This morning, I was talking to a Europe-based reinsurance broker. "This is going to be a very quiet Monte-Carlo, no big issues to discuss", he said. "We are likely to see some movement only next year when our clients start to get ready for Solvency II, which may lead to price hikes". So far, he seems to be right - presentations at the two media events we have attended today (AM Best and AON Benfield) were more about PR and less about news than usually at Rendez-vous.
Moreover, according to AM Best, Solvency II isn't going to shake the global market to the core. Starting from 2012, demand for reinsurance services will indeed increase, Miles Trotter, the agency's general manager for analytics, confirmed. But considering that the US, where Solvency II will not apply, accounts for over a half of the non-life reinsurance industry, the impact of the new standards will be rater limited, he opined. So are we up for another quiet September?
In the absense of other major news stories and in view of substanial excess capital, innovations continue to top the list of topics discussed at media events. Bryon Ehrhart, chairman of the analytics and investment banking division at AON Benfield, mentioned using iPads for underwriting purposes as one of solutions for the future. This pretty much solves the mystery of the Apple product that has recently replaced paper underwriting slips in the offices of domr Lloyds players - the guys are exploring ways to productively use the extra capital funds they have!
Fortunately, industry players do not limit innovative approaches to buying trendy Apple gadgets: for the press brief AON Benfield prepared a publication listing several dozen more complicated solutions to new risks.
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