EDITOR’S LETTER

Life after COVID-19: an era of new beginnings

“To manage and deal with such change, the industry will need a new generation of talent with vastly different skillsets and knowledge.”

Even after the most severe catastrophe, be it natural or financial, green shoots eventually emerge. Whether we are talking about the natural world or an economy, those shoots often regrow stronger and more diverse than before, taking advantage of the space created and the opportunities that means.

The same will be true post COVID-19—for most industries in different ways, but for the re/insurance industry especially. We are already seeing the regenerative power of the industry through the many startups that have emerged, the new ventures that incumbent players have launched and the capital that has been raised.

We featured a number of such ventures in the last issue of Intelligent Insurer Review. In this issue, we speak to another: the Honan Group, which has launched a reinsurance arm in Singapore, a big step for the group designed to ultimately help its corporate clients and their insurers in its home market access capacity in the international re/insurance markets.

Long-term life But this process of change runs deeper. The COVID-19 pandemic will have long-term and profound implications for many parts of the industry, no more so than the life sector.

In this issue, we explore this in detail with SCOR Global Life and learn how the crisis could also lead to significant changes in customers’ attitudes and behaviours towards their health—and the way they insure themselves.

To manage and deal with such change, the industry will need a new generation of talent with vastly different skillsets and knowledge—and these individuals must also become a new generation of leaders and pioneers for the industry.

We explore that challenge facing the industry in a panel discussion on talent acquisition and retention, and meet a number of rising stars within the industry. We hear them what attracted them to the sector and what their career aspirations are now.

At the centre of some of the challenges these individuals will have to navigate are the values of environmental, social and corporate governance, a set of standards that are increasingly moving from a nice-to-have to something that is vital for individual companies to embrace. This is a complex issue—especially for insurers—and they will need some great brains to get it right.

This is just a snapshot of the June issue of Intelligent Insurer Review. Remember you can watch much of this content on our sister platform the Re/insurance Lounge. Look out for the links and enjoy.

Wyn Jenkins is managing editor of the Newton Media insurance group

Image: shutterstock.com / Fit Ztudio