Research Detail

By ACORD
March 2025

The challenges and opportunities facing the insurance industry in recent years have been present for some time—but now accelerated, and finally impossible to ignore. Put simply: the digitization imperative.

Existing market demands, amplified by a global pandemic, made digital channels—from remote work to online stakeholder engagement—suddenly not just an option, but a requirement. Unfortunately, the technical deficit incurred by carriers that have systematically underinvested in technology is extremely difficult to overcome. However, no industry is better equipped than ours to quickly identify, understand, and mitigate risk. Now that it is impossible to dismiss the risk of technical deficit, insurers must understand the benefits of digital maturity, and embrace digitization across the enterprise.

The ACORD Insurance Digital Maturity Study seeks to understand how technology is currently deployed across the insurance industry, and uncover the linkage between the various strategic and tactical components of IT spending and value creation.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

Video recordings and PDF versions of selected sessions originally presented at ACORD Connect 2024 are available free of charge to ACORD members and conference attendees.

Sessions include:

• ACORD Awards & Closing Remarks
• The Future Starts Now: Building a Pipeline of Insurance Talent
• An Inside Look at the ACORD Reference Architecture Capability and Process Models
• The Next Leap Forward: Automating Underwriting with Electronic Health Records
• One Application, Endless Possibilities: Benefits of the New Standard Life Insurance App
• R&D Insights: Digital Maturity, AI, and Emerging Technologies
• A Rising Tide: The Power of Community-Driven Data Standards
• Roadmap to Digital Success: Best Practices for Next-Generation Digital Standards Implementation

By ACORD
May 2024

ACORD conducted a study examining M&A activity in the insurance industry over the last decade. The study screened 15,000 global carrier transactions by insurers across P&C, life, and reinsurance, assessing M&A strategy and deal outcomes. The study evaluated several areas including motivations behind M&A activity, long-term value creation, and enablers of success. Specifically, the study sought to answer these key questions:

• What motivates carriers to engage in M&A?
• Does engaging in M&A lead to value creation?
• What are the value barriers & imperatives?

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

Video recordings and PDF versions of selected sessions originally presented at ACORD Connect 2023 are available free of charge to ACORD members and conference attendees. Sessions include:

• The ABCs of Leveraging Industry Standards: EDI, XML and JSON in L&A
• ACORD R&D Spotlight: Identifying Global Trends, Challenges & Opportunities
• Blueprint Two and You: Connectivity Readiness for the London Market
• Building a Global Tech Toolbox: How Vendors Are Working Together to Equip Their Clients for Success
• Global Automated Data Exchange: Looking Back at Successes and Forward to Transformation
• A Global Digital Revolution: Technology Breaking Down Barriers
• Harnessing the Power of Intelligent Document Processing
• One Standard, Two Standard, Red Standard, Blue Standard
• A Plethora of P&C: Lines of Business Around the Globe
• Reference Architecture: Land, Locations, and Lifeforms

ACORD Next-Generation Digital Standards are a core suite of standardized resource definition files, with JSON and YAML data-interchange formats and components that enable microservices architectural-style RESTful application programming interfaces (APIs). 

This training manual introduces the ACORD Next-Generation Digital Standards (NGDS) and describes how and when to use the artifacts provided in each release of the Standards. It is for any company that is looking to implement APIs using the ACORD Next-Generation Digital Standards and will provide guidance for new NGDS users and implementers, including instructions on how to navigate the available resources and where to look for required items.

This manual is free to download for ACORD members. Non-members interested in purchasing it should contact memberservices@acord.org.

By Alchemy Crew
March 2023

Insurance involves predictions, contract causes, risk transfer techniques, and loss reduction. Still, today the focus has moved toward protection and prevention. We all play a role in that process, which affects how we predict, estimate, react, and protect individuals, belongings, and assets from unexpected events.

Commercial sustainability aims to accelerate corporate alignment with more sustainable practices that improve how we operate using new economic methods and advanced technologies. This report evaluates commercial sustainability in insurance, leveraging data and insights from industry experts to discuss how the industry can build business infrastructures that stand the test of time.

This report is available for download to ACORD members and non-members.

By ACORD
February 2023

The global insurance industry has faced numerous challenges over the past decade, which have tested the resiliency of operating models and forced the industry to reconsider traditional strategies. The result has been technology-driven improvements along with increased innovation. Looking ahead, a key question is: what will the industry look like?

ACORD conducted an industry-wide survey of insurance professionals for their perspective on the outlook for the industry over the next twenty years. Survey participants identified the technologies, capabilities, practices, and strategies projected to have the greatest impact in the global industry in both the near and long term. The Insurance 2040 report offers key insights and priorities for insurers as they look to the future.

Video and PDF versions of selected sessions originally presented at ACORD Connect 2022 are available free of charge to ACORD members and conference attendees. Sessions include:

• ACORD's Wide World of Standards
• Digitized Claim Administration
• Driving Efficiencies the Life Insurance Underwriting Value Stream
• The Field of Products (Model)
• Global Placing, Accounting & Claims Standards & Integration
• Integration, Connectivity, & Ecosystems: From Buzzwords to Reality
• London Market Standards & Integration
• People, Process, & Technology 
• Uses of the ACORD P&C Standards: From Everyday to Innovative

By ACORD
August 2022

ACORD recently conducted an analysis of more than 11,500 carriers across 100 countries toexplore the share, growth, and drivers of industry profits across the world’s insurance markets overthe last ten years.

The ACORD Global Insurance Growth and Value Pools study identifies profit levels across market types and individual countries, looking at how country-specific factors influence strategies, tactics,outcomes, and imperatives.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

By ACORD
March 2022

In the midst of global economic uncertainty, accelerating digitization, and industry disruption, what will the London Market look like in the coming decades? The ACORD London Market Analysis 2022 provides a quantitative and qualitative overview of the London Market, as well as future trends and strategic, operational and financial imperatives.

• How has the London Market performed as a whole, and by segment?
• What is the current trajectory of the London Market, and potential future outcomes?
• What key capability and execution implications do London Market stakeholders
  have to consider?

By providing data, analysis, and insights around these questions, the ACORD London Market Analysis 2022 supports scenario-based decision making, further enabling fact based and subjective evaluation for senior leaders considering London Market investments.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

By ACORD
February 2022

ACORD recently conducted an analysis of more than 2,000 funding rounds by InsurTech start-ups around the world over the last ten years, with the goal of answering several key questions:

• How does investment in digital capabilities impact value creation for insurers?
• What are the factors that contribute to the success or failure to InsurTech investments?
• What are the essential imperatives for value capture through InsurTech adoption?

The ACORD InsurTech Investment Outcomes Study evaluates the trends in the insurance industry’s investment in technology over time, as well as the key factors that both InsurTech providers and adopters must consider in order to create and sustain value.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

PDF versions of the sessions originally presented at ACORD Connect 2021 are available free of charge to ACORD members and conference attendees. Sessions include:

• ACORD Capability Universe
• Closing the Innovation Gap: The Crossroads Between Technology and Product Development
• Global Case Study Showcase: ASG's Next Generation Data Exchange & Transformation Capabilities
• Placing & Post Placement Messaging in the Ruschlikon Community
• Travelers' ACORD Standards Journey
• ACORD Next-Gen Digital Standards Progress Report

By Intelligent AI
October 2021

The commercial property insurance market of 2021 is ripe for modernization. Insurers and brokers lack comprehensive real-time risk data to help them monitor, detect, and mitigate commercial property risks. Fewer than 5% of commercial property locations are physically surveyed for risk and, of those that are, only 1 in 7 risk recommendations are actioned. This leaves the customer and insurer exposed financially if disaster strikes.

With mounting losses, insurers are forced to increase prices and restrict coverage, with customers ultimately paying more. Commercial property insurance is currently loss-making. The status quo is not working. There is an urgent need for rapid transformation to real-time intelligent insight. Digital Twins of risk can provide a 360° view of risk across 100% of your commercial property portfolio.

This report by Intelligent AI explains how Digital Twins of risk can be used to drive a smarter underwriting and risk management approach. 

Intelligent AI was the winner of the 2021 ACORD InsurTech Innovation Challenge London.

By ACORD
June 2021

Digital sales continue to demonstrate increasing levels of growth, accelerated by the shift to digital interaction during a global pandemic. To remain competitive in US personal lines, providing an effective and compelling digital customer experience is critical. Are carriers delivering?

ACORD’s U.S. Personal Lines Digital Customer Experience Study screened the websites of more than 1,250 carriers and evaluated candidates across 121 criteria, in order to answer key questions:

• How does the U.S. insurance industry perform compared to its global peers? How big is the gap between the most and least successful websites?
• Does customer engagement go hand-in-hand with functionality and ultimate consumer satisfaction? Which of them does the industry find it more challenging to deliver?
• Are U.S. consumers vocal brand advocates compared to their counterparts in other countries? Are they more likely to share their positive or negative experiences?

ACORD R&D strategic reports are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

By ACORD & Alchemy Crew
April 2021

ACORD and Alchemy Crew recently conducted an extensive analysis of the leading European-headquartered insurers, representing €1.2T+ in annual revenue. The goal of the analysis was to explore the primary drivers of high performance in the European insurance market.

• What did superior performers do differently than their competitors?
• What were their strategies and tactics, and how did they approach innovation and change?
• What can be learned in terms of leadership and culture?

The study identified superior performers by applying a proprietary operating cashflow return model, and examined these high-performing insurers across a variety of quantitative and qualitative dimensions in order to answer these questions.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

By ACORD
January 2021

ACORD studied over 12,000 insurers across 85 countries, representing 90% of global premiums, over a ten-year span. We examined the shifting landscape of distribution across the global insurance industry, and the keys to high performance.

This publicly available report summarizes the study's findings. For more information on this study or other ACORD research, please contact research@acord.org.

By Benefitfocus
January 2021

Disruption in the health insurance industry is not a new phenomenon. From rising health care costs and changing legislation to rapidly evolving customer needs and expectations, many factors have forced health insurers to evolve.

In a bid to understand the challenges facing health insurers and identify a path forward, Benefitfocus sponsored a groundbreaking study with ACORD, entitled "Efficiency Meets Engagement: Key Considerations for Health Insurer Competitiveness." The ACORD study identified superior customer experiences, strategies, operating models and capabilities health insurers can adopt to address the challenges they face. From this, the study aimed to answer three key questions facing health insurers:

• Why do health insurance customers engage?
• How do prospective health insurance customers screen solutions?
• What are the key drivers underpinning shopping and buying?

This report is available for download to ACORD members and non-members.

PDF versions of the sessions originally presented at ACORD Connect 2020 are available free of charge to ACORD members and conference attendees. Sessions include:

• ACORD Next-Gen Digital Standards Progress Report
• ACORD Property & Casualty Standards Overview
• ACORD GRLC Standards for Accounting & Claims
• ACORD GRLC Standards for Placing
• ADEPT for Global Reinsurance & Large Commercial
• ADEPT for US P&C Premium Accounting
• Digital Solutions Demo: ACORD Transcriber & ACORD Converter
• Enabling the Digitization Journey: ACORD Solutions Group Overview
• How Best-of-Breed Technology and Critical Integrations Can Help You Overcome Technical Challenges in a COVID Environment and Beyond
• Introduction to the ACORD Reference Architecture
• Intellect SEEC's "Data-First" Approach to All Submissions
• Liberty Mutual Business Lines' Journey with ACORD to Enable our Next-Generation Ecosystem
• Ruschlikon: Digital Engagement in Real Life
• There and Back Again: "Hobbit Insurance" Implements the ACORD Data Model
• Transform the Customer Experience with Xerox Services for Digital Insurer
• Utilizing ACORD Standards & Messages to Create Front-Office and Back-Office Efficiencies

By EY & ACORD
October 2020

This first-of-a-kind study throws light on why select insurers have performed significantly better than others over a sustained period as P&C insurers navigate through a landscape of unprecedented change. We studied quantitative and qualitative aspects of what has worked well and what needs continued focus by the industry. For a majority of the insurers, a combination of reduced investment returns, evolving regulatory requirements, mixed premium levels, and rigid operating models has left expense ratios largely unchanged over the past decade. Yet, there are case studies of value-creating insurers that have risen above mediocrity by balancing out their growth, risk, and expense profiles.

ACORD R&D white papers are available free of charge to all ACORD members.

By ACORD
November 2023

Advances in digital transformation have once again changed the essential nature of data exchange—in formats, quantity, structure, and value. Data consistency, quality, standardization, and structure have become more crucial today than ever before, and data-driven organizations have the potential to thrive in this environment.

In order to help our members to fully leverage emerging and future technologies, ACORD has developed Next-Generation Digital Standards. By enabling microservices and RESTful APIs, these new ACORD Standards can support fine-grained business transactions involving mobile apps, Internet of Things, distributed ledgers, and more.

This white paper discusses the industry trends and member needs leading to the creation of the Next-Gen Digital Standards; the development principles and framework; Standard releases to date; and the experiences of early adopters. This white paper is available free of charge to all ACORD members and non-members.