E- COPY (8-14) January 2018 cover pgg-compressed | Page 10

10
Monday, January 8 - 14, 2018
INSURANCE & PENSION
Perspectives for 2018 insurance world
Deloitte chiefs: Gary Shaw and Jim Eckenrode, forecast industry trends and strategies to stay competitive in the insurance sector this year.
I
nsurance company leaders
have a lot on their plates.
Political and regulatory
upheavals around the world
are changing some of the
ground rules about how carri-
ers may operate. An accelerat-
ing evolution in the way busi-
ness is conducted is being
driven by innovation and
higher customer expectations,
while disruptive newcomers
are looking to take market
share from incumbent insur-
ers. In particular, carriers have
been racing to keep up with
insurance technology develop-
ment, as we recently docu-
mented in Fintech by the num-
bers, which analyzes startup
financing activity and trends.
However, in preparing our
annual insurance outlook, we
recognize that most insurers
remain focused on two over-
arching goals: growing top-
line sales while bolstering bot-
tom-line profitability. Stand-
ing in the way of insurers
achieving these objectives are
a wide range of challenges. Not
all of them are within the
industry's control, such as ris-
ing interest rates and catastro-
phe losses. But how effectively
insurers anticipate, prepare,
and adapt to their shifting cir-
cumstances, both strategically
and operationally, is well
within their control, and can
help differentiate them in the
market.
Where do insurers
stand as they enter 2018?
Insurer hopes for acceler-
ated growth and improved bot-
tom-line profitability were tem-
pered throughout 2017 by the
emergence of major speed
bumps, both natural and man-
made, although there seems to
be cautious optimism for
improving conditions in the
year ahead.
What is changing?
Several insurers are experi-
menting with connectivity and
advanced analytics to narrow
the life application-to-closing
process from weeks to min-
utes, lowering onboarding
costs, and minimizing the con-
sumer dropout rate. Acceler-
ated underwriting metrics,
based on digitally available
medical data, drug prescrip-
tion information, and poten-
tially even facial analytics tech-
nology can be used to estimate
an applicant's life expectancy
and eliminate traditional medi-
cal tests.
Digitalization of under-
writing can also enable online
distribution capabilities,
allowing insurers to cast their
nets wider and embrace youn-
ger demographics that often
prefer a more virtual experi-
ence. Underwriting digitaliza-
tion also could remove a bar-
rier to purchase with those of
all ages discouraged by the
long and complicated life
insurance application process.
Indeed, Deloitte's work on life
insurance underwriting sug-
gests that the likelihood of pros-
pects buying a policy once they
apply increases from about 70
percent to nearly 90 percent as
the underwriting and applica-
tion process gets closer to real
time.
Beyond underwriting, dis-
tribution also seems ripe for
digitalization. In one example,
Abaris, an InsurTech startup,
launched a direct-to-
consumer online platform for
deferred income annuities. On
the life insurance side, Ladder,
another InsurTech startup, is
now offering direct-to-
consumer policies within min-
utes, particularly targeting
younger consumers, who may
often avoid purchasing such
coverage, given the time it tra-
ditionally takes to do so. More-
over, Ladder does not charge
annual policy fees or employ
commissioned agents, poten-
tially gaining a competitive
advantage relative to incum-
bents.
Then there is the Swedish
InsurTech startup, Bima,
PENCOM extends tender date to Jan. 23
By BABATUNDE OSO
T
•Aisha Dahir Umar, Ag. DG, PENCOM
he National Pension
Commission has
extended its Invitation
to Tender for Goods and Ser-
vices published in two
national newspapers of
November 28 last year to Janu-
ary 23, 2018.
In a corrigendum posted
on its website, PENCOM said
“We refer to our earlier adver-
tisement in respect of the Invi-
tation to Tender for Goods
and Services placed in…two
newspapers of 28 November,
2017 and the Federal Tenders
Journal of 11 December 2017
and request prospective bid-
ders to note the following addi-
tional requirements.
The statement added that
Your submission should be
accompanied with:
*Sworn Affidavit disclos-
ing whether or not any Officer
of the relevant committees of
National Pension Commis-
sion or the Bureau of Public
Procurement is a former or
present Director, shareholder
or has any pecuniary interest
in the bidder and confirm that
all information presented in
its bid are true and correct in
all particulars in line with the
provision of Section 16(6) (f)
of the PPA, 2007.
*Company Profile with Cur-
riculum Vitae (C.V.) of profes-
sional staff to be deployed for
the project including copies of
their professional qualifica-
tions.
*List of Plants/Equipment
w i t h p r o o f o f O w n e r-
ship/Lease and readiness to
deploy them to site within
short time for lots 1 & 2 while
the minimum turnover to be
eligible for the projects should
not be less than N25million.
*Only technical bids will be
opened on the bid opening date
at the deadline for submission
of bids while financial bids for
successful bidders will be
opened at a later date. The
financial bids of unsuccessful
bidders at the Technical stage
will be returned unopened.
*No bidder should bid for
more than one (1) Lot.
The statement further said
those that have submitted their
bids should come and pick
their submissions in order to
update them in line with the
additional requirements.
The release noted that “doc-
uments should be dropped into
the Bid Box at the Mail Office
located on the ground floor of
the Commission’s Head Office
at Plot 174 Adetokunbo
Ademola Crescent Wuse 2,
Abuja not later than 12:00pm”
of the above date.
which is offering accident and
life micro-insurance to low-
income consumers in develop-
ing regions of Africa, Asia, and
Latin America via prepaid
credit on their mobile devices.
The game-changing potential
of such automated lead-
ge