Technological disrupters are adept at targeting insurance “pain points” and are challenging major providers to improve their performance, Suncorp Insurance CEO Gary Dransfield says.

Mr Dransfield, who took over from Anthony Day earlier this month, says disrupters may tackle a small part of the insurance process or seek a wider role, but traditional players can benefit from either strategy.

“The great thing about them is they keep us sharp,” he told a session at the Suncorp Synergy Summit in Melbourne. “They make us think about what is the real customer pain point. As big incumbent players, we need to see these customer problems and fix them fast.”

Mr Dransfield says Uber’s impact on the taxi industry highlights disruption risks, but insurtechs looking to improve part of the process can offer partnership opportunities.

“They are not trying to eat our lunch as a business model – they are just trying to take a bit of the value chain and make it work a bit better,” he told the summit.

He says disrupters can expand rapidly and at low cost, without the dividend and return-on-equity requirements faced by listed companies. “The really scary dimension to that is investors will throw a lot of money behind an idea, because there is a lot of capital around the world. [They] can scale up quickly, even if [an idea] is not making money.”

The Melbourne summit included presentations from Suncorp executives, plus breakout sessions on artificial intelligence, future workforce trends and building business in rapidly changing times.

Events were also held this month in Brisbane and Sydney, and are scheduled for Perth on November 14 and Adelaide on November 16.

The summits bring together financial planners, insurance brokers and mortgage brokers, as Suncorp moves ahead with its broader “Marketplace” strategy.