A Review on the International Symposium for Brokers and Insurers in Velden, Austria
This year’s international symposium for insurers and brokers took place in Velden at the lake Wörthersee. On May 9th and 10th, industry experts discussed changed framework conditions, opportunities and challenges for insurers and brokers.
Every Two Years
The Velden Symposium is organised every two years by the Association of Insurance Brokers and Consultants in Insurance Matters (Fachverband der Versicherungsmakler und Berater in Versicherungsangelegenheiten) together with the Austrian Society for Insurance Expertise (Österreichische Gesellschaft für Versicherungsfachwissen – GVFW). The symposium is the meeting point of the who-is-who of the domestic and international insurance industry.
In addition to the professional exchange, the personal exchange was of course not too scarce.
The Topics
At the invitation of the Austrian Society for Insurance, renowned representatives from brokerage and the insurance industry discussed the following topics in the Casineum Velden:
- The new trade and civil law regulations for insurance brokerage: How do they affect the daily work in the brokerage office, what do insurers expect, how do brokers prepare for future audits?
- What relevance do Supreme Court decisions on insurance brokers in Austria and Germany have for day-to-day work in the brokerage office?
- Digitisation: Same rules for all distribution channels
- Panel discussion on the topic of “Interfaces”
- Innovations in the VersVG
- Less is more! Inner reflection and silence in turbulent times
- Ethical conduct as a gain for insurance brokers and clients
Insurtech Meets Traditional Insurance
The final part of the conference, which dealt with the subject of ethics in insurance sales, became quite emotional. References were made to the centuries-old tradition of the ethics of insurance brokers. The Hammurabi was quoted as were the old businessman’s vows.
For bsurance as a “child of modernity”, it was a particularly exciting event, gathering interesting insights and positions of the traditional insurance world and interpret them with our own perception in the environment of an Insurtech.
The subject of digitisation is still highly sought-after and wildly controversial. Ronald Barazon, moderator of the panel discussion, asked the question whether digital per se is evil? The unanimous opinion was that digitalization would be an indispensable process facilitation and that consulting, as the core of the sales process, would still be necessary. However, it was all the more important to ensure that customer data was handled carefully.
This once again confirms the B2B2C business model of bsurance as a perfect complement to the traditional insurance world: “We see ourselves as bridge builders, companions, and in some places also as pioneers for the digital transformation of the insurance industry.
