January 2021 – Reinsurers are focusing their technology strategies on attracting insurer clients and improving profitable decision-making, including core systems replacement and investments in business intelligence and modeling. At the same time, reinsurers are actively monitoring emerging technologies like blockchain.

This report provides an overview of reinsurers’ business and technology issues, data about the marketplace, and several examples of recent technology investments by reinsurers.

Topics

• Recent market and financial trends
• Active reinsurer landscape
• Technology issues, priorities, and examples by functional area
• Top technology priorities for 2021 and beyond

Key Points and Findings

Business intelligence and modeling are critical. Data analysis is central to the reinsurance business. Pressure from competitors means moving from Excel-based analysis to more sophisticated technologies. Larger reinsurers are investigating AI and machine learning.

Some reinsurers serve as data aggregators. They are packaging and providing data and book of business analytics to their small and midsized insurer clients.

Reinsurers are replacing core systems. Reinsurers are investing in new core systems to centralize business and deal with an increase in audits and regulation.

Reinsurance rate activity depends on client relationships, geographies, lines of business, and loss records. Insurers are currently raising capital and seeking rate increases to elevate their returns above their costs of capital.