Munich Re Specialty ramps up push into Europe’s mid-market

Munich Re Specialty is seeking growth in Europe’s mid-sized insurance market, aiming to build a much stronger specialist primary footprint across the continent. After planting flags in Spain and Germany, the company is now ready to double down on a “measured” expansion.

Key points:
Targeting mid-market
First steps in Spain and Germany
Growth to diversify and stabilise results

At the helm of this push is Silvi Wompa Sinclair, CEO of Munich Re Specialty, Global Markets, Europe. She told Baden-Baden Today that the goal is not speed but substance – its growth plan will be built on presence, patience and a clear view of where market gaps truly exist.

“We’re not trying to be everything to everyone straight away,” she said. “Our initial focus is on serving mid-market clients that need primary specialty solutions […] and on being a reliable partner with the ability to deliver on our own word.

“We will take lead positions when we are ready and that’s our ultimate goal,” she added.

Led by Gianluca Piscopo, managing director (Spain), Munich Re Specialty opened its operation in Madrid earlier this year, marking a deliberate first step in a long-term European growth strategy. Wompa Sinclair says Spain was as an ideal place to start.

“We will take lead positions when we are ready and that’s our ultimate goal.”

“I spent most of my first 15 months figuring out where, when and how to expand our presence in Europe,” she recalled. “Spain was a strong option for us. It has a rich base of underwriting and claims expertise, dedicated risk management talent, a strong broking community and an openness to international trade.”

Spain, she said, is a mature, mid-sized insurance market that made for a meaningful proof-of-concept for its primary specialty business. She added: “As a growing economy, there’s a lot of opportunities there to work with customers who will benefit from our particular strengths in property, construction and renewable energy.”

The early results have been encouraging, giving Wompa Sinclair and her company's confidence to move forward. “So far in Spain, our step-by-step approach has proven very successful,” she said. “We’ve leveraged the Munich Re Specialty brand, played to our strengths, and taken time to learn and adapt before we evolve.”

Lessons learned — and applied

Those lessons quickly fed into Munich Re Specialty’s next move: Germany. In early October, it confirmed the rollout of surety. “The product lines we are targeting as a first step are construction, property, and renewable energy insurance,” Wompa Sinclair said, explaining that it chose these as a focus because local capacity remains tight.

“When we enter and extend into new markets, we are moving forward with the learnings we’ve already made,” she said.

While she did not disclose which markets may follow next, she hinted that Munich Re Specialty’s continental footprint will continue to evolve. “We’ll introduce new specialty lines of business when the time is right,” she said. But equally, the reinsurer is not pulling back from any existing ones. Across the UK regional market, Ireland and Spain, “there aren’t any lines we’re looking to reduce or exit”.

Two sides of the same coin

Wompa Sinclair described Munich Re Specialty’s European expansion as “two sides of the same coin” – balancing its established strength in the UK and Ireland on one side with the new growth drive across continental Europe on the other.

“The specialty insurance business in the UK is a very similar model to that we see on the European continent,” she explained. “Therefore, our growth strategy doesn’t differ much between the UK and other European countries. We target mid-market clients with solid underwriting and relevant capacity and will be adding lines of business to complement our existing offering in the near future.”

In the UK and Ireland, the focus is on deepening existing relationships and expanding capacity. “Here, we’re building out our offering, increasing our risk appetite in existing lines of business such as cargo, construction, terrorism and cyber,” she said. “That enables us to write more, larger business.

“And when we’re ready, we’ll add additional lines to complement our existing portfolio.”

On the other side are European markets where Munich Re Specialty is still building its presence. “We’re expanding our primary specialty footprint with on-the-ground teams,” Wompa Sinclair said. “We’ve already confirmed the rollout of surety as a new product… and that’s just the beginning.”

She believes success will come from keeping both sides in balance and growing with intent.

“Balancing expansion with underwriting discipline is the nature of our global business,” she said. “We would not be the company we are today without it.”

Navigating Europe’s complexity

Europe’s regulatory patchwork can often be a stumbling block for expansion, but Wompa Sinclair views it as simply part of doing business. “Regulation is a part of all our work, and we’re committed to making our expansion into Europe a success and solidly navigating the regulatory infrastructure,” she said. “So far, I’ve had very good experiences with the EU regulatory environment.”

Her confidence, she added, stems partly from Munich Re Specialty’s broader infrastructure and risk culture, and partly from the company’s insistence on local presence.

“We are seeing a real benefit from having on-the-ground presence,” she concluded. “Taking lead positions is certainly our goal.”

For more news from Baden-Baden Today, click here.

Did you get value from this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.