EDITOR’S LETTER


The talent to find the unknown unknowns

“Jobs are being created that will attract some of the best and brightest.”

As the 17th Singapore International Reinsurance Conference draws to an end, the virtual delegates will reflect on what they have learned this week. Climate change with all its implications will give them much to ponder, as will the relentless march of digitisation. Yet for all the challenges, there are so many exciting opportunities for the risk transfer industry—especially in Asia.

Figures released in Swiss Re Institute’s latest sigma study this week indicated that the industry will reach a new record in global premiums by mid-2022, exceeding $7 trillion for the first time. It suggested that global insurance premiums will grow by 3.4 percent in real terms in 2021, 3.3 percent in 2022 and 3.1 percent in 2023.

This is a growth industry on a global scale. In Asia specifically, those figures are far higher—closer to 4 percent for the region, according to sigma—yet some of the real growth figures in gross written premiums being posted by carriers investing in the region are startling. Hannover Re, for example, posted growth of some 25 percent on the P/C side last year, while Beazley is also expecting significant growth this year.

What is exciting, for those working in and around this industry, is what that growth might look like in the future. The industry has the opportunity to make a big difference to the world—and perhaps more so in Asia.

Swiss Re Institute’s sigma study echoed what many other commentators have discussed this week, which is that as the world transitions towards net zero carbon emissions, the industry has an important role in insuring the technologies needed to do this and, at a higher level, making societies and economies more resilient.

In Asia specifically, there are many other existing ways it can make a difference. The protection gap remains too wide in many segments and markets in the region, but the industry is increasingly developing solutions to help close it. Hannover Re is just one of many companies developing parametric products that would make distribution easier and claims payable faster for many perils, including flood and heatwaves, in the region.

The coming generation

Clearly this is important for protecting livelihoods. But where the industry can make a difference in this way, it is important for another reason.

A new generation of insurance executives is being recruited and nurtured right now—and many of them will be far more discerning about where they work and the difference that makes than previous generations. Increasingly, insurance can legitimately say that it can and does make a difference. Want to help the world? Work in risk transfer.

Combine that dynamic with some of the exciting developments around the use of technology and digitisation and the industry becomes a very attractive place to work. From satellite monitoring to data management to the use of AI, a plethora of jobs are being created that will attract some of the best and brightest—people who may not have considered this industry before.

We will need them. For all the positives there are more unknown unknowns than ever—maybe. No-one really knows, of course. But hiring the best possible people will help the industry know more. And that must be a good thing.

Wyn Jenkins is the managing editor of Intelligent Insurer

Main image: shutterstock.com / mehdi33300