Nanotechnology will affect the future of the insurance industry with both positive and negative implications according to Jack Uldrich, president of The Nano Veritas Group,
In a keynote speech at the ISOTech event 2005 held in Las Vegas he said that nanotechnology would increase the durability of materials, enabling them to withstand greater pressure from hurricanes, flooding and earthquakes and thus reduce the damage caused to property and ultimately the payout that insurers will have to make.
Uldrich also looked at how current developments in nanotechnology would revolutionise the detection, prevention and treatment of a number of medical conditions, reducing medical expenses and therefore insurance costs.
However, he warned that there were many unknown effects on public health and the environment that would make it harder for insurers to set reserves, particularly for those who work with nanotechnology.
In the second keynote speech, ISO chairman Frank Coyne warned that leading-edge insurance companies that adopt new technology are stealing a significant competitive advantage.
Coyne said: "A chasm is growing between those who use state-of-the-art analytics and those who don't; between the ‘haves' and the ‘have nots'. The ‘haves' will be able to write business at the margins they target, and the ‘have nots' will fall victim to adverse selection. The bar will rise continually as competition drives weaker players from the field.
"Insurers have to reinvent themselves by harnessing new technologies all along the value-creation chain in order to survive and prosper."
