After some 18 months cooped up in home offices, kitchen tables and modified sheds, the re/insurance world could be forgiven for longing for the return of business travel to pre-pandemic times.
The industry is built on relationships and international cooperation, and those who have been in the market for some time have a wealth of lanyards, plane tickets and nametags to demonstrate their attendance at the biggest and best events.
However, the pandemic has markedly changed the re/insurance world, with the mass shift to remote work prompting fundamental questions about how, and even if, the industry should return to its globetrotting ways once restrictions are fully lifted.
Managing the mileage
Speaking in a panel discussion with Re/insurance Lounge, Intelligent Insurer’s online, on-demand platform for interviews and panel discussions with leaders in the industry, Aon Securities chief executive officer Paul Schultz said that the pandemic had fundamentally changed how the firm was thinking about office work and business travel in the future.
“My sense is that we’re going to move to a hybrid model, I don’t think we’ll go back to 100 percent the way it was. Whatever we’re calling it, this is going to be true of the entire industry,” he said.
“We’re going to be smarter about how and when we travel.”
Paul Schultz, Aon Securities
Schulz added that while the pandemic was a major factor behind a probable reduction in business travel moving forward, the reality of climate change and global efforts to tackle emissions are likely to have an even larger impact on how the industry functions.
“As the insurance industry and insurance-linked securities (ILS) together embrace climate change one of the things that is a reality is the carbon footprint,” he said.
“Getting on airplanes to the same degree that the industry did before is going to be more difficult, as we are all addressing the carbon footprint of what we are doing.
“Relationships are absolutely front and centre in this business, and that would be true on whichever side of the table you’re trading on. But I also think we’re going to be smarter about how and when we travel.”
When will we meet again?
AM Best director Steve Chirico agreed that companies in the market are likely to adopt a hybrid working model split between working from home and time in the office, but added that the industry’s conference circuit was likely to experience changes as the focus shifts to reducing emissions and controlling cost.
Although the industry is going through significant changes, the value of face-to-face personal relationships will persist, he said.
“There will be a distinction, for instance, on the conference circuit, which will be different from the underwriting or business relationship side. The conference circuit will forever be changed—in fact, it is much easier to attract very high-profile speakers, and you can get four times as many participants.
“The value of face-to-face personal relationships will persist.”
Steve Chirico, AM Best
“We’ve had a very successful webinar series because of the opportunities to use the technology,” he added.
“I do think that we are a little changed, but I keep hearing on the business and underwriting side that people are getting out there already. They do value those personal relationships.
“They made it work electronically, because everyone had to, and they had those established relationships. Meeting new people is a harder task online, however.”
John Huff, president and chief executive officer of ABIR, echoed the sentiment that face-to-face interaction will retain a place in the industry of the future, particularly for more junior staff who haven’t had the opportunity to forge close relationships with counterparties in person.
While he acknowledged that the industry is set to change, Huff underscored that there are few ways to replicate in-person relationship building—even with the range of technology solutions on offer.
“It’s not going to change completely: there will be travel and there will be pressing the flesh, if I can use that term, where these relationships are galvanised, particularly with the industry’s initiative to attract younger people,” Huff said.
“If you are just starting out, and you were hired at a reinsurance company or a rating agency or a broker right out of college, you have not had time yet to form those relationships.
“Sometimes that personal piece can help solidify a relationship. It’s more difficult to do on a Zoom call.”
To view the full Re/insurance Lounge session click here
Image courtesy of Shutterstock / Patrick Foto
“Sometimes that personal piece can help solidify a relationship.”
John Huff, ABIR
