Chubb Limited provides a variety of insurance products in various nations across the globe. The headquarters of the company are in Warren, New Jersey in the US and was founded in 1985. At the moment, the company operates in 54 nations (Chubb, 2019). It provides services to both corporate and individual clients. The company provides insurance on property, casualty, accidental, health, and life (Chubb, 2019). In 2016, the company was acquired by ACE and headquarters were shifted from Switzerland to the US. In 2015, the company made a revenue of $19.138 billion and had 31000 employees across the globe (ACE, 2016).
Following is a detailed Porter Five Forces Model Analysis of Chubb:
Competitive Rivalry – High
Chubb faces extensive competitive rivalry from various insurance companies across the globe such as Anthem, Humana, Aetna, and various others. The fixed costs of doing business are not very high as the company does not need to establish any sort of production unit. All of the competitors offer similar products that differ slightly in terms of monthly premiums and other factors. The company has various long-term commitments with clients and investors which makes it difficult to exit the business. If the customers switch to another competitor, they would incur a significant switching cost. Also, products are complex and customers are aware that they need details before they can commit. This makes the competitive rivalry against Chubb high.
The Threat of New Entrants – Moderate
The companies which are already operating in the insurance industry have developed performance and cost advantages over the years. Their products are not proprietary. If customers switch, they face a switching cost in the form of lost premiums paid to the earlier company. The capital needed to enter this market is for marketing and establishing the business which is usually not very high. Experience in the industry does help lower costs and provide an advantage However; licenses are required by the government. A new entrant would have to market excessively to gain market share. Companies operating in similar industries, such as finance and accounting, may easily enter the industry by making investments or joining hands with others. This makes the threat of new entrants moderate.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Moderate
The inputs to this industry are investors which help the insurance companies make investments for the funds they have to earn from them. These inputs are differentiated. An insurance company cannot easily switch from one investment management firm to another as there are long-term contracts in place (FFU, 2018). New suppliers find it difficult to enter the business as all players already have long-term relationships. The number of suppliers is not large as well. The suppliers do give importance to the business. The insurance companies provide them investment to earn over. This provides the suppliers of Chubb with a certain level of bargaining power over the company.
Bargaining Power of Buyers – High
The number of buyers is large and each makes only a small purchase. The customer does face a switching cost as insurance contracts are long-term and premiums have to be paid regularly. Switching to another insurer would cancel the earlier paid premiums causing loss to the customer. The buyer also needs detailed information about the insurance before they agree to purchase it. Customers cannot insure themselves. They can opt to not have insurance in some cases while in others, such as health, may be required under the law. The customers are sensitive to price and select insurers that require smaller premiums. The products are also unique to some sense as each insurer provides a different level of coverage to the customer. This provides buyers with a high level of bargaining power over the company.
The Threat of Substitutes – Moderate
The substitutes for insurance can be paying your health bills and not opting for insurance. However, health bills can get high creating financial difficulties for the customer. Thus, substitutes have performance limitations. There is a switching cost involved if insurance is already taken from any company. In many nations, people do not opt for health insurance or any other sort of insurance making the substitutes real. Customers are not likely to opt for substitutes for certain types of insurance, such as health and accidental, but may opt for substitutes for other types such as life insurance. This makes the threat of substitutes moderate for Chubb.
References
ACE, 2016. 1280525 (ACE). [Online] Available at: https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ACE?p=ACE [Accessed 14 Dec. 2019].
Chubb, 2019. About Chubb. [Online] Available at: https://www.chubb.com/pk-en/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2019].
FFU, 2018. Barr (A.G.) Plc Porter Five Forces Analysis. [Online] Available at: http://fernfortuniversity.com/term-papers/porter5/lse/199-barr–a-g—plc.php [Accessed 14 Dec. 2019].