The industry must prove itself to clients after disasters
As Latin American nations continue to recover from the severe hurricanes and earthquakes which took place in September, Ingrid Carlou, the chief executive officer of Patria Re, has advised re/insurers to prove their service to clients.
Carlou recommended that re/insurers “be as efficient and fast as possible to pay all the valid claims in order to rebuild the affected infrastructure and reignite economic growth”.
She expects that these events, along with insurtech, cyber risk and regulation, will take centre stage at the FIDES conference.
How these catastrophes will impact pricing for coming renewals, put pressure on returns on equity for coming years, and change the demand of reinsurance through higher limits/reinstatements will all be on the menu at the conference.
“Our market will certainly face changes in the near future as reinsurers evaluate their strategy in the region and we are expecting higher retro prices that will permeate to insurance markets increasing prices,” added Carlou.
But Patria Re sees opportunities in both traditional and specialty lines.
Carlou explained that insurance penetration for traditional lines is still too low compared to other developing economies, adding that there is a “need to develop specialised channels according to market niches and design of products to address unmet requirements”.
However, in traditional lines such as property and casualty, rates have consistently fallen in most territories, so Patria Re is focusing its growth on developing new opportunities with current clients and partnering on risk management for potential customers.
On specialty lines, there’s an “untapped market” in some territories. Through its special purpose arrangement in Lloyd’s and through strategic alliances, Patria Re is developing around 10 new lines of business.
The company imports products from more developed markets and adapts and implements them in Latin American countries.
“Our strategy has been proved right as we have been able to grow faster than the industry and with a higher return on equity over the last three years,” Carlou claimed.
The CEO concluded that, for various reasons, “an eye should be always on Venezuela’s general situation and its impact on the re/insurance local market”.
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