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Insurers see threats from all sides

About one-third of insurance executives view e-commerce groups such as Google and Amazon as their main external threat, a new survey shows.

Online banks, aggregators and large retailers are also on the radar, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit report.

It follows recent forays into insurance by US retailer Walmart and IT giant Google.

“Google has invested in other technologies with implications for the future of insurance underwriting, including its acquisition of Nest Labs, a manufacturer of ‘smart home’ machine-to-machine devices – for example, thermostats that are capable of transmitting information and working by remote control,” the report says.

The report is based on a survey of 338 insurance executives, mostly in North America, western Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

About 60% of respondents expect “significant to massive change” in the industry.

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