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 →

Happy New Year Insurance and Reinsurance People! Six ways to have happy social media planning in 2011!

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Mairi

Firstly, Happy New Year to you all – may you all have a prosperous 2011.

Secondly, thanks for your support in 2010, and for reading my blog. Last year was a year when many wholesale insurers, reinsurers and service providers start to use social media. Some jumped in with both feet, while others dipped their toes and others still watched from the sidelines to admire the ripples… and see if anyone drowned in this medium that scares so many.

Results were varied. Under the sheer weight of the work needed to harness the power of LinkedIn, blogging, Facebook and Twitter successfully as a big corporate, some floundered, others lost their way and some even gave up the ghost and left their excellent work hanging in cyberspace. Some kept hacking away at the cliff-face and have made real progress in their understanding and use of the medium within the restrictions of the corporate world. Continue reading →

March Madness – reinsurance and insurance conferences a go-go

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Mairi

I’m dusting off my conference gear this week as March is going to be packed globe full of reinsurance-relevant conferences – so if you need to work up your air miles, here is a guide to the best on this month.

This list takes you from Qatar, to Bermuda, to Arizona, to Dublin – a nice round of geographies and subjects being covered. Continue reading →

The CCRIF – in light of the catastrophe in Haiti is the pot for the insurance and reinsurance of the Caribbean nations enough?

Posted on January 15, 2010 by Mairi

I was going to write today about XL Capital moving its domicile from the Cayman Islands to Dublin (and by the way, DIMA, well done on bagging this one). I was going to write about what it might mean for the company going forward, for its listings, for its long-suffering shareholders and for its global HQ in Bermuda.

But I’ve been watching the events in Haiti, and, to be honest, the news of XL getting its EU passport seems to pale into insignificance. Continue reading →

Coming up for air in 2010

Posted on December 11, 2009 by Mairi

As the year draws to a close, and underwriters work on finalising their January renewals, our work here at service providers like rein4ce normally starts to slow down.

This year, however, it has been different. I don’t know whether the trauma of the financial crisis has held many trapped in the headlights for most of 2009 ensuring even the most adventurous have been keeping their head down.

Now in the final throes of 2010 rein4ce is receiving more enquiries than ever before from companies looking to raise their profile in 2010 – especially through social media.

Financial services public relations, whether in traditional media or in the new arenas of social media we have been working on at rein4ce, is all about building profile, becoming known (or better known) as an expert in the field.

And a the PR toolkit of press releases, first person pieces, features in trade magazines and professional commentary has now been added to with the use of the likes of blogs, Twitter and LinkedIn, which can target specific audiences with laser-precision – ideal for our market.

It will be interesting to see what new tools 2010 will bring – and whether PR practitioners like myself can find ways of using these tools in a professional business way to help our clients.

We’re alright Jack… but what will the regulators do?

Posted on December 4, 2009 by Mairi

Everyone knows (well… at least I hope those who read this blog) that the insurance sector has weathered the financial storm well.

Following the worst recession since the 1930s, the world economy is starting to grow again, and the insurance and reinsurance markets have passed a severe stress test. As the crisis rolled, insurance kept being written, claims were paid. While companies struggled to keep their book value and the other side of the balance sheet took a nose dive, the capital requirements many had complained about keep everyone’s (well almost) head above water.

AIG, however, showed weakness in risk management and lack of supervision of its financial services activities. And while its insurance side kept on performing well, the problems faced by AIG may in fact lead to further – unwelcome - supervision and regulation.

On Monday, in its Global Insurance Review 2009 and Outlook 2010, Swiss Re said they did not expect capital requirements to be raised. But added: “In the US it is discussed only in the context of the systemic risk discussion. In Europe, it is discussed in a broader context (Solvency II)”, adding that a tightening of capital requirements was “unlikely”. But they raised a red flag saying that insurers and the public should “closely monitor” the proposals and said: “Much higher capital requirements, if implemented, would push insurers into more conservative investments, perhaps even forcing life insurers to cease offering guaranteed products.”

Thomas Hess, Swiss Re’s Chief Economist (of whom I am a huge fan) said in the briefing: “Such a regulatory change would not be in the interest of governments.”

Let’s see if sense prevails with the regulators.

Five key tips for using social media in the re/insurance markets

Posted on November 27, 2009 by Mairi

In the past couple of months, word about the importance of social media has definitely reached the ears of those at the top of the insurance and reinsurance markets.

Many may not understand the ins and outs of it all, but a growing band of CEOs and marketing executives are starting to dip their toes into these unknown waters – take as an example, Munich Re America, which is now on Twitter.

For those of us who are carefully trying to find the best use for social media in our part of the corporate world, helping remove scales from their eyes is a big part of our job. We come in and look to see if this would work as part of their overall PR strategy and then help work out a digital strategy. Then we can help implement it.

This is how we do it:

Watch what others are doing in this space. Showing examples of just how well it can be done and how it can be used is a great way of converting the uninitiated. But there are very still few out there with an implemented plan – reinsurance brokers Guy Carpenter (for blogging), US attorneys Goldberg Segalla (especially on LinkedIn)… Us folks at rein4ce… Erm. That’s it (bar a few good publications and individuals).
Working out a digital PR strategy. A lot of what is out there already is all based on business to consumer, on engaging and talking with customers, which is fine if you are Confused.com (who, by the way, spend just 10 to 15% of its PR budget on digital, which seems surprisingly low). But for the brokerages, London Market, Bermuda Market (click through and that will take you to a good PwC survey on the Bermuda Market) and other global reinsurance giants, this model does not work.
Keep it corporate – and legal. Remember the old adage of don’t put anything online that you wouldn’t want your mum to read or your boss to see. Corporate guidelines need to be set. And by having a properly run campaign, you can minimise the risk of litigation by rogue employees blogging about your company in their own time – as it ring-fences your corporate brand and identity under your own umbrella, which is controlled by you.
What is it worth? In our world, social media cannot be measured by a straightforward “ROI” as so many claim. It is much more intangible than that. But some if it can be measured – by the number of clicks on your website, by how many people log on and read your blog, by how many people follow you on Twitter, by how many mentions you get online. When helping our clients in this world, we have to show the pitfalls. There is the thorny issue of moderation – who monitors and reports what is being said. And implementing the resources required to feed an audience that is hungry for content can be costly, especially because the key point about social media in this sector is about providing quality content.
Keeping it up. Consistency is also important. Many fail to keep up with the idea once the decision has been made – you cannot set up a Twitter feed or a blog and not keep it updated. Generally, a lack of resources can stop the best laid plan in its tracks.

Mairi Mallon heads up the niche PR company rein4ce and blogs and tweets as reinsurancegirl – rein4ce is also on facebook if you’d like to join the group type in rein4ce on facebook’s search box.

From Quill, to Biro, to Mouse… to Twitter

Posted on October 30, 2009 by Mairi

This week I’ve been working on developing a social media marketing plan for one of my favourite clients, Yellowblox, an insurance communications hub.

It has been great fun, and showing the company just how easy it is to use and how it can specifically target the very niche areas of reinsurance and insurance technology it works in has been deeply satisfying.

It is great to help companies in what is a very traditional market see how effective social media can be both as a networking tool but also to build brand awareness.

Blogging is an obvious way to put yourself forward as an expert and to gain a loyal following. And the benefits of social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook with their huge user numbers are also well documented.

And while Twitter may not be for everyone, there are more and more insurance and reinsurance-related people signing up to find out what all the hype is about.

There have been many jokes about how behind the times Lloyd’s of London is when it comes to technology. But look at the way reinsurance companies have embraced the super-techie world of modelling – and even in a smaller way, who is nowadays not plugged 24/7 into their BlackBerry? And if you have learned to use your BlackBerry, you can certainly blog, Tweet and join in the conversation – it really is not that hard.

In just a few years Lloyd’s has been pulled (admittedly kicking and screaming) out of much of its “deal now, details later” culture through the use of the kind of technology that Yellowblox advocates. Many worried (and still do) that the advent of all this new technology would stop the face-to-face meetings that so characterise the London Market. That simply has not happened.

The new ways of communicating with social media also will not replace human interaction. Instead it will enhance interaction and allow us to reach a far wider audience.

From writing this blog, Tweeting and taking part in LinkedIn conversations, my company’s website has had visitors from around the world. In fact, as many people from the UK as the US regularly follow my blog, and I have a strong following in the Middle East and India. Go figure.

So, for those of you in the London Market who have not had a shot on it all yet, go lay down that quill pen, and (while the boss is not looking) log onto LinkedIn, Twitter or facebook and have a wee poke around. There is even a Lloyd’s of London page on facebook, with less than a dozen members… You’ll be amazed who you will find on there.

What worries reinsurers – the price of insurance

Posted on October 21, 2009 by Mairi

You can never be quite sure what the hot topic will be in the run up to renewals on January 1 in the world of reinsurance.

This year, I suspect it will be the lack of discipline and overall falling rates seen in the realm of primary insurance – particularly in the casualty market. A mixture of grabbing for market share following the troubles at AIG combined with clients being more sensitive to pricing means that business is currently being placed at below technical pricing.

Also, after getting a fright with AIG, cedents wanted to take their eggs out of the single AIG basket, and spread the risk. From the moment AIG got into trouble there has not been one competitor offering expiring prices, let alone factoring in an increase.

This month, October, it will be one full renewal cycle of insurance. Business has been redistributed and now customers feel more comfortable that the brokers have done their job, the players who came in will have a piece of that business, and the merry-go-round is likely to stop.

What I’d like to know is are the 30 to 40% reductions in pricing all being taken as part of a measured risk to expand market share or whether it will have repercussions in the years to come?

No one knows where inflation will go from here – and what the real price is for insurance. If you would let underwriters write, on their own, without competition, they certainly price insurance higher given the low interest rate environment – but everyone is anxious about losing business.

Under Hank Greenberg, AIG was known for putting discipline in the market – but not AIG nor anyone else currently plays this role. Reinsurers are trying to put discipline into the market – but they do not seem to be able, in the current market, exert much influence.

But reinsurers, while they claim discipline, are not withdrawing en-masse from the US casualty market – one which is seen as the most under-priced. We are in a deep recession, the worst we have seen for 70 years. Inflation will most likely come in 2011 or 2012, and the underwriting that has been done at below technical pricing will dig companies into an even bigger hole.

What will turn the market? It will have to be a large catastrophe, some huge adverse development. And come it will – they always do.

White noise

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Mairi

I’m going to try not to rant… but I don’t think I can help myself. I’ve been going on about the benefits of social media and how they can be used in the insurance and reinsurance markets. But to be really successful, you have to have quality – both in the content you publish and the people who follow you.

There is no point in having your website at the top of your Google ranking if when people get there and it is filled with rubbish designed purely to drive up your ranking. Continue reading →