What Lies Behind Insurance And Financial Industry Trends | The Communication Blog

Friday, December 9, 2011

What Lies Behind Insurance And Financial Industry Trends

By Ed Hulse


The economic crisis in the late 2000s had a transformative effect on insurance and financial industry trends. While the crisis prompted the collapse of a string of financial institutions, it also challenged the accepted economic ideology in the West of finance capitalism. While across the world we saw greater government intervention, the general consensus is that the global crisis has created a new philosophy of eclectic pragmatism.

One of the most visible recent financial trends is a greater focus on corporate social and environmental responsibility. Ernst & Young published a white paper stating that in 2010 there was a noticeable rise is the number of shareholder resolutions in the US that were focused on environmental or other forms of social accountability. While in 2010, these resolutions numbered 191, the year prior had seen only 150.

It is claimed social and environmental concerns are on the verge of a breakthrough in corporate America. Social responsibility resolutions have been gaining steady support from investors for the past six years. Twenty six per cent of ExxonMobil investors voted for the company to reveal more information to the public about its hydraulic fracturing process. This method of pumping high-pressure fluid through rock fractures to extract oil and natural gas is claimed to cause environmental damage.

Also the global economic situation changed the views of many corporations concerning unlimited and exponential expansion. There is now a greater focus on maintaining long-term growth and steady prosperity that can be resilient in changing economic climates. This is the new model replacing the strategy of hitting overly ambitious growth targets by any means necessary.

The evidence shows that the corporate world struggled to meet impossibly high projections that targeted growth in various market and regional economies. The new ideas of long term growth do however require leaders that are able to quell the desires of investors to observe instant profit in exchange for steady progress. They will need to identify what the new areas of growth are.

The string of natural disasters that have happened in early 2011 leads many analysts to predict insurance prices will rise to respond on the number of crises. Tragedies in New Zealand, Australia and Japan have ruined whole communities and boosted insurance claims.

The largest insurers in the world, Lloyds of London, claim the array of natural crises including an earthquake and flooding would raise insurance rates as businesses try to regain and rebuild. This was confirmed by global insurers Caitlin, who said the number of disasters would inevitably lead to an increase in rates.




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