This week in insurance: AI adoption accelerates, premium growth cools, Zurich raises Beazley bid
AI spending is climbing, premium growth is set to cool, and deal activity stayed in focus. Here's what matters for underwriting, pricing, risk, and distribution teams right now.
GenAI in insurance: fast growth, real use cases
Generative AI in insurance is projected to reach $1.4b in 2025, with a 28.5% CAGR pushing it to $4.8b by 2030. Expect investment to concentrate on claims triage, fraud detection, underwriting support, and broker/agent productivity.
Make it pay back: start with high-volume workflows, define guardrails, and track loss ratio and expense ratio impact. Tie pilots to a clear owner, a 90-day target, and measurable uplift.
Growth and margins: pricing tailwind fades into 2026
After several years of firm rates, non-life premium growth is set to cool as competition intensifies and rate increases are harder to sustain. Margin pressure shifts the focus to expense discipline, sharper segmentation, and retention strategy over pure rate.
Implication: lean into underwriting sophistication, product mix optimization, and distribution cost control. Small execution gains will matter more than big bet pricing moves.
Regulatory watch: IAIS flags new risk concentrations
Global insurers remain financially strong, with solvency, liquidity, and profitability holding up. Systemic risk is slightly lower than last year and remains well below banking.
Areas to monitor: higher allocations to private credit, geopolitical fragmentation, and broader AI use introducing new operational and model risks. Expect more scrutiny on model governance, third-party risk, and transparency.
IAIS resources can help benchmark your risk posture and disclosures.
Corporate moves to track
- Zurich-Beazley: Zurich raised its cash offer to acquire 100% of Beazley to 1,280 pence (~$17.15) per share after an earlier 1,230 pence (~$16.48) bid was rejected on 16 January. Watch for board response, any rival interest, and regulatory milestones.
- Embedded protection in PH: GCash's Fuse Financing and GInsure are offering free loan and health insurance via GLoan Protect for disbursements of at least $8.00, underwritten by Oona Insurance Corporation. It's a limited-time offer and a signal that micro-ticket coverage with credit products continues to gain traction.
- Brokerage ownership: Lockton is now the majority shareholder of Lockton Sime Insurance Brokers Sdn. Bhd. (formerly Sime Darby Lockton Insurance Brokers Sdn. Bhd.), effective 31 December 2025. Expect cross-border placement and specialty capabilities to deepen in Malaysia.
What to do this quarter
- Underwriting: Tighten appetite guardrails where rate adequacy is thinning; refresh broker guidance and deal escalation rules.
- Pricing/actuarial: Refit models with recent loss trend and reinsurance costs; prioritize segments where retention is high and price elasticity is low.
- Claims: Pilot AI-enabled FNOL and fraud scoring on a narrow line; measure cycle time, leakage, and indemnity savings.
- Risk/compliance: Stand up AI model inventories, validation standards, and human-in-the-loop controls; stress test private credit exposures.
- Corporate dev: Map potential consolidation targets and distribution partnerships; pressure-test integration playbooks ahead of any deal wave.
- Distribution: Explore embedded and micro-coverage partnerships, especially with lenders and fintechs in growth markets.
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