Best Monte Carlo performances of the decade

We spoke to several long-serving Monte Carlo veterans, and provide a brief outline of some of their most memorable Rendez-vous performances over the last decade.

Ah, Monte Carlo...the picture-postcard mini-state perched on a hillside next to a glittering Mediterranean Sea.

The Monte Carlo Rendez-vous is the place to be noticed by the rest of the insurance market and to spread the word about your company’s, or your own, unique attributes. It marks the beginning of the long game of persuasion and communication that continues through to Baden Baden and end-of-year reinsurance deals.

What follows here are just a few examples of what attendees tell us they remember most.

SCOR—Egyptian hieroglyphics, mummies and wall-paintings
Year: 2007

SCOR invoked the awe and mystery of ancient Egypt in 2007, when actors dressed as mummies walked around the streets of Monte Carlo and huge wall-paintings bearing hieroglyphics gradually revealed the company’s logo.

It was SCOR’s chance to prove it had recovered from the ratings nightmare that it had found itself in two years previously. Not only had SCOR regained its stature, the company had also completed the purchase of Converium.

Whilst Scor created a stir among delegates, they also raised a few eyebrows of the administrators of the municipality. No massive advertising boards have since been seen in Casino Square.

Joe Plumeri, Willis—Industry must recognise ‘defining moment’
Year: 2005

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Joe Plumeri called on the industry to recognise a series of “defining moments”.

Plumeri, Willis group chairman and CEO, said that the catastrophe underlined the need for the industry to show leadership and “take collective responsibility” on this and other issues, such as contract certainty, transparency and contingent commissions.

Other people might have been thinking the same thing, but it was Plumeri who communicated the message and urged the industry to show a united front, with high-minded language.

“How we react collectively, whether we revolutionise our practices or support the status quo, will foretell our future. If we build and honour rich traditions, history will be our springboard; if we rest on our traditions, history will be our jailor,” Plumeri said.

Rendez-vous organising committee—50th anniversary party
Year: 2006

The paparazzi lined the streets as Prince Albert of Monaco opened a gala event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Rendez-vous at the Grimaldi Forum. Executives were treated to a New York-themed night, complete with Harley-Davidson bikers to drive executives and their partners around the winding streets.

The event was organised by the Monaco government’s tourism and finance departments.

Seymour Matthews, Heath Lambert Re—An end to ‘the many paying for the few’
Year: 2005

The lead broker at Heath Lambert’s reinsurance unit (subsequently bought by Cooper Gay in 2008) made a particularly salient observation in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina, which was somewhat lost in the windstorm of loss predictions.

“We can expect the reinsurance world to again be divided between US and international, with international not reacting to the US disasters. We have had this divide on the casualty business for a long time, but we now expect to have it on the property side,” said Heath Lambert broker Seymour Matthews.

Property pricing, which had been converging for a long time, did indeed begin a long-term split on a geographical basis.

Canopius—Churchill suite of the Hotel De Paris
Year: 2009

As a grand statement, there is nothing like securing the most prestigious hotel room in Monte Carlo, the €9,700-a-night Churchill Suite on the top floor of the Hotel de Paris.

Usually reserved by a top executive from one of the biggest reinsurance firms, it was snapped up in 2009 by a relatively new kid on the block.

Canopius, the privately-owned insurance and reinsurance group, hired the room for group chairman Michael Watson and gained an unexpected publicity coup. During the day, Watson made full use of the room, which is accessed via a secret lift button and is usually out of bounds to everyone but the privileged few. A constant stream of clients and journalists were treated to the views over Casino Square on one side and Monte Carlo Marina on the other.

The company, formed in 2003 and comprising the 10th-largest Lloyd’s managing agent, also gained great word-of-mouth recognition among delegates, allowing it to punch above its weight in the marketing stakes.

Monte Carlo—where else can you see insurance executives strutting their stuff on the dance floor, whilst overlooking one of the wealthiest and beautiful ports in the world. A glamorous affair that keeps us coming back to Monte Carlo, year after year.