The world faces a protection gap of more than $1.7 trillion. And it is widening, especially in developing markets. The Nat CAT gap in the Middle East is among the highest in the world, and the recent disasters highlight the wider difference between what’s insured and what’s not. The case with life and health insurance cover is no different. Insurers need to step out of their comfort zone, harness technology and embrace innovation to bridge the gap.

Strategy reboot

INSIGHTS - InsurTech

Rapidly changing technology is not the real threat to traditional insurance models. The real threat is hoping that applying new technologies to outdated strategies will save the day. A strategy based on distributed ledger technologies is the way...

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Maintaining insurers' relevance in the digital age

INSIGHTS - Strategic Global View

Dr Kai-Uwe Schanz of Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company argues that in order to maintain its relevance the insurance industry must come to grips with cyber risk.

All Stories

Editor's Message

Editor's Message
The year is in full swing now. And with March comes the routine of getting into full gear as preparations get underway for the July renewals as well as GAIF in Tunisia this June.

Interview

Widen the net for better spreads: Insurance House, Abu Dhabi
Aside from motor and medical, enforcing new compulsory covers in the UAE will expand the society’s safety net and increase the insurance industry’s contribution to the national economy as well as insurers’ bottom line, says Mr...
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Cover Story

Closing the Protection Gap

Gaping protection
The world faces a protection gap of more than $1.7 trillion. And it is widening, especially in developing markets. The Nat CAT gap in the Middle East is among the highest in the world, and the recent disasters highlight the wider difference between...
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Country Profile

Focus on Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi: Building new momentum
Insurers in UAE’s capital, Abu Dhabi, have always relied on corporate businesses and government-sponsored projects to boost their businesses. With the country’s vision to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons as a main source of income, the...
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Success at home and away: ADNIC
Abu Dhabi National Insurance Co (ADNIC) continues to entrench its leading position in the UAE market and explore opportunities to grow both locally and internationally, says CEO Ahmad Idris.
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Feature

Renewals

GCC - A dynamic and attractive market
Although over-capacity in the region has kept prices low, the market is poised to see a hardening market soon, says Mr Ahmed Rajab of SHIELDS Reinsurance Brokers.
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Flat rates in the Middle East despite losses
Mr Peter Englund of Zurich reviews major developments affecting the industry in 2017 and says rates remained flat in the January renewals.
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Bancassurance

Banc-king on technology
Knowing and meeting customer expectations is paramount in bancassurance, and new technologies like AI, VR and AR can help life insurers adapt to customers’ changing expectations, says Mr Apostolos Ailamakis of MetLife, Gulf.
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Life & Health

Cancer

The battle against cancer in the Middle East
Cancer is the most worrying illness in the Middle East, says Mr Howard Gough of Cigna International Markets, with early detection, overcoming cultural stigma, access to care and ability to pay being pressing issues in the battle against the illness.
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Medical Fraud

Who foots the bills for abuse?
The UAE healthcare market has become somewhat of a minefield where insureds are increasingly prescribed unnecessary drugs and advised diagnostic tests. Ms Carole Khalifé of Al-Futtaim Willis says fraud ultimately stokes medical inflation and...
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Insights

Strategic Global View

Maintaining insurers' relevance in the digital age
Dr Kai-Uwe Schanz of Dr. Schanz, Alms & Company argues that in order to maintain its relevance the insurance industry must come to grips with cyber risk.

InsurTech

Strategy reboot
Rapidly changing technology is not the real threat to traditional insurance models. The real threat is hoping that applying new technologies to outdated strategies will save the day. A strategy based on distributed ledger technologies is the way...
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Takaful Feature

Distribution

How takaful distribution can leapfrog
Takaful operators need to adopt a proactive “proposition” to distribution to meet client’s expectations and use social media prudently to translate footfalls to purchases.
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Conference Report

Milken MENA Summit: A forum to spur sustainable growth
Milken Institute’s 2018 MENA Summit in Abu Dhabi proved to be a high-level and influential networking platform to identify opportunities for the deployment of public and private capital to prompt policy action and drive development in the...
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The Last Page

Socialising insures good health
Socialising in the course of insurance work is good for both mind and body, says Cindi Betzina, a socialite of the insurance industry, aside from being the wife of Fareed Lutfi, Secretary General of the Emirates Insurance Association. She recounts...
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News

MENA

MENA: Pension reform is urgent as population ages
Large groups of the population in Arab countries remain outside pension programmes. They include mainly women, the self-employed and those working in agriculture and the informal sector. On average, the pension coverage rate for the region does not...
Debt collection is most difficult in Saudi Arabia and the UAE - Euler Hermes
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are ranked as the two most complex countries in the world for international debt collection, according to Euler Hermes’ analysis of debt collection procedures in 50 countries worldwide.
MENA: Uncertain operating conditions to test (re)insurers
The credit quality of (re)insurers operating in the MENA region is likely to be further tested over the next few years as a result of the increasingly uncertain operating environment, said A.M. Best in a report.