Leading Voices

Trevor Carvey, CEO of Conduit Re, explained to The Insurer TV that the company has avoided writing cyber due to what he saw as the market's inability to predict a large systemic event or correctly quantify its ramifications.

CFC group CEO Louise O’Shea has pledged to “go boldly where no one else has been” as the company continues to grow and diversify its underwriting portfolio.

Scor CEO Thierry Léger has weighed in on the search to find Bruce Carnegie-Brown’s successor as chairman of the Lloyd’s market, outlining that an individual with a proven track record and passion for the sector would be the ideal contender.

Scor CEO Thierry Léger has doubled down on a previous call for the reinsurance sector to address the ongoing challenges around casualty and to prove it can deal with social inflation, warning that market conditions in US casualty lines have played out as he’d feared.

Scor will remain focused on seeking risk-adjusted price increases in target lines as part of its strategic plan to “lean into” the hard market, CEO Thierry Léger has commented as he approaches one year at the helm of the Paris-based reinsurer.

Michael Wade, a veteran in the (re)insurance industry and chairman of Lloyd's investment vehicle Helios, has hailed the follow market at Lloyd’s as playing a “crucial role” in supporting the market’s growth and attracting more third-party capital.

Nick Cook, CEO of BMS Group, has said he remains excited about the broker’s expansion into the MGA space and elsewhere internationally, and revealed plans for Eurazeo’s £355mn ($448mn) investment.

BMS CEO Nick Cook says the group’s reinsurance arm is now ready for the next stage of growth.

As WTW’s block-out with reinsurance draws to an end, Alastair “Swifty” Swift says the firm would consider re-entering the space and accessing other capital market vehicles “if it creates better value for clients”.

BMS International CEO Nick Gillett is bullish on the division’s “aggressive” growth plans, estimating that by 2028 the business will have quadrupled in size, with M&A activity a key strategic element.

QBE is positioning itself for a “global growth spurt” in cyber and is poised to grow its current modest London market share, according to the group’s international CEO Jason Harris.

Liberty Specialty Markets (LSM) president and managing director Phil Hobbs said he would have “rather been a seller than a buyer” of reinsurance at the 1.1 renewal, which saw some reinsurers “go too far” and risk damaging relationships.

While the first major reinsurance renewal of 2023 demonstrated to investors the industry’s resolve in hiking up prices as opposed to “another false dawn”, (re)insurers haven't yet done enough to prove they can “underwrite for climate change and make money”, the CEO of Beazley has cautioned.

While cyber presents an enormous growth opportunity for the (re)insurance industry, the market has not yet fully worked out the role it can play in addressing such perils, according to WTW’s global head of risk and broking Adam Garrard.

The rules governing private capital at Lloyd’s are too complicated, with Hampden Agencies and Hampden Capital CEO Alistair Wood describing them as a “complicated onion” which could deter capital from entering the market.

Amid several ongoing investigations into allegations of non-financial misconduct within the London market and Lloyd’s, Asta CEO Lorraine Harfitt reflects on how the market’s culture has changed over her three-decade career in our latest

Karen Clark has said that while scientific consensus has determined climate change is not impacting hurricane frequency, it is driving severity higher and that the industry should be prepared to absorb more loss events ranging between $20bn and $40bn.

Rising attachment points on reinsurance programs are prompting insurers to consider alternative capital options to offset an increase in earnings volatility, according to Dan Becker, CEO of global strategic advisory at Guy Carpenter.

Buyers are expressing increasing irritation and frustration at the current state of the insurance market as rate hikes and tightened terms and conditions risk becoming “unpalatable”, WTW’s Alastair Swift has warned.

Lancashire CEO Alex Maloney has hailed current market conditions as the best for “more than a decade” but said investors will likely remain cautious on the sector until the market shows it can deliver consistent profitable returns.

Volante Global CEO Talbir Bains is shaping his growth strategies for the MGA platform and Lloyd’s syndicate with a view to “enhancing performance”, commenting that “chasing big scores” on the number of business lines or offices can lead a firm down a “path to failure”.

London Market Group (LMG) chair Sean McGovern has warned there is “no benefit to being the first mover” in implementing the OECD’s global minimum tax rate as the regime can only work if “all major jurisdictions” adopt the approach at a similar time.

The “exceptional” market opportunities at Lloyd’s are driving positive growth momentum for Helios Underwriting, with its newly appointed CEO Martin Reith saying the unique investment vehicle will continue to outperform in 2023 and beyond as it looks to support its syndicate portfolio and explore other options.

Markel’s newly appointed president of insurance, Jeremy Noble, is “laser focused” on growing profitably and steering the business to become a leading global specialty insurer, citing opportunities in construction, fintech and energy across its North America and London Market platforms in 2023.