Welcome to Monte Carlo Today

The Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo has again been cancelled in a physical form, due to COVID-19. But this year the industry was prepared. Even more so than last year, the industry has done what it does best—it has rallied together to reproduce the essence of that event, in a virtual form.

In 2021, companies have had more time to prepare. This year, press conferences, launches, roundtables, interviews and other events have all been arranged and will go ahead on various virtual platforms.

The Rendez-Vous’s Organising Committee and the wider industry have both done a fantastic job of recreating the buzz of the event—all online.

As a result, we are doing the same. In the following pages of Monte Carlo Today, we will be reporting on these events as well as providing in-depth analysis of industry news and opinion, based on our speaking to the most senior leaders in the industry—asking the challenging questions and delivering the answers.

For the first time, this year the publication is truly multimedia. Almost all of our exclusive interviews and panel discussions are available in these pages for you to watch and listen to—in addition to reading our reporting on them.

We hope you find the content in these pages useful and informative—it may even give you an edge on the competition.

Wyn Jenkins, managing editor, Intelligent Insurer

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

Renewals will mean a rethink on what passes for adequate pricing: Swiss Re

With talks for the crucial 1/1 renewal season set to kick off at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous (albeit virtually), will the upward trajectory in pricing persist? Swiss Re’s Moses Ojeisekhoba joined the Re/insurance Lounge.

As the reinsurance industry readies its Zoom accounts for another Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous (conducted from a distance due to the pandemic), the lack of face-to-face contact is unlikely to dampen the urgency of the upcoming discussions.

After another year of uncertainty, and with issues ranging from cyber attacks to climate change looming over the market in the long term, the reinsurance industry kicks off the yearly negotiations cycle with a raft of issues to address and rate discussions to be had.

Speaking at the Re/insurance Lounge, Intelligent Insurer’s online, on-demand platform for interviews and panel discussions with industry leaders, Swiss Re chief executive officer Reinsurance Moses Ojeisekhoba outlined what the market can expect from the talks.

While the pandemic has dominated the trajectory of the economy over the past 18 months, there are other factors at play that exert influence on reinsurance pricing which are likely to persist long after the worst of the virus—and its impact on society—has passed.

Extreme weather events in the US, most notably the recent devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida and predictions of another Atlantic storm season—as well as the emergence of wildfires as a yearly phenomenon—have prompted a rethink on what passes for adequate pricing, according to Ojeisekhoba.

That thinking is factoring into discussions around the renewals, prompting increased scrutiny from buyers over how secure their own programmes and protections really are.

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

How can new reinsurers weather the current storms?

Going into renewal season, how does a relatively young reinsurer see things? Two executives from CCR Re tell the Re/insurance Lounge.

Rosier outlook for pricing set to continue through 1/1

Hiscox Re & ILS’s CEO Kathleen Reardon discusses the latest market developments as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

A sneak preview: more exclusive content and interviews inside

Quantifying climate change: Unipol mulls using a climate index

As the industry grapples with the complex challenges of climate change, Marco Sordoni of UnipolRe and the Unipol Group is looking at ways of factoring that increasing uncertainty into its reinsurance programme. He spoke to Monte Carlo Today.

Unipol Group, one of Italy’s biggest insurers responsible for ceding one of the five biggest property-cat programmes in Europe, is looking to link the structure of its reinsurance programme to an index designed to detail the severity of climate change—such is its concern about the impact global warming could have on its portfolio.

That is according to Marco Sordoni, who serves as the head of reinsurance for UnipolSai, supervising the buying of reinsurance for all of the Unipol Group in Italy, and as chief executive of Dublin-based reinsurer UnipolRe.

Sordoni is therefore in the unique position of seeing both sides of the equation as his respective companies enter negotiations. He says that climate change is a concern for the company.

The frequency and severity of losses are both increasing, and he views the severe floods that hit Germany and Belgium in July as evidence of the types of challenges insurers and reinsurers face.

“It’s a big issue for the industry because we need to understand how we can be resilient to such things,” he says. “This is a major change for the industry and one we need to face up to.”