Assessing the Impact of Digital Financial Transformation on Investment Management Efficiency: An Empirical Study of Leading Global Insurance Companies (2016–2025)
Abstract
Adopting DFT technology, therefore, can promote the insurance industry to shift towards more operation simplification. This paper examines the impact of DFT on the operational simplification of investment management at six large international insurers from 2016 to 2025: Allianz (Germany), AXA (France), Zurich Insurance Group (Switzerland), Prudential Financial (USA), MetLife (USA), and Ping An Insurance (China). Based on panel data, this paper examines the effect of different KPIs or operational simplifications on investment return, portfolio diversification, operating cost, and risk-adjusted performance. It identifies a statistically significant positive association at both local and regional levels between the DFT efforts and the operational simplification of investment management. It helps the practitioners of the sector fully exploit the digital innovations to serve their invested strategy.
Downloads
References
1. Alt, R., Beck, R., & Smits, M. T. (2020). FinTech and the transformation of the financial industry. Electronic Markets, 30(2), 219–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-019-00359-1
2. Alt, R., Ehmke, J. F., Haux, R., Henke, T., Mattfeld, D. C., Oberweis, A., & Winter, A. (2022). Smart services: Transformation and challenges for business and information systems engineering. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 64(4), 397–410. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00743-9
3. Allianz SE. (2024). Annual report 2023. Allianz Group. https://www.allianz.com/en/investor_relations.html
4. Anchen, J., Finucane, J., Holzheu, T., Rasheed, M., & Zhu, J. (2023). The economics of digitalisation in insurance (Sigma No. 05/2023). Swiss Re Institute. https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/sigma-research/sigma-2023-05-digitalisation.html
5. AXA Group. (2024). Annual report 2023. AXA. https://www.axa.com/en/investor/financial-information
6. Banna, H., Hassan, M. K., & Rashid, M. (2023). FinTech-based financial inclusion, risk, and firm performance: Evidence from financial institutions. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 82, Article 101735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intfin.2022.101735
7. Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700108
8. Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. (2023). Sound practices: Implications of fintech developments for banks and insurers. Bank for International Settlements. https://www.bis.org
9. Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O. A., Pavlou, P. A., & Venkatraman, N. (2013). Digital business strategy: Toward a next generation of insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471–482. https://doi.org/10.25300/MISQ/2013/37.2.13
10. Bohnert, A., Fritzsche, A., & Gregor, S. (2022). Digital transformation and environmental sustainability in the insurance industry. Journal of Business Research, 145, 572–586. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.03.035
11. Chen, Y., Duan, Y., Edwards, J. S., & Lehaney, B. (2023). Data analytics, artificial intelligence, and firm performance: A dynamic capabilities view. Information & Management, 60(3), Article 103678. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2022.103678
12. Eling, M., & Lehmann, M. (2020). How digitalization affects insurance companies: Overview and use cases of digital technologies. Zeitschrift für die gesamte Versicherungswissenschaft, 109(2), 145–180. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12297-020-00475-9
13. Eling, M., & Lehmann, M. (2023). The impact of digitalization on efficiency and productivity in the insurance industry. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance – Issues and Practice, 48(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41288-022-00274-7
14. European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority. (2023). Digital transformation in insurance: Market developments and supervisory challenges. EIOPA. https://www.eiopa.europa.eu
15. Gomber, P., Koch, J.-A., & Siering, M. (2022). Digital finance and FinTech: Current research and future research directions. Journal of Business Economics, 92(3), 537–580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11573-021-01082-5
16. Guo, Y., Liang, H., & Shen, L. (2025). Digital transformation and corporate financial asset allocation: Evidence from China. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.09095
17. Iansiti, M., & Lakhani, K. R. (2017). Managing our hub economy: Digital transformation and its implications for organizations. Harvard Business Review Press.
18. Jensen, M. C. (1968). The performance of mutual funds in the period 1945–1964. Journal of Finance, 23(2), 389–416. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1968.tb00815.x
19. Khayatbashi, S., Sjölind, V., Granåker, A., & Jalali, A. (2025). AI-enhanced business process automation: A case study in the insurance domain using object-centric process mining. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.17295
20. KPMG. (2024). Digital transformation in insurance: A people-centric approach. KPMG. https://assets.kpmg.com
21. Kraus, S., Jones, P., Kailer, N., Weinmann, A., Chaparro-Banegas, N., & Roig-Tierno, N. (2022). Digital transformation: An overview of the current state of the art of research. Journal of Business Research, 123, 357–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.10.068
22. MetLife, Inc. (2024). Annual report 2023. MetLife. https://investor.metlife.com
23. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). Artificial intelligence, big data, and insurance: Opportunities and risks. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org
24. Ping An Insurance. (2024). Annual report 2023. Ping An Group. https://group.pingan.com/en/investor_relations
25. Prudential Financial, Inc. (2024). Annual report 2023. Prudential Financial. https://www.investor.prudential.com
26. Puschmann, T., Hoffmann, C. H., & Khmarskyi, V. (2023). How green FinTech and digital finance affect firm performance and risk management. Electronic Markets, 33(2), 421–438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12525-022-00570-9
27. Sharpe, W. F. (1966). Mutual fund performance. Journal of Business, 39(1), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1086/294846
28. Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319–1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.640
29. Tian, X., Li, X., Zhang, Y., & Zhou, Y. (2024). The impact of enterprise digital transformation on risk-taking: Evidence from China. Research in International Business and Finance, 69, Article 102285. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2024.102285
30. World Bank. (2023). Global insurance digitalization index 2023. World Bank Group. https://www.worldbank.org
31. Wojak, G., Kowalski, P., Nowak, M., & Zielińska, A. (2025). The evolution of insurance purchasing behavior: An empirical study on the adoption of online channels in Poland. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.07933
32. Zurich Insurance Group. (2024). Annual report 2023. Zurich Insurance Group. https://www.zurich.com/en/investor-relations
Published
Deprecated: Return type of Carbon\Traits\Date::createFromTimestamp($timestamp, $tz = null) should either be compatible with DateTime::createFromTimestamp(int|float $timestamp): static, or the #[\ReturnTypeWillChange] attribute should be used to temporarily suppress the notice in /home/iqserver/journals/kjeas.uowasit.edu.iq/lib/pkp/lib/vendor/nesbot/carbon/src/Carbon/Traits/Timestamp.php on line 29
2026-07-09


