Cracking the Code: New Insurance Industry Study from State Street Shows Move from Big Data to Smart

Updated

Cracking the Code: New Insurance Industry Study from State Street Shows Move from Big Data to Smart Data is Critical

Challenges from Regulation, Changing Customer Demographics and New Investments Can Be Addressed with Enhanced Focus on Technology

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As the insurance industry faces an unprecedented shift in how it does business, a key consideration the industry needs to address is how best to leverage its investment in technology, according to the most recent survey of insurance leaders released today by State Street Corporation (NYS: STT) . Specifically, insurers are looking to better utilize data and analytics to make better investment and risk management decisions.


State Street's study, based on a survey of more than 300 insurance executives globally conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit, focused on the major industry issues and examined how prepared insurers are to face those challenges. The study, "Facing the Future: Blueprint for Growth," showed that insurers are hungry for better ways to collaborate and share data across their business:

  • Seventy-five percent of respondents say that using data more effectively across their organization is a challenge for them, with 22% citing it as a "major challenge."

  • Looking specifically at the investment portfolio, while 84% of respondents say they have access to portfolio investment data that is accurate, only two-thirds believe they have access to data that allow them to understand their total risk exposure.

  • Thirty-seven percent of respondents say they are evaluating a large-scale investment in IT systems within the next 12 months.

"Like many large, global institutions, insurers are starting to shift their technology focus from big data to smart data," said Joseph C. Antonellis, vice chairman of State Street. "The nature of what insurers do provides a wealth of data, but itis clearly a struggle to harness that data to capture meaningful, actionable insights."

In addition to leveraging data through analytics to better understand and help customers, insurers are looking to technology to address other challenges. A difficult market backdrop with a historically low interest rate environment, future investment cash flows and match them to future liabilities, while also helping to ensure compliance with new regulations and reporting requirements. In addition, State Street's performance, analytics and compliance products offer solutions to analyze performance and risk in investment portfolios.

"Technology is a vital enabler for insurers as they look to deliver on future opportunities," concluded Antonellis. "However, disparate legacy systems will make various data and systems difficult to consolidate and analyze. A systematic and fresh approach to updating and properly leveraging these systems will be a key driver for this industry in the future."

About the survey

To download the full paper or for more information on the survey please visit:

http://www.statestreet.com/vision/insurance

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYS: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $25.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.2 trillion in assets under management at March 31, 2013, State Street operates in more than 100 geographic markets worldwide, including the U.S., Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For more information, visit State Street's web site at www.statestreet.com.

This AUM includes the assets of the SPDR Gold Trust (approx. $62.7 billion as of March 31, 2013), for which State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors, serves as the marketing agent.



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www.statestreet.com
@StateStreet

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