Women in the boardroom – and introducing 100 Women in Reinsurance Group

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Mairi

Very recently, I spoke to one industry executive who said that he did not think that men and women could ever work effectively together in the insurance industry – although plenty of women work in his global insurance business. To say I was not surprised is an understatement.

That said, in the same week, I met another CEO who is striving to have a 50/50 split of men and women in his busniess to avoid the testosterone-charged decisions being made. He says he is still a long way off, but he has a goal in mind. Continue reading →

reinsurance girl’s blog voted into top blogs for insurance law by LexisNexis for 2011

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Mairi

We received an email late last night at rein4ce telling us that this blog has been voted onto the top 50 blogs by the LexisNexis Insurance Law Community (cheers from the office floor).

We are delighted, of course. It is the second year running that we have been voted onto this list, and we find ourselves in very distinguished company. As rein4ce is a public relations company rather than an insurance or law firm, it is particularly pleasing to have made the list. We specialise in public relations for the insurance and reinsurance markets – and companies that service them such as law firms – and it is a real accolade to have been selected. Continue reading →

Reinsurance Girl’s blog nominated for LexisNexis top 50 insurance law blogs

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Mairi

We are delighted at rein4ce that our Reinsurance Girl blog has been once again nominated for the LexisNexis top 50 insurance law blogs.

The list is featured on the LexisNexis Insurance Law Community and is well worth checking out as it has some favourite resources on there – from Artemis.bm, to GC Capital Ideas, to Lloyd’s of London’s blog, to Goldberg Segalla’s Insurance and Reinsurance Report, Risk Management Monitor and Willis’ new Willis Wire blog.

At rein4ce, we don’t normally ask for much, but we would today ask for your support by voting for our blog. Simply follow the link here and leave a comment by October 7th offering your support. Every little helps!

Monte Carlo reinsurance Rendez-Vous a go-go

Posted on September 22, 2011 by Mairi

Last week the reinsurance world descended on the glamorous Monte Carlo for the annual reinsurance Rendez-Vous.

Among the diamonds, champagne and glitz of the setting, real work was being done, brokers standing their ground on reinsurance pricing for the January 1, 2012 renewals, reinsurers saying prices will rise by up to 10%.

This dance will continue in Baden Baden in October, when the real negotiations are finalised, and may well result in a 5 to 7% rise, according to those in the know.

This year, there was a newcomer to the event, however. World Risk and Insurance News – a new dedicated insurance news channel launched there and has produced several reports on the back of it – and they are very good, well edited and well presented with good content. Continue reading →

Welcome to our new website

Posted on September 6, 2011 by Mairi

We are really pleased with our new website www.rein4ce.co.uk and re-branding, which we have launched today just in time for the reinsurance conference, Les Rendez-Vous in Monte Carlo.

Please give us your feedback – and anything you would like to see on here that is not explained.

As many readers know, we are a public relations company that specialises in financial services, particularly insurance and reinsurance and we also deal with the companies that serve this market.

We also have a niche expertise in business to business social media – a skill set developed out of a need in the market. So, if you are so inclined and are on any platforms, please find us – we are on Twitter (@rein4cePR and @reinsurancegirl), Facebook, and LinkedIn and Mairi Mallon and Stephen Breen are also on Google+.

And if you are not, here is a wee video (showing my age here) to help us celebrate…. Celebration time! Cool and the Gang

Social Media guidelines – a freebie for insurance and reinsurance bods

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Mairi

It's Free!

Some say you don’t get something for nothing – well that is not true. Today we are feeling generous.

At rein4ce, we feel that social media should be part of the public relations (PR) offering – and we help clients get to grips with it.

And the first thing we do is issue guidelines for staff – they need to know where they stand, and management needs to draw a line in the sand to legally protect their company.

Today, below, you will find sensible social media guidelines to use in your company. This will not only help your employees know what they are and are not allowed to do, but also help you with risk management by ring-fencing your company from inappropriate behaviour from rogue staff (and it happens, I tell you).

Here below I’ve pasted a short set of rules, and a longer set of guidelines. They are based a lot on common sense, other guidelines we Continue reading →

Insurance industry gets social media – check out the Twitter use at #BIBA2011!

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Mairi

Last week UK brokers gathered at their annual event, BIBA 2011 in Manchester and for the first time in UK insurance and broker communities, social media was used fairly widely.
This follows hot on the heels of risk managers and insurers gathering in Vancouver a week earlier for RIMS 2011, which was a staggering success on Twitter.
BIBA attendees used #BIBA2011 to bookmark their tweets about the event, RIMS used #RIMS2011.
What was interesting was who was using Twitter. In Vancouver, what was most striking was the use of Twitter by BIG corporates – there is a list here in the last blog – but included Aon Corporation, FM Global, XL Capital, ACE Ltd, Zurich, Willis and Marsh. In the Manchester event, there were a lot more individuals and much of the noise came from press such as Post Magazine, Insurance Age and Insurance Times and their reporters. Continue reading →

What a Tweetup! Well done to those at #RIMS2011

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Mairi

RIMS (knicked from excellent Risk Management Monitor)

Well, well. Knock me over with a feather – social media has come to risk management. At the RIMS conference in Vancouver we saw a whole swathe of mega-corporates Tweeting their hearts out, expressing opionons, talking to each other and delegates.

It is normal for the press now to tweet, but the most surprising thing was the gusto with which some really embraced Twitter this year.I have to acknowledge Risk Management Monitor here – I’ve stolen one of their pictures here. They did a grand job for those of us who could not make it and kept us up to date with words and pictures.

There were some big corpoations who obviously get it, with @AonCorp and @ZurichNAnews topping my list of non-press Tweeple (twitter people). Other biggies out Tweeting their corporate messages out (and doing a very good job too) were: Continue reading →

Stirred but not shaken? The true cost of the Japan disaster on reinsurance and insurance

Posted on March 25, 2011 by Mairi

In the past week, the speculation about the terrible events in Japan – and what they will mean for the reinsurance and insurance market – have begun to calm down. Already badly hit by the New Zealand earthquakes and Australian floods, the first quarter of 2011 has already proved costly – and we have yet to see how the wind blows in the Atlantic this hurricane season.

Opinion on the insured cost of the earthquake and tsunami vary from $10 billion to $35 billion. But with each estimate looking at different perameters, it is difficult to compare like with like. Some say the cost will be much higher once international business interruption (BI) cover is taken into account, while others believe that the way the Japanese market works, the cost will, in fact, be surprisingly low. Some in the know say that total cost of reinsured losses will be as little as $6 billion ($2.5 billion Zenkyoren, $1 billion unknown and $2.5 billion non-life). Others say it has been grossly underestimated with losses from international BI to roll in for years and years to come. Continue reading →

Social Media – is it the “Green Eggs and Ham” of insurance, reinsurance and risk management professionals?

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Mairi

I do love Dr Seuss. From reading the books as a child to reading them to my own children, they really are a joy. One of my favourites is “Green Eggs and Ham”.

For those of you who have not had the fortune to read this kids book, it is the story is a tale of Sam who tries to persuade someone to eat green eggs and ham. “You do not like them. So you say. Try them! Try them! and you may. Try them and you may, I say.”

Well I do sometimes feel like Sam, trying to persuade the insurance, reinsurance and risk management world that social media is not the devil’s work and actually, believe it or not, is a really useful and effective communications tool. Sometimes I do, finally, get someone to taste and they don’t just like it, they love it. So, I urge you to take the time, log on to Facebook, Twitter, google for some blogs, pop in insurance, reinsurance or risk management into YouTube and see what is out there – there is a whole world of communication developing. Continue reading →