with certain areas of the industry: phone insurance for example.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/google-just-acquired-fitbit-why-should-worry-insurers-alex-devoto/
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