(Re)thinking insurance

Faced with the challenges and risks of climate change and a warming planet, insurers have strong foundations in place with the catastrophe models developed over recent decades. But the forecasting horizons of such models tends to be quite short. So, as an industry, we need to be thinking about how we better project the potential longer-term effects on exposures, underwriting and investment strategy, taking into account not only physical risks, such as severe storms, but also the transition and liability risks of climate change. In this episode of (Re)thinking Insurance, Sina Thieme is joined by David Singh, WTW’s Head of Climate Analytics and Exposure Management, to discuss ways forward, touching upon topics ranging from industry and academic collaboration, the need to capture primary and secondary perils, and the whys and wherefores of scenario testing and sensitivity analysis.

For insurers, climate transition risk has two distinct, but related, aspects. On the one hand is what they do in their own operations, in areas such as reducing emissions and reporting. On the other is the increasing awareness of and attention on what the transition to net zero means for underwriting, claims, products and, potentially, reputation. For (re)insurers, climate transition risk has two distinct but related aspects. First, the assessment of their own climate transition across their operations, with a particular focus on emissions reduction and reporting, which has gained particular attention this year following the publication by the Net Zero Insurance Alliance of the first Target-Setting Protocol, which includes target setting for insurance associated emissions across underwriting portfolios. Secondly, the need to understand and assess what the global transition to net zero means for areas including underwriting, claims, products and potentially reputation. In this podcast, Michelle Radcliffe joins Sina Thieme for this episode of (Re)thinking Insurance to discuss the challenges and opportunities for insurers of contributing to an orderly transition.

Carrie Kelley is joined by Nik Godon, Karen Grote and Nick Komissarov to explore hot topics in the U.S. life insurance industry. They discuss perspectives on managing in-force blocks, M&A transactions and the pension risk transfer (PRT) market.

In this episode, Rachael McNaughton and Madeline Main discuss the practical applications of GBMs.

Ravi is joined by Magda Ramada to discuss crypto assets and related technologies. Magda explains key terms and explores how the insurance industry can play a part in this evolving ecosystem.

With Merger and Acquisition (M&A) activity in the Middle East continuing to increase, the implications for insurers, people, processes and systems can be significant and far-reaching. However, it simultaneously presents unparalleled opportunities for businesses to drive growth, deliver faster decision-making, free up capital and create new opportunities in unexplored markets. In this episode of (Re)thinking Insurance, Matthew Facey is joined by M&A experts Roshail Khalid and Darragh McHugh, who explore what is happening in the Middle East market in terms of M&As and what it means for insurers operating in the region.

Peter is joined by Joshua Wald and Holly Layton to discuss how RenaissanceRe (RenRe) transformed its reserving process. They explore the challenges RenRe faced, the objectives of the project, the benefits gained and what other organizations need to consider when undertaking a similar transformation.

Sina Thieme is joined by Kenny McIvor and Anthony Plotnek, who explore the proposed reforms to Solvency II in the UK, as set out by the HM Treasury and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and what the potential implications could be for insurers.

In this episode: Carrie is joined by Amanda Hug to discuss what data democratization is and how sharing data benefits customers and helps insurance companies advance their businesses.

Carrie is joined by Boyang Meng and Kim Steiner to explore the findings and trends from TOAMS 5, WTW’s life insurance industry mortality study.