Swiss Re’s success in the EMEA region is underpinned by the development of innovative solutions to promote growth, unlock new efficiencies, and optimise profitability, according to Fernando Villar, COO and Head of P&C Client Solutions EMEA at Swiss Re.
Villar spoke to Reinsurance News about the reinsurer’s strategy in an interview ahead of the annual reinsurance industry meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany.
He explained that Swiss Re is focused on creating new offerings to fit the gaps it has identified in the EMEA market, both through building completely new products and by tweaking existing ideas to make them fit-for-purpose.
This approach has been especially productive in the emerging cyber market, Villar noted, where developing products to close the protection gap and reduce risk have proved challenging.
In this area, Swiss Re has supported its clients by assisting them with more traditional product development aspects like policy wordings, but has also helped to set up scoring methodologies that feed into a costing approach, and sourced partners to assist customers in pre- and post-breach scenarios.
Turning to efficiency, Villar said that Swiss Re has found the most benefit for its clients in automating repetitive knowledge tasks such as the processing of low-value/high-frequency tasks and simplifying processes.
With this in mind, the reinsurer has tried to find a more efficient way to price, bind and reinsurance smaller risks via its automated underwriting platform, SwiftRe.
“SwiftRe brings huge efficiency gains for the client in terms of turn-around time placing their Facultative reinsurance risks,” Villar commented.
“However, SwiftRe is not innovation for innovation’s sake,” he added. “This tool answers a specific strategic problem, and therefore creates a specific business opportunity for our clients. In this way, it reflects our whole approach of putting your business opportunities and challenges at the centre of our solutions thinking.”
When it comes to optimising profitability, Swiss Re has been focused on applying its data analytics capabilities to enhance portfolio data with multiple linkages to external datasets, Villar explained.
The company believes this type of work can expand the field of vision for accumulation and portfolio steering, in addition to enhancing its understanding of portfolio remediation strategies and profitable growth opportunities.
“Our data analytics approach recognises that there is immense value in knowing which strategic questions to ask and then making sure the data tools are answering those questions,” Villar said.
“The key to all of this is the partner and the co-creation approach,” he concluded. “There are powerful benefits that can be unlocked when we come together to combine our capabilities, tech, strategic efforts, and the alignment of interests that comes with a true risk sharing partners.”
“After all, when your tech partner has skin in the game, you can be sure there is the right motivation to get the future right.”
