Large Australian general insurance businesses have been slower than their global counterparts to invest in the digital and insurtech market

This report explores the investments that they have made and considers their contrasting approaches to those investments

The three largest general insurance businesses (by premiums earnt) have collectively invested just A$29mn in digital platforms and insurtechs since 2015. Whilst Allianz Australia has not invested in insurtech businesses, its global parent Allianz SE has invested over $A350mn into up and coming digital companies, 70% of which was made during FY18. QBE and Insurance Australia Group (IAG) have signalled their intention for further investment by allocating up to $A50mn and $A75mn to their respective venture capital funds. Lastly, Suncorp has remained conservative in their insurtech investment strategy by only directly investing in US based start-up Trov, which it hopes to bring to Australian consumers. We think that Allianz SE’s aggressive approach to insurtech investment could serve as an example for Australia and New Zealand’s general insurance groups who could potentially look to get more active in this space.