The number of global insurtech deals dropped more than 40% last year as global investors focused on making a smaller number of large and high-quality deals.

The total of 156 global insurtech deals last year in 2019 is down from 262 a year earlier, says KPMG’s Pulse of Fintech 2019 report, which tracks worldwide venture capital and private equity mergers and acquisitions.

KPMG International Global Insurtech Leader Gary Plotkin says a number of “mega-deals” above $US100 million ($151.4 million) ensured global deal value remained robust at $US6.5 billion last year, a decline of only 13%.

He says this is another sign of a maturing segment.

“It’ll be interesting to see if volume stays steady throughout 2020, more in line with historical totals as opposed to the peaks of 2017 and 2018, given the degree of consolidation and market capture in the space”.

This year KPMG predicts increasing investments in companies able to help insurers deal with big challenges such as cybersecurity and regtech, or data analytics and data-mining. Solutions focused on enhancing life insurance products could also increase.

On-demand insurance is also well positioned for investment growth, particularly in small business to address the needs of independent and gig economy workers, the report said.

Last year, the $US3.5 billion ($5.3 billion) acquisition of US-based Assurance IQ by Prudential Financial in October boosted overall deal value, as did significant venture capital in insurtech in the second half of the year, including sizable investment in insurtechs Root, Next and Hippo.