Do Insurers Need a Red Cape to Compete in Other Markets?

Understanding why Superman can fly and run faster than a speeding locomotive is something many European insurers might want to consider.

As every comic hero fan knows, Superman had superpowers on Earth because his physique was optimized for living on Krypton, a world with much more extreme environmental conditions.

Now, I am not suggesting insurers don tights and a cape. The lesson, rather, is how insurance companies, having become so super-conditioned to survive and thrive in the especially aggressive market conditions of one national market, could leap into another less competitive national market and seize business there quickly and successfully.

In effect, what is a routine requirement for operating in one market, when transferred to another, appears to provide a superpower advantage that knocks out the competition who may not be as competitively super-fit.

This is a factor of how insurance continues to be very parochial in many markets across Europe. Tradition and stability are historic strengths, but insurers can become very insular in some markets. This can even be the case among larger, multinational insurance brands. While these are huge businesses, they have tended to grow by acquiring local independent firms. Although part of an international brand, these local operations tend to retain an insular viewpoint on what they regard as a best practice.

To learn more about how a parochial mindset affects how readily an insurer sees market opportunities or threats, please read my Finance Digest article.