ICMIF, as the only global representative body for the cooperative/mutual insurance sector, has an important role to play in measuring, building and protecting the sector’s reputation across the world. A strong reputation gives us and our member organisations more visibility, to be better understood and more able to influence our future.

The Global Reputation Report 2016 is a follow-up to the original Global Reputation Report which we published in 2013 and is based on research undertaken by Reputation Consultancy. The 2013 research provided evidence of the quality and strength of the global reputation held by the cooperative and mutual insurance sector for the first time, and ICMIF responded to the findings by devising a strategy based on clear, measurable priorities for further strengthening the sector’s reputation.

The 2016 report measures the progress made against those priorities and identifies the key learnings and challenges for the future reputation of the sector.

Shaun Tarbuck, Chief Executive, ICMIF, said: “Here at ICMIF, our main aims are to support, strengthen and grow the cooperative and mutual insurance sector, and to ensure that insurance protection is accessible through our unique business models to all socio-economic groups across the world. The insights gleaned from the 2013 report have been invaluable in determining how and where we can work most effectively to strengthen our sector’s reputation, one of its most powerful assets. Understanding how to manage reputation helps us to better identify and engage with the right stakeholders, to communicate our message and values more effectively, and to determine the path to sustained success. The findings of this latest report demonstrate the exciting progress that we are making,” Tarbuck concluded.

Key findings in the Global Reputation Report 2016 include:

• an 11% increase in the global visibility of the sector since 2013
• a 4.8% increase in the sector’s association with global influencers
• a 93% increase in the sector’s share of voice within high-profile content and conversation
• a 184% increase in references to cooperative and mutual values
• 4 out of 5 references to cooperative/mutual values are generated by stakeholders outside the sector
• a 60% increase in net positive sentiment towards the sector
• a 77.5% increase in the sector’s association with key global issues in insurance