# Infosys POV 
Title: Thriving in the Post-Covid Insurance Growth 
Author: Infosys Consulting 
Format: PDF 1.7 

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 An Infosys Consulting Perspective By Aaro Kauppinen, Sagar Roongta, and Jitin Sharma Consulting@Infosys.com | InfosysConsultingInsights.com THRIVING IN THE  POST-COVID  INSURANCE  GROWTH Insurance in Emerging South-East Asia 

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 CONTENTS 2 1.<|endoftext|>Introduction 2.<|endoftext|>Operating Environment Changes 3.<|endoftext|>Changed Consumer Preferences 4.<|endoftext|>Succeeding in the Next Normal 5.<|endoftext|>Recommendations for Insurers Thriving in the Post-Covid Insurance Growth © 2023 Infosys Consulting 

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 Successful insurers gain market share through CX  and personalization Emerging South-East Asian markets are seeing  tremendous growth in insurance. We expect  +9-11% Gross Written Premiums (GWP) growth  year-on-year until 2025 across the region,  contributing to incremental 34-40 billion USD  in GWP. This is much welcomed after the  COVID induced setback. Despite COVID and  other regionally impacting headwinds like  China’s extended economic slowdown or war in  Ukraine, several insurers have been able to  grow their premium income through this  tumultuous period.<|endoftext|>Our analysis of the success stories in the region  highlights three high-impact opportunities for  insurers to grow at a market-beating rate:  personalized customer experience, distribution,  and the ecosystem, and lastly, product  innovation. In addition to the three high-impact  opportunities, we identified several other  opportunities to improve their market position.<|endoftext|>INTRODUCTION 1 2 3 Personalized Customer  Experience Distribution and Ecosystem Product Innovation Other Opportunities ✓ Scenario-based Business Planning ✓ Growth Market Investments ✓ Tailored Pricing and Commercial Excellence ✓ Product Portfolio Rationalization ✓ Operational Efficiency ✓ AI and Analytical Customer Models ✓ Wearables and the Internet of Things Thriving in the Post-Covid  Insurance Growth © 2023 Infosys Consulting 3 What should insurers in South-East Asia do  to reap benefits from the  post-COVID growth momentum? 

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 INTRODUCTION This point of view is structured into 4 chapters. First, we explore the macro-level operating  environment impacts of COVID to insurance and apply a driver-based model to forecast insurance  growth in the region. Second, we summarize the changed consumer preferences towards  insurance. Third, we highlight key success stories of insurers that were able to beat the market  throughout this tumultuous period. And in our Fourth chapter, we summarize all the key learnings  how insurers could accelerate their growth in the post-COVID economy.<|endoftext|>Product innovation provided two growth opportunities for insurers:  response to market changes and increase in relevancy. The most agile  insurers were able to release new products covering COVID-related risks.  Financial and insurance literacy has not developed at the rate of digital  technology adoption; targeted, customer-friendly products have been a  success driver for insurers to penetrate the previously uninsured  segments.<|endoftext|>Distribution and sales are still largely driven using agency and broker   channels in the region. The individuals still want the personal contact to  understand the relatively complex insurance products. Supporting  agents and brokers with digital tools and training, and therefore enabling  the digital customer experience through an intermediary is a major  growth driver.  Ecosystem participation, including bancassurance, is prevalent through  the region. Providing the right offers and tools for the right partners and  through the right ecosystems is the key for growth.<|endoftext|>Personalized customer experience is a digital and analytics- driven approach to increase the insurance income, GWP, customer  satisfaction, and cost-to-income ratio. Targeted and tailored messaging  from marketing, through sales, underwriting, claims and the rest of the  customer journey has proven its value in the region. Emerging South- East Asia is generally favorable in sharing their data for personalized  experiences and they have adopted mobile and digital technologies to  match or even beat the developed APAC.<|endoftext|>Thriving in the Post-Covid Insurance Growth © 2023 Infosys Consulting 4 

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 COVID-induced drop in economy was succeeded  with accelerated growth The immediate impact of COVID was the  restrictive government policies and reduction  of economic activity. The GDP for the emerging  South-East Asia dropped by 4.3% in 2020 from  2019 levels and recovered only the next year  2021. Despite the recovery with accelerated  GDP growth at 8.0%, the GDP will not reach  the pre-COVID growth trajectory before 2025.1 China has been the principal driver for  economic growth in Asia and its restrictive  COVID policies extended the depressed  economic growth. The sudden loosening of  China’s restrictions has resulted in a mixed  immediate response. We expect that eventually  the loosened policies will re-accelerate its  economic engine bringing growth for the entire  region. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine and  resulting sanctions has led to further reduction  of growth prospects; South-East Asia is  geographically relatively far away from the war,  but the impacts to trade, food and energy have  extended to the region.2 OPERATING ENVIRONMENT CHANGES 1,289 535 402 434 414 2,497 2,668 2,849 2,727 2,942 3,178 3,441 3,698 3,995 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Emerging South-East Asia GDP by country  Vietnam Malaysia Philippines Thailand Indonesia B USD +6.8% +8.0% +7.9% -4.3% The others include Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.<|endoftext|>KEY ACTIONS FOR INSURERS ✓ Prepare for growth: SEA economies will  exceed pre-pandemic growth rates.<|endoftext|>✓ Use scenario-based business planning:  Discrete world events dramatically impact  the macro-economic environment.<|endoftext|>Thriving in the Post-Covid  Insurance Growth © 2023 Infosys Consulting 5 

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 Out of the South-East Asian markets, we  analyzed Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia,  Vietnam, and the Philippines which constitute  97% of the region’s GDP. The COVID-induced  financial hardship led to an overall reduced  spending on insurance. Pre-COVID, from 2016  to 2019, the total GWP had grown 7.1%  annually (in USD). From 2019 to 2020 it shrank  by 1.1%. Post-COVID, in 2021, the insurance  spending increased by 6.8%.3, 4, 5, 6, 7 We are forecasting the GWP to grow 9-11%  year-over-year until 2025 aligned with the  elevated GDP growth. Especially Vietnam and  Indonesia are expected to be the growth  drivers contributing ~50% of the total growth  of the 5 countries.  OPERATING ENVIRONMENT CHANGES KEY ACTIONS FOR INSURERS ✓ Focus on growth markets: Especially  Vietnam and Indonesia.<|endoftext|>✓ Proactive pricing: Inflation-driven growth  needs active management of policy prices;  adjust policy price review cadence to  match the increased claim costs and  market requirements.<|endoftext|>✓ Differentiated product adjustments:  Increase prices for premium products  which are less price-sensitive; reduce the  coverage and therefore the exposure of  basic products to alleviate price increase  pressure of highly price-sensitive customer  groups.<|endoftext|>16.9 19.1 18.6 19.4 17.5 17.3 14.0 14.1 15.6 16.6 16.8 17.9 5.1 5.2 5.6 5.8 6.0 8.3 22.1 24.4 26.7 27.7 27.1 27.7 3.9 4.7 5.8 6.9 8.1 9.5 27.6 25.1 10.2 34.9 18.7 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 GWP in SEA emerging markets Vietnam Malaysia Philippines Thailand Indonesia B USD Thriving in the Post-Covid  Insurance Growth © 2023 Infosys Consulting 6 

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