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HDI, a global insurer specialising in aviation, has joined the Flight Safety Foundation’s Basic Aviation Risk Standard (BARS) Program as a new member.

The company said it joined the program to enhance operational safety for its aviation clients.

Basic Aviation Risk Standard program

The BARS program provides access to anonymised audit and accident data, which HDI plans to use to improve its risk management strategies.

As a BARS Member Organization (BMO), HDI will also strengthen its safety programs for brokers and policyholders.

Membership in the Flight Safety Foundation is included with the BARS program, offering additional resources for safety initiatives.

Benefits of joining the Basic Aviation Risk Standard program

HDI’s aviation insurance experts have found that operators participating in the BARS program tend to manage risk more effectively, resulting in fewer claims. Additionally, third-party assessments of these operators against the BAR Standard provide valuable insight for both insurers and operators.

HDI’s global underwriting teams will benefit from deeper insights into the safety performance of contracted operators. These teams will receive training on using the BARS framework to support safety initiatives and enhance their understanding of global aviation risk.

Jamie Bowes (pictured), general manager and global head of the aviation centre of excellence at HDI, explained that the partnership will:

• improve the safety of the company’s clients
• strengthen its underwriting capabilities
• provide access to critical data that would allow the company to assess risks more precisely

“The BARS membership will make our clients safer! Joining the program is a win-win situation for all parties being the client, HDI, and the Flight Safety Foundation,” Bowes said.

BARS expands activities in insurance sector

David Anderson, managing director of the BARS program, welcomed HDI as a new partner. He commented that HDI’s participation highlights the increasing importance of the program in the aviation insurance sector.

“Our new partnership with HDI once again demonstrates the growing strength of the BARS program in the global aviation insurance sector. We are very happy to have HDI on board with us and to work together on our common goal of making contracted aviation safer,” he said.

BARS offers de-identified audit data and safety performance insights to its member organisations, which insurers like HDI can use to refine their risk management practices.

“Our de-identified data insights are made exclusively available to our BARS Member Organizations and HDI can now use these insights as a valuable tool in the effective management of their risk in the worldwide contracted aviation services sector,” Anderson said.

AM Best has reaffirmed the National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (Nat Re) with a Financial Strength Rating of B++ (Good) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb” (Good), citing a stable outlook for both.

The Philippines’ only domestic reinsurer has seen its risk-adjusted capitalization remain at the strongest level despite challenges posed by significant premium growth in 2023.

Nat Re’s balance sheet strength, assessed as strong, is underpinned by its risk-adjusted capital, as measured by the Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). Although premium growth has reduced capitalization levels, the overall financial position remains solid.

The company’s investment portfolio is seen as moderate risk, with most assets in fixed-income securities issued by the Philippine government. Despite exposure to natural catastrophes, this risk is partly offset by a retrocession program that helps manage potential losses.

Operating performance continues to be rated as adequate, with a five-year average return-on-equity of 3.6%. In 2023, Nat Re reported a notable increase in net profit due to better underwriting performance and improved investment results. The improvement was driven by lower acquisition and management expenses, but the non-life portfolio faced significant losses and reserve strengthening, which affected the overall loss ratio.

Meanwhile, investment income, primarily from interest and dividends, remained a positive contributor to the company’s earnings.

AM Best also views Nat Re’s business profile as neutral. The company benefits from strong relationships with local insurers and mandatory cessions, while new opportunities through government initiatives and local underwriting facilities have enabled it to expand its business beyond mandatory requirements.

Nat Re’s acquisition of foreign agriculture treaties in 2023 has bolstered diversification efforts, but the company will need to maintain strong underwriting risk management to sustain growth.

AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has announced significant leadership changes for its two key European entities, AXIS Specialty Europe SE (ASE) and AXIS Re SE (ARe), effective Oct. 7. The appointments come as both entities undergo leadership transitions involving longtime executives.

Dax Gulmohamed has been appointed as the new CEO of ASE, where he will oversee the company and its branches in Belgium and the UK. With a career at AXIS spanning over two decades, including his role as ASE’s chief underwriting officer from 2016 to 2024, Gulmohamed will relocate from London to Dublin for the position.

He takes over from Fintan Mullarkey, who is stepping down after a 21-year tenure with AXIS, during which he played a pivotal role in developing the company’s European platform.

“Fintan has been a highly valued and trusted member of our European Leadership group for over two decades; his diligence, technical expertise and business acumen have been key to the successful growth of our European Specialty Insurance Business. We wish him every success in his future endeavors,” AXIS chief financial officer Pete Vogt said.

For Gulmohamed’s new role, he added, “A trusted and respected leader within AXIS for more than 20 years, Dax brings expansive specialty underwriting knowledge and acumen, as well as a deep understanding of the London market. We welcome him to this role.”

In a parallel move, John O’Neill has been appointed CEO of ARe, where he will manage the Ireland-based entity and its Zurich branch. O’Neill will continue in his current role as senior vice president of Life Reinsurance, in which he has served since he joined AXIS in 2016.

A qualified actuary and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, O’Neill succeeds outgoing CEO Mark McCormick, who is leaving AXIS after 14 years.

“Mark was instrumental in supporting the successful execution of our repositioning as a specialist reinsurer and driving margin expansion. We wish him every success in the future,” AXIS Re CEO Ann Haugh said.

“In John, we have a worthy successor who brings extensive reinsurance expertise garnered over a nearly three-decade career. We look forward to serving with John in this new role.”

Given the rapid evolution of cyber solutions, including incident response and proactive services, it’s unsurprising that conversations about the role of cyber insurance in protecting policyholders are changing.

Reflecting on what this means for brokers, James Burns (pictured), head of cyber strategy at CFC underscored the importance of maintaining focus on insurance as a promise to pay as well as, increasingly, a promise to protect. There’s still so much nuance between different cyber insurance products, he said, and those coverage nuances can have massive implications at the point of claim.

One – The difference between data recovery and data recreation

Not all policies are created equal, and for brokers, the challenge is differentiating between covers that can appear very similar but actually differ greatly depending on how the policy language is crafted, or how the policy is structured. An example of one of these subtle nuances is the difference between data recreation and data recovery in cyber insurance policies. “That one word different completely changes the nature of cover available under the policy,” he said. “and I think it’s something brokers really need to watch out for.”

Most cyber policies will cover data recovery, which tends to be applied when an insured has their data or systems encrypted or corrupted by a threat actor, usually by ransomware. Data recovery covers the cost of electronically reconstituting that data to the extent that it is electronically recoverable. But what happens if data that is critical to a business’s ability to operate isn’t recoverable electronically?

“That’s where data recreation steps in,” he said. “Data recreation covers the cost of recreating that data set from scratch, often using external specialists to essentially rebuild data sets to their pre-incident state. Burns cited a recent example of this where an engineering firm insured by CFC was hit by a ransomware attack, which encrypted all the data files on their servers and all the data backed up on their local hard drives.

“They thought they’d been backing up data to a cloud server but when they went to restore those backups they discovered they’d been failing for the past four years,” he said. “So, all the files relating to every project and proposal they had during that period were totally unrecoverable. To add insult to injury, the threat actor was completely unresponsive so paying the ransom wasn’t even an option for them; they were totally stuck, unable to continue to service their clients without access to the files.”

The data recreation element of the client’s policy meant the engagement of external engineers to come in and assist the management team in recreating what had been on those critical business files. “Over a period of months, they gained back nearly everything that was lost at a cost of around £200,000, which was covered in full. But if the policy hadn’t included that one word – recreation as opposed to just recovery – there’s a good chance they wouldn’t have been able to do any of this and could have gone out of business.”

Two – why unlimited reinstatements are a gamechanger for policyholders

Another critical coverage consideration is around unlimited reinstatements, which can easily go undetected by brokers. “The vast majority of cyber policies give the policyholder a single aggregate limit. So, you buy a cyber policy with a £1 million limit, with £1 million for response, £1 million for business interruption, £1 million for liability and so forth. But those limits are always subject to an overall cap of £1 million for the policy as a whole, so each claim a policyholder has erodes that limit.

“So, if they have an incident which causes a £1 million claim, they’ve technically got no money left for any subsequent issues that might arise throughout the course of their policy period. Unlimited reinstatements allow for the full reinstatement of certain limits to ensure that the policyholder is fully protected in the event that they do have more than one incident during the policy period.”

Given the high frequency of cyberattacks today and the costs involved, businesses are faced with the prospect of suffering more than one attack within a relatively short space of time. Unlimited reinstatements mean that brokers can assure their clients that even if they’re hit by a devastating attack, their coverage will support them through any subsequent incidents. “It’s back to nuance and how the words on a policy can actually transform the way that policy works. And that can be easy for brokers to miss because they aren’t necessarily used to seeing limits on a cyber policy work this way.”

Three – what are nil deductibles and why are they so important?

A third key area that brokers need to be on the lookout for is nil deductibles. It’s a coverage consideration perhaps more important in cyber than other lines of business because speed of response is so critical in minimizing the impact of a cyber incident. The sooner the coverage provider is alerted, the faster they can engage their technical expert first responders to triage, contain and remove the threat.

However, some businesses avoid contacting their cyber insurers straight away because they worry about hefty upfront costs in the form of their excess or deductible, or they’re concerned about triggering a claim for a small event that could potentially increase their future premiums. So, rather than engaging their insurer over something that could turn out to be nothing, they’ll wait and see how the situation develops and only notify them if it starts looking serious.

“But when it comes to cyberattacks, every second really does count,” Burns said. “If you wait and see how the situation develops, by the time you notify your insurers, the situation could be much more serious and costly than if you had called in right away.”

He advised brokers need to be on the lookout for policy wordings that offer initial, instant response services at a nil deductible. That wording nuance means policyholders can notify their insurer when they suspect something is awry, without the burden of having to pay for the initial response, without a claim being automatically triggered, and with access to an expert in-house team. Insureds should feel comfortable tapping into the expertise of insurers and leaning on their services in their time of need. This approach is proven to lead to much better outcomes – reputationally, financially and operationally for policyholders.

Cyber products have evolved to become about much more than just a policy wording, but the policy wording remains immensely powerful – any business interruption dispute shows that. Sharing his key message for brokers, he asked that they take the time to really understand what the language used in a cyber policy means, and to lean on their insurer for support.

“Ask your insurer questions,” he said. “Give them scenarios and say, ‘Would this be covered under your policy? What does this word mean? How does recreation differ from recovery?’ And make sure that you really push them to give you answers. Because I think that it’s important that brokers who are selling these products truly understand the extent of the cover that’s given under them, or the cover that might not be there in a policy that’s been worded a certain way.”

The majority of global enterprises that use generative AI have reported payoffs within the first year of its implementation, despite earlier indications that return on investment (ROI) on Gen AI initiatives won’t be immediate.

Google Cloud’s new poll among 2,500 senior leaders of global enterprises revealed that GenAI is a “key driver of business transformation.”

According to the report, 74% of enterprises using GenAI report ROI within the first year, with an additional 30 to 35% expecting ROI on Gen AI investments within the next 12 months.

Source: Google Cloud’s The ROI of Gen AI

Benefits from Gen AI

But Google Cloud’s report found that 86% of respondents using Gen AI in production with revenue growth are estimating an increased overall revenue of more than six per cent.

“It’s no surprise that organisations are seeing these revenue gains,” said Christoph Rabenseifner, Managing Director, Technology, Data and Innovation, Deutsche Bank, in the report.

“In the long term, I expect even greater returns as the industry explores use cases that really change business models.”

Source: Google Cloud’s The ROI of Gen AI

In addition, 85% of organisations that saw improved user experience said the higher user engagement was because of Gen AI.

More than half of the respondents (56%) also reported an improvement to their security posture as a result of the emerging technology.

Concerns about Gen AI’s ROI

The findings come despite a previous report from Gartner that executives are getting impatient to see a ROI on Gen AI investments, as organisations struggle to justify their substantial investment in the emerging technology.

As a result, at least 30% of generative AI projects are expected to be abandoned by the end of 2025 due to the financial burden in developing and deploying them.

Aaron McEwan, Vice President of Research & Advisory at Gartner, previously urged organisations to avoid pulling back on Gen AI investments.

“There’s no doubt that over the long term, this technology is going to potentially deliver on these exciting promises. The difference is that it’s just going to take a little longer than maybe people first thought,” he previously told HRD.

“So, my advice to HR leaders would not be to pull back on your investments, but to rather think very carefully about the best ways that this technology can be applied.”

Earlier this month, the catastrophe data service PERILS announced the expansion of its US Cyber Industry Loss Index to include unintentional loss events, in association with CyberAcuView.

Since launching in September 2023, the index has reported on affirmative US primary cyber market losses resulting from intentional events which generate an industry loss exceeding $500 million. It has been used in both ILS and ILW cyber-related transactions. Having engaged with industry stakeholders to generate feedback about the index, PERILs and CyberAcuView decided to expand the index’s scope to include unintentional systemic cyber events. The two organizations will jointly agree on the designation of an event as intentional or unintentional based on the primary cause of the incident.

Using market feedback to create – and update – data solutions

In conversation with Re-Insurance Business at the RVS conference in Monte Carlo, Christoph Oehy, CEO and Darryl Pidcock, head of Asia Pacific and cyber, each underscored the critical importance of stakeholder feedback in crafting great insurance and data solutions. This latest index expansion was the result of close engagement with industry stakeholders to work out exactly what their needs are, said Ohey (pictured left). This has been the same process with all its index developments, including last year’s move to expand its market coverage to include European hail.

“We heard from people how important it was to them to have insight into that peril, and also about how important it is to have real, usable data on severe convective storms in Europe as well,” he said. “We’ve done that for years in Australia and Canada, which is helpful as we’re able to leverage some of our expertise and experience. Because recent events have shown that this is an important area where data can be evaluated to better understand risk validation models.”

When PERILS launched its cyber index last year, it was a clear example of how to effectively leverage feedback into action, because discussions with both sellers and buyers of cyber coverage across the market revealed their interest in having access to high-quality data insights. Transactions completed early in the year identified the value of having insights into how the methodology of the index works, he said. This, in turn, led to the development of a case study into the MOVEit breach, which explained how the methodology works.

The challenge of modelling cyber risk

The CrowdStrike incident also triggered some questions about whether PERILS could start looking into unintentional or ‘accidental’ events which was the seed for the growth of its most recent expansion. Cyber coverage is an especially interesting part of the insurance conversation, noted Pidcock (pictured right) – not least because, as a relatively new line of business, it simply doesn’t have the same wealth of data and claims history found in more established sectors.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with brokers who are really trying to advise their clients and get themselves and their clients comfortable with talking about cyber risk,” Pidcock said. “Because you have protection buyers writing this book and looking at how they can protect themselves? And then you’ve got a lot of protection ‘sellers’, for example from ILS funds and other various capacity providers. They’re the ones who really want and need to learn more about this man-made peril.”

In insurance, the greatest education tends to come from major events, but when you don’t have access to substantial amounts of loss data, it makes it harder to contextualise what’s happening in terms of trends and create accurate scenario-based models. “What we’re trying to do,” Pidcock said, “is create a situation where we can feed in loss events to our index and create that more accurate view of cyber risk which will help the market’s overall understanding of the risk.”

How attitudes to data are changing

Attitudes to data have evolved in insurance, with companies more willing to share their data if it will result in great insight, and Pidcock highlighted how the power of collaboration runs through the heart of what PERILS is looking to achieve – and is critical to the way it works. For Oehy, who is coming up to the one-year anniversary of his time with the business, this collaboration with stakeholders has been fantastic to see firsthand.

“One of the key elements for me was understanding just how broad our stakeholder base is in terms of interacting with reinsurers, brokers, insurers and reinsurance brokers,” he said. “I think that gives us a unique view into the industry and it’s also what helps us get the feedback that allows us to build and evolve our indexes.

“The developments that we’ve launched – and there have been quite a few now – are only made possible thanks to an amazing team. Altogether we have over 200 years of industry experience coming together to collaborate and build something new. [PERILS] has hit so many great milestones in its 15 years, and we expect to see it hit many more going forward.”

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) has appointed Thomas Pache (pictured above) to lead its newly launched professional indemnity (PI) and cyber insurance lines in the DACH region. The company also named Kim Schumacher as senior property underwriter.

Both will be based in BHSI’s newly opened office in Hamburg, part of the company’s strategy to enhance its presence and proximity to broker partners and customers in the region.

Andreas Krause, head of DACH at BHSI, commented on the company’s expansion, stating that BHSI is increasing its expertise and product offerings in the region.

“The strength of our brand, our balance sheet, and our people, along with our ‘claims is our product’ philosophy, is an excellent match for the local marketplace,” Krause said.

Pache, who brings more than 30 years of experience in the insurance industry, will focus on providing comprehensive PI and cyber insurance solutions, particularly for customers in the information technology and software sectors.

Schumacher, with nearly 20 years of industry experience, will focus on expanding BHSI’s property business in Germany, specifically targeting the Mittelstand segment.

BHSI provides property, casualty, and executive and professional lines insurance solutions across Germany and the DACH region.

Just last month, the specialist insurer also expanded its European footprint with the opening of a new office in Milan and the appointment of Leonardo Castrichino as country manager for Italy.

The Milan office serves as a hub for BHSI’s operations in Italy, where the company is offering a range of property, casualty, and executive and professional lines products, including global multinational program capabilities.

Castrichino leads the company’s efforts in Italy, bringing nearly 30 years of experience in the European insurance market. Prior to joining BHSI, he held numerous leadership roles in the industry, most recently serving as chief operating officer for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region at another global insurer.

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The significant disparity between economic and insured losses resulting from Hurricane Helene could fuel interest in mitigation efforts and community-based disaster insurance programs, such as the one currently being tested in New York City by Swiss Re, insurtech Raincoat, and other partners, according to Josh Darr, Guy Carpenter’s global head of peril advisory.

Estimates for insured losses from Helene, a Category 4 hurricane, are in the single-digit billions, with Karen Clark & Co. reporting $6.4 billion in privately insured losses across nine states.

According to AM Best, this figure contrasts with economic losses, which are estimated in the triple digits. The insured losses cover wind, storm surge, and inland flooding damages.

Karen Clark & Co. noted that much of the damage occurred far from the storm’s landfall, with significant wind damage reported in Georgia, more storm surge damage in Tampa, and the most severe inland flooding in North Carolina.

Darr pointed out that some financial impacts of the storm are still unfolding, including the cost of claims adjustments, even if no payouts are made. He also noted the potential for business losses with broader economic consequences.

One example is the temporary closure of quartz mines in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, which are critical to the semiconductor and solar industries. Global materials supplier Sibelco has suspended operations due to flooding, power outages, and infrastructure damage caused by Helene.

Drawing a comparison to the severe flooding in Thailand in 2011, Darr highlighted how supply chain disruptions in one sector can have global ripple effects. According to ICEYE, a satellite mapping firm, more than 100,000 buildings from Florida to West Virginia were impacted by Helene, with at least 10,000 structures inundated by five feet or more of water across several states.

Most of the damage from Helene was caused by storm surge along Florida’s west coast, even though the storm remained far out in the Gulf before making landfall on Sept. 26 with winds of 140 mph in the Big Bend region. Inland flooding also affected several southeastern states.

Darr suggested that the large number of properties affected by the storm could drive up the cost of investigating claims, even those that are closed without payment.

“From an insurer standpoint if there is clearly a flood loss there are still adjustment expenses to go out and analyze that loss… 100,000 buildings impacted across a region can become an appreciable expense to the insurers,” he said.

As of Oct. 1, insurers had received 65,716 claims related to Helene, according to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. This number surpasses the approximately 25,000 claims from Hurricane Idalia, which struck as a Category 3 storm last year, and the nearly 22,000 claims from Category 1 Hurricane Debby earlier this year.

Darr also highlighted the growing gap between insured and uninsured losses for flood and rain-related disasters in the U.S., emphasizing that this could encourage the expansion of insurance solutions. FEMA reports that 99% of U.S. counties have experienced a flood since 1996, yet only 4% of homeowners carry flood insurance. Despite this low uptake, payouts from the National Flood Insurance Program increased more than 660% between 2000 and 2020, rising from $9.4 billion to $62.2 billion, which FEMA attributed to climate change and rising sea levels.

Darr pointed to coastal flooding during Helene, particularly in Florida, as an example of the impact of rising seas.

He also noted that the largest discrepancies between economic and insured losses in recent history – such as in Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, and Harvey – have all involved water damage.

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Mahindra Insurance Brokers Ltd. (MIBL), a subsidiary of Mahindra Finance, has announced the launch of its reinsurance division in Dubai.

The new office will be based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), a key financial hub in the region, and will serve the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) markets.

The expansion is part of MIBL’s strategy to explore new opportunities in the region, grow its client base, and boost its business operations. The Dubai division will employ a team with expertise in the international reinsurance market, offering services aimed at ensuring operational efficiency and reliability for clients.

Salman Jaffery, chief business development officer of the DIFC Authority, commented on the development, noting that the firm will be joining more than 125 insurance-related entities in the DIFC.

“Our enabling world-class laws and regulations are on par with other global insurance and reinsurance hubs and will provide MIBL with the perfect platform to grow their business from Dubai,” Jaffery said.

Vedanarayanan Seshadri (pictured above), managing director and principal officer of MIBL, emphasized the importance of the new division for the company’s operations in the MENA region.

“Our presence in Dubai will bolster the specific needs of clients looking for local presence and expertise, backed by global experience while adapting to market changes,” Seshandri said.

MIBL provides services to a wide range of stakeholders, including clients, insurers, and reinsurers across the world.

The company highlighted that DIFC has emerged as a major hub for the global insurance and reinsurance industry. A range of entities, including global insurers, reinsurers, brokers, and risk management firms, have chosen the region as a strategic location to expand their presence in the region.

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Aon has announced the appointment of Alejandro Padilla Mariscal (pictured above) as the new managing director of Consulting and Science Reinsurance Solutions for Latin America.

In this role, Padilla will oversee the catastrophe modeling firm ERN Evaluación de Riesgos Naturales, which Aon acquired two years ago. He will also lead Aon’s consulting practice in the region, which has played a key role in delivering natural risk management solutions.

Aon noted that Padilla’s appointment comes at a time when climate change and emerging risks are reshaping the insurance landscape. The brokerage said that his background in reinsurance brokerage and business development will be integral to advancing modeling solutions for secondary risks and parametric structures across Latin America.

Padilla brings extensive industry experience, having held various senior positions in reinsurance and risk management. Prior to joining Aon, he was Head of Reinsurance at GNP Seguros, where he led operations from December 2022 to October 2024.

He has also served as CEO for marine and non-marine reinsurance at Som.us México and held leadership roles at Cooper Gay & Co. Ltd and Swiss Re. Throughout his career, Padilla has developed expertise in risk consulting, data analysis, and executive leadership.

Aon’s last major appointment for its reinsurance business came in July, when it announced the hiring of Marguerita Silitonga as president director of Reinsurance Solutions in Indonesia.

Silitonga, based in Jakarta, reports to Musa Adlan, executive director and head of Reinsurance Solutions in Southeast Asia. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing strategy, driving growth, and managing all operations for Aon’s Reinsurance Solutions in Indonesia.

Last month, the global firm also released its “Ultimate Guide to the Reinsurance Renewal – September 2024” report, highlighting the contrast between the strong financial results of the reinsurance industry and the challenges faced by insurers amid rising losses and more complex risks.

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