Insurance creates stability when it’s needed most

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Across audiences, insurance is viewed as one of the most important stabilizing forces in society – supporting recovery after loss, strengthening resilience, and enabling long‑term financial security. Our latest RiskScan report shows how stakeholders understand the industry’s role not just in paying claims, but in sustaining economic continuity and enabling growth.

RiskScan respondents across the global marketplace identified the following as the top areas where insurance creates societal value:

48%

Recovery after loss

44%

Risk prevention and resilience

43%

Financial security

40%

Enabling economic stability and growth

32%

Empowering entrepreneurs and innovators

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The core purpose of insurance, supporting recovery and preserving financial security, remains as relevant as ever.  What's changing is the expectation that we contribute before losses occur, not only after. Risk prevention, engineering, and insights are becoming just as important as claim payments. Insurance also plays a less visible, equally vital role: enabling innovation. From performance guarantees for renewable energy technologies, to cover that underpins infrastructure investment, insurance can give businesses the confidence to commit capital to new ideas and emerging sectors.

John Wilkinson

Munich Re Specialty – Global Markets  

CEO

These findings reflect a broad recognition that insurance functions as economic infrastructure. It absorbs shocks, redistributes loss, and restores productive capacity after disruption. Beyond claim payments, insurance supports business formation, mortgage lending, infrastructure investment, and entrepreneurial risk‑taking – activities that underpin economic growth.

The scale of this role is significant: according to the IAIS Global Insurance Market Report, the insurance industry manages more than $40 trillion in assets worldwide, making it one of the largest institutional investors in the global economy.

Why this matters

As expectations shift toward prevention and preparedness, the industry must continue evolving from primarily funding loss to actively reducing it. Recovery supports stability. Resilience reduces long‑term costs. Financial security enables growth. And proactive mitigation strengthens insurability for future generations.

Organizations that understand this broader societal role will be better positioned to support sustainable risk transfer and long‑term market stability.