Gross domestic product growth is outstripping insurance growth, the protection gap is widening and insurance coverage is not keeping pace with rising risks, but there are reasons to be optimistic about the future importance of re/insurance, according to panellists in the “Reshuffling the Industry” panel discussion at the Singapore International Reinsurance Conference yesterday.
“The insurance market will continue to grow and will be more important,” said Jérôme Jean Haegeli, group chief economist at Swiss Re.
“The question is, can it be more important than today? Yes it can, and it should be.
“More and more you see policymakers realising that insurance companies are underwriting risks and at the same time we are investing risk capital we have deep pockets and a long-term investment horizon.
“Policymakers and all of us have a shared interest,” Haegeli said.
James Nash, chief executive officer, International at Guy Carpenter, added that when he entered the industry 34 years ago it was focused on the protection of tangible assets, but it has shifted to having a substantial focus on intangible risks.
“We started as an industry to evolve business…
