Insurers show gaps in Solvency II readiness

Hosted by the Ernst & Young Global Insurance Center

In the summer of 2012, Ernst & Young conducted a Pan-European survey that spanned 19 countries, with participants from more than 160 insurance companies. The results are a self-assessment of the insurers, and express their views on current topics relating to Solvency II and where they stand on implementation readiness for Pillar 1, Pillar 2 and Pillar 3. The findings shed light on key areas, including data and IT readiness, application of internal models, integration of risk capital models in value-based management and capital optimization.

Key findings:

• 43% do not expect to fully meet the Solvency II requirements until 2015 or later.
• Almost 90% believe they will meet the 1 January 2015 date recently proposed by the European Commission.
• The best prepared insurers (self-assessed) are in the UK and the Netherlands; among the least prepared are in Germany and Italy.
• Insurers demonstrate a high state of readiness in implementing a Pillar 1 balance sheet and fulfilling some Pillar 2 requirements.
• Pillar 3 presents a major undertaking - 80% of respondents have yet to meet the requirements.
• Integrating data and IT systems will be a significant challenge.

Please join Ernst & Young's Global Solvency II Leader Martin Bradley and Jan Leiding, Partner, (Ernst & Young AG) in a webcast discussion around the key findings from one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys in the industry.