Newsletter #06 — Every month, we pick out the insurance and brokerage news that matters. See you on the first Friday of every month at noon.
Topic of the month: digitalization and insurance, the industry enters a new era
For years, insurance kept putting off its digital transformation. Ageing systems, restrictive regulation, a conservative culture… there was no shortage of reasons to delay. Today, the pioneers who took the plunge are leading the way, and the results speak for themselves.
Rising claims costs, pressure on margins and the coming of age of AI have opened a unique window of opportunity. APIs and connected platforms are becoming the new standard. Claims handling is twice as fast. AI agents, like the ones Korint offers, automate the most time-consuming tasks: portfolio management, unpaid premiums, compliance.
For brokers and MGAs, the opportunity is real and concrete: those who digitalize now are building a model that is more efficient, more competitive and better prepared for what’s coming.
Behind the digital wave, a second revolution is already emerging: AI, which we covered in detail in our February newsletter. The good news: those who lay the right digital foundations today will be precisely the best placed to take advantage of it tomorrow.
📎 To dig deeper into digitalization in insurance:
3 insurance stories from February 2026
Zurich buys Beazley for £8.1bn: a new specialty insurance giant is born
Switzerland’s Zurich Insurance has completed its acquisition of the UK’s Beazley for £8.1bn (€9.4bn). Together, they form the world’s largest specialty insurer, with $15bn in premiums.
🔎 How to read it:
- Beazley brings Zurich top-tier expertise in high-growth segments: cyber, marine, political risk, financial lines, fine art & specie.
- The deal is part of a strong trend of consolidation at the top: large groups are strengthening their positions in specialty risks, where margins are better and competition more technical.
Concrete impact:
👉 For the market: greater concentration in specialty lines, which could reduce the number of counterparties and strengthen the negotiating power of large brokers.
🔎 Key takeaway: consolidation of the global specialty insurance market is accelerating. Fewer players, but more powerful ones: the competitive landscape for brokers is changing.
Source: News Assurances Pro
Insurtech funding bounces back
Global funding rose sharply in 2025, the first annual increase since 2021. Two thirds of the funding went to AI-centred companies, and insurers and reinsurers signed 162 direct deals in insurtechs, an all-time record.
Why it matters: risk carriers are no longer content to watch insurtech from the sidelines; they’re investing in it to secure access to the best data and models. And AI is drawing capital not to experimentation but to use cases in production: underwriting, claims, workflows.
Concrete impact:
👉 For insurers: the pressure to automate processes is intensifying sharply.
👉 For brokers: new AI productivity tools are arriving on the market, often as accessible SaaS.
🔎 Key takeaway: strategic partnerships with AI insurtechs are no longer cutting-edge; they’re necessary to avoid falling behind.
Source: Insurance Journal
Group health and protection: imbalances worsen at the start of the year
While the P&C market is softening (combined ratios often below 90%, rate cuts of up to 30% on good risks), group health and protection insurance remain under heavy structural strain.
🔎 How to read it:
- Medical inflation, an ageing workforce and rising absenteeism are combining to push group schemes out of balance.
- Recent reforms (lower Sécurité sociale daily sick-pay allowances, compulsory employer health cover now extended across the civil service) are shifting costs onto insurers and employers.
- Absenteeism risk is becoming as much an HR management issue as an insurance one.
Concrete impact:
👉 For insurers: prevention and absenteeism-management solutions are becoming real differentiators.
👉 For brokers: anticipate rate increases and help employer clients explain them to their employees.
🔎 Key takeaway: group protection players need to prepare their clients for lasting, not temporary, increases.
Source: Planète CSCA
Other news at a glance
- 🤝 Stock market: insurtech Ethos went public on the Nasdaq in early 2026 at a valuation of around $1.2bn.
- ☔️ Natural catastrophes: storms Nils and Pedro cost insurers around €1.2bn.
- ⚓️ War in Iran: tensions in the Middle East have led some insurers to cancel war-risk cover in the Strait of Hormuz, with marine premiums rising up to tenfold.
Events you might be interested in
- 🗓️ Insurtech Insights, 18–19 March, London, Europe’s largest insurtech conference. 👉 We’ll be there! Come and see us at stand K3.
- 🗓️ Les Rendez-vous du Courtage, 17 March, Marseille, the leading insurance event in the PACA region (Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur). 👉 We’ll be there! Find us in the Digital Factory area.
Alongside the event, we’re hosting a lunch on the theme “Digitalization & new products: how to boost your growth”. The goal: to give brokers concrete keys to grow their business and stand out in an increasingly competitive market.