Very soon, data collected from our connected devices will be able to tell us whether we could be headed for a heart attack or divorce, with a swipe of a finger. Some say this age is already upon us. With this in mind, financial services firms looking to emerging markets for growth cannot ignore the role of data in understanding clients."The better the quality of the information that we as insurers obtain, the more precisely we can assess the customer's risk, and the better the proposition we can deliver to them," said Warick Burke, a general manager at Old Mutual.Data can help insurance companies to compile more accurate risk profiles - and, in keeping track of customers' behavioural habits, they may be able to predict big events in customers' lives and develop products to meet their needs.Someone who has been scouring the internet for information on couples counselling can now expect to see an inflow of adverts from divorce lawyers all over their Facebook feed, sponsored Instagram posts or promoted tweets.Developments in analytics, which allow companies to map the behaviour of consumers through their online activity, enabled insurance companies to offer more personalised risk assessments, said Burke.Gareth Friedlander, head of research and development at Discovery, said progress in the area of personalised medicine could result in more accurate risk assessment of clients living with chronic conditions."This would involve charging clients a premium based on the management of their chronic condition. While this is done to some degree currently, we believe this could be expanded in the future," he said.Burke said at this stage of the mobile revolution, the technological advances were more about "improving the ease of access to insurance propositions than about managing risk".In emerging markets, the evolution of access to finance, insurance, health and education rests on mobile connection and those who fail to innovate will not thrive."A company's ability to thrive in such a technologically inclined environment depends on its ability and willingness to innovate and provide products that more accurately match consumers' needs, given the increased knowledge of the consumer base," said Friedlander...