OPINION by Thierry Léger, Chair of the Insurance Europe Reinsurance Advisory Board, CEO of SCOR
The demand for reliable solutions is growing. What’s behind this surge?
Across the globe, risk is becoming more complex, far-reaching and severe. In 2024, the ongoing impacts of climate change, increasing geopolitical tensions and a diverse array of evolving and emerging risks continued to shape the world. Climate change is increasing the financial burden of losses from natural disasters. Demographic shifts are also driving changing insurance needs worldwide, with ageing populations straining systems in some countries, while others see a youthful workforce looking at the future with high expectations. At the same time, technology and data are transforming businesses and societies, creating new challenges and opportunities, and driving increased demand for risk transfer solutions.
Insurers are on the front line of managing these risks – and backing the insurers are reinsurers. When large or catastrophic risk events occur, it is the reinsurers who assume (part of) the losses from primary insurers, ensuring swift recovery and supporting more resilient societies. To do so, reinsurers must take a strategic approach to diversify their exposures to risks from across the world, enabled by a mix of highly specialised expertise, continuous product innovation and a global balance sheet.