Industry analysts have taken a good long look at the insurance industry and have made predictions for challenges and opportunities in the New Year.

According to a recent article by Insurance News Net, "the battleground (or rather, the goldmine) for next year's insurance industry will most likely be the demographic of retiring Americans."

In accordance, analysts have pinpointed the following five opportunities to consider in 2007:

1. Tapping Middle Wealth: [...] "Producers and advisors will need to introduce new forms of advisory services and innovative income-generating protection products."
2. Continued Convergence and Consolidation: "Consolidation of stock and mutual companies will continue and will push smaller players out of the market..."
3. Capital Management: "Steady capital management adherence will be vital to business growth strategies."
4. Managing Risk: "Insurers will continue to improve their risk management frameworks, reporting, governance, and risk measurements."
5. Aggressive Compliance Monitoring: "Compliance issues will be strictly observed with better documentation of processes and controls."

As for challenges in 2007, experts suggest watching for the following:

1. Continued weakness in housing and mortgage markets
2. Additional litigation targeting title companies
3. Downward pricing pressure resulting from regulatory reviews

Check out the full article over at INN to take a look at 2007 highlights per market segment.