Report foresees a promising year for insurers
An office of Bao Viet insurer. Ernst Young report predicts that wealth management and personal insurance, as well as products and services, will all be growth areas in the region. — VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Vy
HCM CITY (VNS)— Insurers in the Asia-Pacific region, including Viet Nam, will have growth opportunities this year as the customer base and geographic diversity will continue to expand, according to a new report from Ernst Young.
The report, Asia-Pacific Insurance Outlook 2013, predicts that wealth management and personal insurance, as well as products and services, will all be growth areas in the region.
With such growth, insurers will be in a position to help customers meet complex financial planning needs despite the economic slowdown and evolving regulatory changes in the region.
“Growing wealth from the burgeoning middle class represents a major source of premiums and profit potential,” said Paul Clark, head of the Asia-Pacific region at Ernst Young.
“This is complicated by the diversity of mature, developing and emerging insurance markets across the region,” he added.
“Balancing risk against prudential regulation focused on improving consumer protection and increasing product transparency will be a prime consideration for insurance in 2013.”
In its report, the company also identified five factors that would influence insurers’ strategies in the region this year.
They include clarity on the best growth opportunities, including new emerging areas such as health and pensions; implications of a rapidly changing regulatory environment; and management of the evolving regional-catastrophe risk.
Investing in technology to enable growth and improve operations and risk management, as well as the need to identify innovative new services that address mobile technology, will also affect the market.
Ernst Young said 2013 would be a year of decisions for insurers in the region. —VNS