Top emerging risks for re/insurance sector identified
Source: Middle East Insurance Review | Jul 2017
Reduced market access, regulatory fragmentation, the return of inflation and cloud risk accumulation pose the largest challenges with the highest downside risk potential in the short term, said Swiss Re in its 2017 SONAR report.
In addition, growing water stress and underestimated infectious disease are also among top six risks with the highest potential impact on the re/insurance industry.
The identified risks are relevant to life and non-life insurance areas as well as asset management. They are presented with the goal of helping industry players prepare for new scenarios by adapting their behaviour, market conduct and product portfolios.
The publication is based on the SONAR process, a crowdsourcing tool drawing on Swiss Re’s unique internal risk management expertise to pick up early signals of what lies beyond the horizon. The report offers insights into emerging risks and highlights a number of emerging trend spotlights.
“Ignoring emerging risks is not an option, neither for political decision-makers, the insurance industry, nor society as a whole. The earlier we adapt to these changes, the better prepared we will be,” Mr Patrick Raaflaub, Swiss Re’s Group Chief Risk Officer. “Sharing knowledge through a proactive risk dialogue across stakeholders can help the insurance industry create a pro-active and pre-emptive risk management culture that enables disciplined risk-taking. That is an important step to help society as a whole to become more resilient.” M