Solvency II

Fifth Step is not afraid to state that it believes that the operational principles underlying Solvency II requirements represent good and proper business practices. Whilst certain debates may continue regarding the capital requirements arising, the essential desire to deliver industry-wide improvements in governance and risk management can – and should – be a seen as an opportunity for insurers rather than as a complex hurdle that needs to be cleared.

Although the deadline for the implementation of Solvency II has been delayed (currently to 2014), the reality is that insurers cannot afford to be complacent with their plans as they will still be required satisfy their regulator as to their progress, and to prove their readiness.

Additionally, tangible and meaningful benefits - both for the company and their customers - can be leveraged by implementing Solvency II compliant processes and practices.

Of course, the art is in the delivery, implementation and sustainability of the solutions.

With our extensive experience in the Insurance sector and specialist knowledge of Solvency II, Fifth Step is the ideal partner for your Solvency II project including key areas such as:

• Systems - the audit, review and assessment of fitness for purpose of your IT systems
• Data - Data handling strategies, governance, policies, the creation and review of Data Dictionaries or Data Directories, Data Quality assessment and remediation, and data KPIs
• Policies - the business wide review of existing, and creation of new Policies where required
• Business Processes - the review, assessment and (if needed) creation of Business Process Documentation, Business Process Maps and the review of the all-important Data Entry Processes

Our Solvency II team will work in a way that complements your business needs, culture, stakeholders and change portfolio.

We can take a role in the foreground or in the background, depending on your requirements and your existing capabilities. Either way, we can provide the expertise to help you get ready for Solvency II.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Solvency II delivery support or our extensive Solvency II Health-check, please email our Email our Solvency II Team or call us on 020 328 999 37 to arrange a FREE no obligation discussion.

Solvency II Health Check

Fifth Step has developed an extensive heath-check process, designed to assist firms in the assessment of their readiness for Solvency II.

The principal is intentionally simple.

The Fifth Step Solvency II Health-Check is predicated on many hundreds of pre-set, structured questions built on Solvency II guidance and established best practice. These questions range from high-level conceptual to “deep-dive” detail.

We realise that all firms will have their own strategic, operational and structural considerations that need to be built into their Solvency II solutions. We have therefore designed our Health-Check so that it can be customised to your particular requirements and optionally arranged according to role, process, pillar or specific area of guidance.

Once the approach and breadth of your requirements are established, our consultants work collaboratively and openly with your teams, using a tailored series of questions to enable meaningful and realistic fact-finding, challenge and debate. Evidence and documentation gathered will then be analysed to establish an independent view of your Solvency II deliveries and to identify where gaps may still exist and where solutions (new or enhanced) are may still be required.

Once completed, the information gathered is used to create a report documenting our opinion of your actual and developing state of readiness for Solvency II.

Whether you are after a full-breadth review or one particularly focussed on specific areas required by guidance, the Fifth Step Solvency II Health-check can help you increase confidence in your regulatory discussions as well as your internal assurance.

Free Health-check taster!

A free-to-use “taster” of the Solvency II Health-check has been released by Fifth Step.

Representing a small subset of the overall Health-Check (and clearly without certain elements such as review, challenge and recommendations), it is a useful provocation on some of the matters that need to be fully considered by firms in key areas such as Data, BCP, Change Management, Risk Management, ORSA etc.

Register for the Fifth Step Solvency II Health Check Lite

If you are interested in finding out more about our Solvency II delivery support or our extensive Solvency II Health-check, please email our Email our Solvency II Team or call us on 020 328 999 37 to arrange a FREE no obligation discussion.

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