Blog articles

Read inspirational blog articles from the mutual and cooperative sector.

Disruption: what does it mean for you and your business?

When I was invited to speak at the ICMIF Biennial Conference, and heard the theme was “redesigning insurance”, my immediate thought was that this may actually be a never-ending task. It seems that with digital disruption in full swing, all industries are faced with the problem of changing the way they do business in real […]

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Mutualism and the digital world: a revolution is urgently needed

The digital world has brought disruption in a similar way to the impact of the invention of writing or the printing press. And we are only beginning to fully gauge this impact. For those involved in developing the new digital economy, this high speed digitisation is an undeniable sign of progress. In the health sector, […]

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The regulatory challenge for mutuals: “balance”

It is a long time since a regulatory “level playing field” has been an aspiration for mutual/cooperative insurance companies. In certain jurisdictions, it is not entirely uncommon for insurance regulators or legislators to develop policies that presume all insurers have the same ownership and governance structures. But mutuals/cooperatives do not have the same ownership structures, […]

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Leading the community of members in a mutual

Unlike a listed company, which is owned by shareholders, a mutual company is made up of a community of members. This community of members guides the direction and governance of the entity, rather than shareholder interests. While this is the first time I have worked at a mutual organisation, I have not only been truly […]

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Influencing: from awareness to action

Case study of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD) The desire to influence global policy will be high on the wish list of almost every CEO in the insurance sector – certainly all of those I meet within the mutual and cooperative insurance sector. But rarely have I seen an idea move from […]

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Millennials: A sense of purpose

It’s that time of year again, when so many of us make New Year’s resolutions that cover both personal and business areas of our lives where we vow to make changes for the better. This year, I would like to suggestion a resolution for all of us in the mutual and cooperative insurance sector to […]

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Is regulation too complex and costly?

Insurance is an important and growing part of the financial sector and it exists in virtually all developed and most developing countries. A resilient and well-regulated insurance industry contributes significantly to economic growth and efficient resource allocation through the transfer of risk and mobilization of financial assets. As long ago as 2003, the IMF noted […]

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The rules of the CSR game have changed

In the past, the business world has had a patchy relationship with social ideals. On the one hand, a handful of 18th century post-industrial revolution mill owners built housing and schools, while philanthropists used their personal wealth to establish charitable institutions, but conversely, an entire capitalist market has dominated the developed world, built around the […]

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Facing up to the Generation Y challenge

To the uninitiated, Generation Y – primarily the children of the baby boomer generation – are presented to the world as the next generation who think and behave differently and who have a different set of values to their predecessors. To some, they are to be revered for their acceptance of technology as merely an extension […]

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Virtual customers and mutual values?

Many years ago, when there was no such thing as Generation Y, X or even Z a father gave his son some advice as he was about to leave the family home: “The time has come for you to leave home and my advice to you is to remember three things: use cooperative banks, visit […]

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