TL;DR – What You Need to Know in 5 Key Points
- Insurance was built for ships, not for women. The industry still reflects outdated assumptions about gender roles, career paths, and life stages. That’s finally being challenged.
- Women face a different risk landscape. From longer life expectancy to career breaks and caregiving responsibilities, women’s financial journeys are not reflected in most policies. Only 12% of insurers globally offer products that address things like pregnancy or menopause.
- AI and data can close the gap—if we build them right. New data sources (like wearables and health logs) and well-designed AI can help insurers personalise products fairly and inclusively. But trust, transparency, and collaboration are critical.
- Innovation is happening—but it’s uneven. Women-led startups still get less than 3% of global VC funding. Yet we’re seeing green shoots: embedded insurance, workplace mental health cover, and products designed for real life.
- Trust and communication are the next frontier. Many insurers already offer features that support women—but nobody knows they exist. Closing the trust gap means speaking human, not legalese.
Watch this critical discussion from start to finish, at your own convenience.
“Insurance was built for ships. And it shows.”
That statement, delivered early in Kanopi’s recent roundtable, captured the essence of the conversation: the insurance industry, built on centuries-old foundations, is overdue for reinvention. But this isn’t about superficial updates. It’s about redesigning risk from the ground up—especially for women.
We gathered a panel of industry leaders from Zurich, QBE Ventures, and McLardy McShane to explore how insurance can evolve to serve modern lives. The message was clear: we’re making progress, but we’re still far from where we need to be.
Women’s Lives Don’t Fit Old Models
Jacqui Lennon of Zurich Insurance, summed it up well: “The traditional life stages that insurance is built around—marriage, mortgages, male breadwinners—just don’t apply to most people anymore.”
Today, women delay marriage, raise children on their own, or take on caregiving roles for ageing parents. Many work part-time or move in and out of the workforce across their careers. Yet, the products designed to protect financial wellbeing often assume linear, uninterrupted work paths.
The result? Women retire with smaller super balances, less insurance cover, and greater financial insecurity—despite living longer. A 2021 report shows women’s average superannuation balance is $138,000, compared to $289,000 for men. That gap has profound implications, not just for retirement, but for access to cover across all life stages.
So why haven’t we caught up?
The Data Isn’t Just Missing—It’s Misdirected
As Janine Shipton from McLardy McShane put it, “There’s so much positive intent in the industry. But unless we have data to build from, we don’t know what to change.”
The problem is compounded by old datasets built around male norms. Career breaks, caregiving duties, and hormonal health issues—these experiences are either ignored or penalised in legacy underwriting systems.
That’s where emerging tech comes in.
AI as a Force for Fairness (When Done Right)
Lynn Thompson of QBE Ventures offered a nuanced take: “People say AI will introduce bias. But when designed well, it actually explains its decisions better than any human ever could.”
Used responsibly, AI can break the cycle of bias by assessing real-time data, not outdated proxies. Wearables, health logs, and lifestyle signals can paint a more accurate picture of individual risk. Already, some carriers are using AI to remove unnecessary medical checks, especially in mental health-related underwriting, where women are disproportionately affected.
But the technology needs fuel. And that fuel is data, specifically, data that reflects the lived experiences of women. As Lynn pointed out, most clinical trials still skew male, meaning even the raw science behind insurance can be fundamentally unbalanced.
There’s hope, though. Femtech startups are beginning to close the data gap, offering new insights into everything from hormonal cycles to chronic pain patterns. The question is: will the insurance industry adopt and integrate these insights fast enough?
It’s Not Just the Product—It’s the Messaging
While product design needs a reboot, so does communication. Jacqui explained that many existing policies already cater to women’s needs—covering intermittent illnesses, offering flexibility around career breaks, and supporting home duties. But most women don’t know those features exist.
“There’s a trust gap,” she admitted. “People assume insurers don’t want to pay claims. And when they hear about benefits, they think it’s too good to be true.”
Rebuilding trust will require more than product brochures. It will take real, transparent storytelling and partnerships with people women trust—brokers, planners, employers, and community networks.
Innovation Needs Partners—And Purpose
The conversation naturally turned toward partnerships. With insurers often seen as slow-moving and risk-averse, how can innovation keep pace?
“Know what you’re good at, and find partners who can do the rest,” Lynn advised. Whether it’s supporting nurses through injury prevention tech or offering mental health triage for first responders, insurers have a unique opportunity to collaborate with purpose.
One standout example? A new group benefit policy under development to support employees affected by domestic violence. It’s niche, yes. But it addresses a very real risk—and reflects a future where insurance is truly there for people when they need it most.
The Bold Moves We Need Now
As the session neared its close, the conversation turned to bold ideas. Jacqui proposed a radical shift: “Start paying people for caregiving. Attribute value to the unpaid labour that props up society. Or, if we can’t do that, encourage more men to take career breaks.”
Lynn echoed the sentiment. “Representation isn’t just optics. At QBE Ventures, hitting 40% women in leadership means our decisions reflect the world we live in.”
And Janine? She called time on the 9-to-5. “The future of work is flexible, remote, and around-the-clock. Our products—and the way we serve people—need to reflect that.”
The Takeaway
This isn’t just about women. It’s about the future of insurance. Designing for complexity, not simplicity. Rethinking risk, not just pricing it. And building products that reflect the way people actually live.
The real risk is doing nothing at all.
About Kanopi
Kanopi is the modular full-stack insurance platform for insurers, MGAs and brokers to rapidly launch and scale insurance products into new channels within a fraction of the time and cost. Kanopi’s platform supports accelerated quote journeys, intuitive end-to-end policy management, and streamlined distribution, eliminating the need to juggle multiple systems or vendors. A one-stop shop, Kanopi simplifies operations and drastically cuts down on the time and resources typically required for product development and distribution.
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