Kingsley Onukwugha

Insurance firms faced rising volatility from extreme weather, economic swings, and global disruptions, pushing stronger risk prediction, pricing discipline, and broader geographic diversification.
In 2025, insured catastrophe losses topped $100B, mostly in the US, driving heavier use of advanced analytics and climate tools.
Reinsurance conditions began easing after a tougher period, giving insurers more stable capacity and potentially better pricing for their own risk coverage.
Customer expectations kept shifting toward speed, personalization, transparency, and digital access, making simpler service, faster claims handling, and easier policy management bigger competitive differentiators.
AI moved beyond pilots into broader insurance operations, supporting fraud detection, underwriting help, customer service, and more tailored products, but only with strong data foundations.
Legacy systems remained a major constraint, so insurers needed cleaner integrated data, middle-office automa

Insurers Face Fast-Shifting 2026 Pressures

Insurance was framed as transaction strategy, not overhead. Experts said coverage gaps or messy claims history could cut price, raise holdbacks, or derail closing.
Addressing insurance 12 to 36 mo before a sale was presented as a fast, cost-effective way to reduce uncertainty and strengthen negotiating position.
Insurance influenced value through three channels: smoother diligence, lower escrow reliance, and steadier earnings that buyers could reward with stronger valuation multiples.
Buyers focused less on premiums than on gaps, weak limits, mishandled claims, and policies that might not respond after closing.
For sellers, early insurance reviews helped position a business attractively before market. Once a deal was underway, owners negotiated from the risk profile already in place.