Major forces and international trends are shaping the Kiwi insurance industry. The way everyday New Zealanders will buy, manage, and use insurance could become dramatically different.

Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and machine learning, the Internet of Things and blockchain, are redefining insurers’ operating models. Other major forces shaping the industry include demographic change, ever-changing customer expectations and preferences, the sharing economy, and other innovation and productivity initiatives.

The latest edition of KPMG's General Insurance Update publication, is now available for download, and highlights emerging future focus trends impacting the sector.

Emerging industry themes covered in the 2017 publication:

• Major forces and influences shaping our world and the insurance general sector;
  
• Mindset, trust and adaptability – the traits needed to disrupt and grow in the NZ insurance sector;
  
• Disruption and obsolescence: Exploring new solutions and embracing failure on the pathway to success;
• Applying a radically different approach to productivity to release resources and create financial capacity to invest in transformation;
• Exploring the opportunities presented by the rise of augmented and virtual reality;
• Digital labour – automating manual tasks across the value chain and optimising internal functions to deliver better value for money to customers;
• Positioning yourself for future cyber insurance market growth;
• The rise of digital ecosystem insurance products and alliances with technology partners;
• Preparing for the new Insurance Contracts Standard, NZ IFRS 17.