02/28/2024
The Paragon Rider Monthly Round-Up
We know you need the latest buzz in the insurance realm. We’ve got you covered! From the ad slowdown to green shoots in commercial insurance, moderating premiums, and the looming risks tied to elections, here’s your concise roundup of the past month’s industry highlights.
Ads get subtracted
Where have all the ads gone? In recent years, insurers have tapped the brakes on Flo, Mayhem, the Gecko, etc, with carriers, particularly on the auto side, working to navigate profitability issues. This recent AM Best graphic illustrates the trend that took hold during the pandemic and, as analysts point out, looks to have spilled over into 2023.
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‘Green shoots!’
Howden clients, pinched by 25 straight quarters of rising premiums, are finally looking at “green shoots,” thanks to a leveling off of commercial insurance prices, according to founder and CEO David Howden. He explained to the Financial Times in a recent interview that the price of business cover would flatten this year as the supply of insurance and reinsurance recovers. The challenge, he added, is that there’s been “a shortage of new capital coming into the market.”
The trend is clear
Those rising premiums are moderating. As you can see from this chart courtesy of Marsh‘s Global Insurance Market Index. As you can see from the graphic, the trend is crystal clear: Insurers in most regions, Marsh pointed out, are still concerned about the impact of inflation on asset values and claims costs amid renewal talks.
Happy days are here to stay?
The “Golden Age” of specialty risk isn’t going away anytime soon if the common refrain among industry head honchos is any indication. “I don’t think that [E&S] party is over,” W. R. Berkley Corporation CEO Rob Berkley said in a call discussing company financials. “When we are looking at the submission flow, we continue to be quite encouraged.”
Take cover, elections are coming
Insurance leaders around the world are increasingly concerned about the rising risks associated with strikes, riots, and civil commotion (SRCC), having taken some big hits in recent years. Social media, of course, isn’t helping and, according to Aspen Insurance Group‘s George Barratt, the industry needs to be better prepared in light of the current climate. “With more than half the global population — 4.2 billion people — voting in 76 elections in 2024, the risk of further SRCC events in the build-up or aftermath is another point of consideration for those with interests in the territories involved,” he wrote.
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