Clemens Jungsthöfel, CEO of Hannover Re, shares insights from his extensive background in insurance, rooted in his family's agency. He discusses the importance of relationship-building in reinsurance, likening it to a marriage rather than a mere transaction. Clemens emphasizes the need for sustainable returns and tailored solutions to fit evolving client needs. He also touches on the complexities of the US casualty market, the role of technology in underwriting, and the growing significance of long-term partnerships in navigating a shifting landscape.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Insurance From Childhood
Clemens grew up in an insurance agency run by his father and started underwriting around age 10.
He later trained as an insurance agent and spent ~20 years at KPMG working exclusively with insurers and reinsurers.
question_answer ANECDOTE
A Lesson Over Breakfast
Clemens recalls a client who bought full cover after his father's advice and later crashed the car, proving the value of proper insurance.
That incident shaped his view on client service and risk assessment early on.
insights INSIGHT
Client-Centric Culture Drives Success
Hannover Re's culture prizes client focus, flat hierarchies, pragmatism and speed of decision-making.
Clemens sees this client-centric DNA as the firm's secret sauce and will preserve it.
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Today’s guest has just taken over the reins at a business that has always aimed to be a company that people find easy to work with and enjoy dealing with.
Having been around long enough to have met and interviewed all three of his immediate predecessors, I can attest to this.
Despite being at the head of a key global reinsurer, all those leaders were always open, accessible and down to earth: very much the sort of executives who you imagined answered their own emails and organised their own diaries.
So I am happy to report that Clemens Jungsthofel, the CEO of Hannover Re, represents a continuation of his firm’s refreshing and highly individual character.
When you buy reinsurance, at the most fundamental level you are buying life insurance for your insurance company as you protect your capital base from potentially fatal losses.
It’s not a relationship you enter into lightly. It’s much more like a marriage than a simple business transaction.
That’s why cedants seek out reinsurers who are strong, stable, steady, consistent, discreet and trustworthy, whatever an unpredictable loss landscape or the rollercoaster ride of the market cycle throws at us.
Listen on and I’ll wager you can hear Clemens projecting these qualities in the same way his predecessors did.
What you see is what you get.
The son of an insurance agent, Clemens is someone who has insurance running through his veins. He is one of us and exudes an air of calm unflappability.
It’s easy to imagine entrusting him with a trade secret, or admitting you really need his help.
What follows is a very timely, broad and deep discussion of the state of the market and Hannover Re’s strategy within it as well as a thorough examination of the short- and long-term industry impacts of phenomena as varied and diverse as the major changes in insurance distribution and AI.
Here is someone I found the business of recording a podcast with extremely easy and pleasurable.
I think you’ll find listening to it equally pleasant and incredibly useful.
Before the industry heads down to Monte Carlo for its annual meeting I can highly recommend this episode as a primer for all the major talking points.
The Voice of Insurance