Every year presents risks for the P&C insurance industry — some more traditional, others new and emerging. SMA's annual research on the strategic initiatives of P&C insurers reveals that for 2023, the inexorable march to digital transformation will continue along with the expansion of channel options, enhanced coverages, new partnerships and more. However, this is juxtaposed against more cautious budgets and the pullback of some more innovative initiatives.

How this will play out by the end of 2023 is a task for other industry prognosticators and seers. In the meantime, the ten key risk factors identified in this article should be considered and incorporated into strategies, and adjusted as needed throughout the year. The implications of each risk factor will vary, but most apply in some way to every segment of the market.

1. Key risk factor: Digital exhaustion

Digital transformation in the industry has been underway for many years. The pandemic and changing customer expectations have further elevated the journey to the digital enterprise. Most in the industry have graduated from thinking that digital is only about customers to recognizing it spans the whole internal and external ecosystem. In practice, this results in dozens or even hundreds of projects to address the process, technology, data and organizational aspects of transformation.