Insurtech Talent Development in Hong Kong – From Insurance to Insurtech: Strategies for Building a Sustainable Talent Pipeline

18 From Insurance to Insurtech: Strategies for Building a Sustainable Talent Pipeline Training Opportunities and Initiatives in Hong Kong There are not many courses that offer training for those in the insurance industry looking to pick up some new skills. We identified three relatively prominent examples of courses for existing professionals to develop the skills necessary for insurtech: The HKIA Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Course on Insurtech – Impacts on the bancassurance model , which provides an overview of the recent technological development in various sectors and some key fintech and insurtech concepts, with discussions on the impacts of insurtech on the bancassurance model;43 Certificate for Module (Compliance for Fintech and Insurtech) offered by HKU SPACE, which discusses the evolution of fintech and insurtech, challenges and the future of digital innovations – including blockchain, machine learning, and big data – which are revolutionizing the finance industry and creating new challenges for startups incumbent firms;44 The Insurtech: A Practical Introduction for Managers 2-day online course offered by training and consultancy provider NobleProg, in which participants go through 14 hours of training and are exposed to technologies, methods and the mindset needed to bring about a digital transformation within their organizations and in the insurance industry at large.45 There may be other courses that include discussions on insurtech – for example, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)’s FinTech Security and Regulation offered via the online platform Coursera where insurtech is discussed but not the main focus46 – however, courses that are dedicated to insurtech are scarce. Hong Kong as the nation’s risk management hub has a big role to play. Collaboration and integration of the Greater Bay Area represents a significant opportunity for the industry. The Hong Kong SAR Government is cognizant of the supply-demand gap for insurtech and has made several efforts to increase the talent pool available for the insurance sector of the city, even prior to the pandemic. As summarized in Exhibit 4, various talent development programs and schemes have been launched by the Hong Kong Government and the regulatory bodies, providing some platforms for students and recent graduates to enter the insurance sector. 43 Hong Kong Monetary Authority (2022). HKIA CPD Course on Insurtech . https://www2.hkma.org.hk/short/cfsg-66529-2021- 1-nl/ 44 HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education (2022). Certificate for Module (Compliance for Fintech and Insurtech . https://hkuspace.hku.hk/prog/cert-for-module-compliance-for-fintech-and-insurtech 45 NobleProg (2022). Insurtech: A Practical Introduction for Managers Training Course . https://www.nobleprog.hk/cc/ digitalinsurancemanagers 46 Coursera and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2022). FinTech Security and Regulation . https://www. coursera.org/learn/regtech