HOW HAS THE CRISIS AFFECTED THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY?

No sector has escaped unscathed from the crisis; the insurance industry has also had to deal with this situation but has managed to resist without major damage.

As we have seen in our comparison with the rest of Europe, the premiums per person paid fell by more than 17% between 2008 and 2014. This decrease in contracting, however, has not had a devastating effect, much less on the sector, which has managed not only to continue offering the same type of services but also to avoid large losses in its workforce and even maintain its weight in the industry in the economy as a whole. In fact, in the same period, 2008-2014, the contribution of insurance premiums to the Gross Domestic Product fell by only one-tenth, while in Europe as a whole it fell by almost 3%.

The solidity of the insurance industry, which has resisted even in times of crisis, is not due to mere chance or good fortune but to the mechanisms that the sector has to guarantee its stability. On the one hand, there are external mechanisms, that is, the supervision that the State applies constantly. On the other hand, the mechanisms of the industry, such as reinsurance or the employers themselves.

General Directorate of Insurance and Pension Funds

Control, inspection, and supervision of the operations of insurance companies and attention to customer claims

Insurance Compensation Consortium

An organization that not only guarantees access to insurance for all citizens but also responds for the sector in extraordinary cases.

external mechanisms

Technical provisions and solvency margin

Technical provisions and solvency margin, that is, the economic balance of the insurer that guarantees that it will be able to cover the commitments acquired with its clients.

Reinsurance

A kind of “insurance insurance” whereby the insurer transfers part of the risks of a policy to another insurer. In the event of an accident, the costs would be divided.

Agro insurance

Coverage system to protect against certain risks in the agricultural sector, especially weather, agricultural crops, and livestock.

These mechanisms have contributed to the insurance & bond sector resisting the economic crisis that began in 2008. In fact, even in the most critical moments for our economy, insurers have had solvency margins above what is required by law.

As a whole, the insurance sector has an excess of assets close to 30,000 million euros; that is, the value of said goods that exceeds what they have to have to cover their commitments. The surplus resources, above the solvency margin, about 26,000 million, more than double the minimum amount that the law requires to cover.

WOMEN GAIN GROUND IN THE INSURANCE SECTOR

More women than men work in the insurance sector. In the last thirty years, female employment in insurance, as measured by the EPA, has increased fivefold.

Is there much to do? Of course. But let’s say that some lack less than others.

And it is that five is twice as much as two and a half, which is the ratio by which female employment has multiplied in the economy as a whole. Thus, being a woman has been twice as much of a bargain when it comes to finding work in insurance than in the other sectors as a whole.

Nowadays, the woman is found in any corner of this activity. Years ago, it was true any meeting of technical managers (actuaries) or risk managers (economists) of insurance companies was, basically, a meeting of jackets, pants, and a vest. But that, today, has changed.

Optimistic figures, however, can always be relativized, and they usually are on the same side: that more women work does not necessarily mean that they do so in positions of greater responsibility. E so is true, and for that reason, we can only recognize that there is still a long way to go. But the insurance industry, at least, is on the right track.

In 2015, according to available figures, one in seven insurance managers was a manager. Or, if you prefer, almost 15% of the people with the highest management responsibilities in insurance companies were women. The figure acquires its true relevance if it is viewed historically.

Today, one in seven insurance managers is a woman.

Indeed, 15% may not seem like much, but it is no longer so little if you see that in 2004, a decade earlier, it was a third. Today, as we have already said, one in seven insurance managers is a woman. Eleven years ago, you had to count to twenty.

There is a lot of pending ground up to 50% to which they can and should aspire: 35 points, slightly more than double what women in the sector have already covered. But what no one can deny is that the path is laid out; it is solid and free of hesitation. In addition, the greatest growth in the female presence among insurance managers turns out to have occurred during the years of the crisis. As if to say that this sector does not trust women to manage it.

The greatest growth of women among insurance managers has occurred during the crisis.

And, what has been said: whoever wants to criticize these figures, who exhibit those of their sector.