The Reinsurers Are Coming!

The message is not to lock the door and send everyone home, but the competitors of yesterday may not be the competitors of tomorrow.

In most instances, when A.M. Best issues its Top 200 U.S Property/Casualty Writers results, there is some jockeying for position – up or down a position or two. However, the 2018 results issued in July 2019 revealed something that literally flew off the page. One insurer moved up 28 positions, another 29 and a third a staggering 121 positions. While the upward movement is interesting in and of itself, it was who the insurers are that really caught my attention – reinsurers! Swiss Re jumped 28 spots, Everest Re 29 and Arch 121. And Munich Re is already at number 18. See also: More Opportunities for Reinsurers in Health   Now, it is easy to rationalize these position changes – mergers and acquisitions. However, it’s what lies beneath that is critical for all insurers to recognize – and changes the market’s competitive landscape in four critical areas:
  • Data: Reinsurers have an abundance of data, across numerous categories and geographies. Data is king, and reinsurers have it in spades. This changes the foundation for insights and puts these organizations ahead of the pack because most primary insurers do not have diverse data – at least not yet.
  • Information: Data generates information. Reinsurers have information about products, segments, buyers, distributors, channels, loss outcomes – you name it. This allows their decision making to be immediately more robust.
  • Skills: At a time when every insurance executive sees a lack of skill as a major issue for their organization, reinsurers have had skills, particularly data and analytics skills, embedded in their organizations for a long time. This puts them down the road in terms of leveraging the explosion of data and information – and using cutting-edge technology to do so.
  • Money: Reinsurers have a good deal of money. For a number of years, catastrophe outcomes have not drained coffers, and capital remains abundant. This allows reinsurers to invest in their subsidiaries. And they are doing so, which affects primary insurers directly.
See also: The Dawn of Digital Reinsurance   So, the message is not to lock the front door, turn off the lights and send everyone home because the reinsurers are coming. The message is – the competitors of yesterday may not be the competitors of tomorrow. There are competitors that are focused on changing business decisions and how those decisions are made. There are competitors whose DNA is innovation and transformation, and no one can run from that. The bottom-line message is urgency. If your organization believes it has many years before innovation will transform your operating environment and market position, or that innovation and transformation can be a secondary focus for your organization, consider that there may be a reinsurer just around the corner that has another idea.

Karen Pauli

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Karen Pauli

Karen Pauli is a former principal at SMA. She has comprehensive knowledge about how technology can drive improved results, innovation and transformation. She has worked with insurers and technology providers to reimagine processes and procedures to change business outcomes and support evolving business models.

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