Miami Reinsurance Week: the power of the network

With so many industry professionals in one place, this LatAm-centric event is perfect for meeting multiple contacts in one place, says Miami Week veteran David Roig, iNLIP.

Our Latin America focus month comes hot on the heels of a LatAm event described as “a different animal” in comparison to other re/insurance industry gatherings. We are, of course, talking about Miami Reinsurance week, which took place February 12 to 15.

A long time attendee of Miami Week, David Roig, founder and managing partner of the independent Network of LatAm Insurance Professionals (iNLIP), shares his take on an event that has been running for at least 20 years, but may be a bit of an enigma for anyone who has not yet attended.

“Anyone who wishes to attend needs to have contacts in the companies that are organising cocktails, golf matches or seminars.” David Roig, iNLIP

Anyone attempting to locate a central organiser for the event, in the same vein as the association that runs the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous, can forget it, says Roig. 

Roig explains that the Miami get-togethers started at least 20 years ago, maybe more, with golf tournaments organised by important insurance market players. These golf tournaments were a success, he says, so other companies decided to organise their own contests.

“Now Miami week is a huge event—people come from all over the world. But it is not coordinated, there are no tickets.”

What to expect

As an event that has grown relatively organically and drawn in major global companies, it is a showcase of the force of nature that is networking in the insurance industry.

“From my point of view, Miami Week is mainly a networking event,” says Roig. “Some firms organise seminars and there may be five different events on the same day. It can be impossible to attend them all, so you jump from one building to the other.”

To many it will sound as though there are parallels with other key industry events such as Monte Carlo, Baden-Baden or the APCIA conference that moves around the US, but Roig remains adamant that it is different.

“I always say that it is a different animal, because every company organises its events in a non-coordinated way. It has been like that for years.”

He says that anyone who wishes to attend needs to have contacts in the companies or agencies that are organising cocktails, golf matches or seminars, as there are a lot of single events.

“It can be complicated for people who have never been there because they don’t understand how it works.”

There are no numbered tables where people meet, as happens in Monte Carlo. For much of the gathering’s history, everything related to the insurance industry took place in the financial district of Brickell in downtown Miami. Now however, Roig says, some firms organise things in different downtown areas or South Beach.

A flavour of events

From the Lloyd’s pop-up underwriting room to business lunches, seminars and golf, many get-togethers took place over the five days of Miami week.

Lloyd’s held its Meet the Market event at the Hyatt Regency Miami, where the team recreated the famous Lloyd’s Underwriting Room. This included a series of Lloyd’s “boxes” hosted by syndicate underwriters and coverholders representing multiple classes of business at Lloyd’s.

Active Re brought together key industry representatives for the second consecutive year of its business lunch at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Advanta invited market leaders to its breakfast and forum, while cocktail receptions were arranged by Starr Companies, Aon, OdysseyRe and Hamilton Americas, and Swiss Re, Beazley and AIG hosted key people at events during the week.

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