SCOR to invest €250m in new strategic plan focused on tech, new business and up to 7% GWP growth

Global reinsurer SCOR has committed €250 million investment to its new three-year strategic plan that includes goals to enhance shareholder value, make greater use of new technologies, and generate 4-7 percent growth per year.

Dubbed 'Quantum Leap', it is SCOR's seventh such strategy since 2002 and follows the ‘Vision in Action’ plan, which was launched in 2016 with a particular focus on profitability and solvency targets.

SCOR's CEO Denis Kessler hopes that the new strategy will make it the "reinsurance company of tomorrow".

“In this increasingly stochastic and complex environment, the future of the reinsurance industry depends upon embracing new technologies and the ability to manage and analyze data. With the 'Quantum Leap' plan, SCOR is committing to a profound transformation to create the reinsurance company of the future, fully adapted to this new ecosystem," said Kessler.

As part of the transformation plan, SCOR will accelerate its use of new technologies – such as artificial intelligence, robots, blockchain, big data, multi-cloud and satellite imagery – to innovate, expand its product and services offering and increase its efficiency.

Additionally, the company has laid out a strong growth target of around 4 to 7 percent per year, and set equally weighted profitability and solvency targets that it sees as 'ambitious' in the current financial and economic environment.

The reinsurer is looking to generate a high return on equity above 800 basis points over the 5-year risk-free rates over the cycle, and an optimal solvency ratio in the 185-220 percent range.

SCOR said its 'Quantum Leap' plan aims to increase the group’s efficiency and unlock value while transitioning SCOR towards IFRS 17, a more economic-based accounting framework than IFRS 4.

SCOR believes that the reinsurance industry is navigating through an increasingly complex environment that presents both challenges and opportunities.

The group's three main pillars of focus will be digital transformation, expanding profitable new business opportunities, and strengthening digital capabilities around five key clusters.

The first pillar will see the reinsurer bring more innovative reinsurance solutions to each key step of the reinsurance process by providing new products and value-added services, a seamless digital customer experience, improved underwriting and analytics, and robotic process automation for claims processing.

Furthermore, SCOR Global P&C will develop new products and value-added services to help close insurance protection gaps and SCOR Global Life will expand the insurance safety net with insurance solutions at all stages of life.

Lastly, SCOR will provide scalability, increased agility and better integration of innovations by focusing on robotics, e-business, multi-cloud, big data and artificial intelligence.

"Over the course of the plan, SCOR will continue its dynamic combination of growth, profitability and solvency, to create value for all its stakeholders," said Kessler.

"SCOR is pursuing its growth while staying true to the fundamental principles that have shaped its success, while making greater use of new technologies, to accelerate the creation of long-term economic value.”

Get all the latest re/insurance industry news with our daily newsletter -  sign up here.

​Motor insurance premiums to plummet as autonomous cars take hold

HDI Global Specialty expands UK executive team in growth strategy

Hyperion launches new analytics business under JLT's David Flandro

AXA XL bolsters US structured risk solutions unit with AIG hire

Lockton Re beefs up global healthcare team as part of 'ambitious' expansion plan

Feature:  10 ways insurers are using insurtech to drive new business