Speaking at PwC’s annual breakfast briefing during this year’s RVS in Monte Carlo, Paul Brand, Chief Executive Officer of international specialty insurer and reinsurer Convex, suggested that carriers with relevance, resilience and efficiency do absolutely fine during this phase of the cycle.
Brand’s comments point to a widening gap in performance between companies as market conditions soften, with strong underwriting discipline and a clear market proposition becoming increasingly important.
Rather than viewing softer conditions as a uniform challenge, Brand suggested that the cycle tends to expose differences in the quality and positioning of carriers.
Firms that can maintain relevance with clients and brokers, while retaining efficiency and resilience, are better placed to navigate downward pressure on pricing and competition.
He also warned that concerns around market share and volumes can push less differentiated players into decisions that ultimately weaken their strategic position, particularly when they feel compelled to chase business at unattractive terms.
“The very interesting thing about the soft phase of the cycle is that this is the point in time when outcomes actually disperse. The best carriers do absolutely fine during this phase of the cycle. The ones with relevance, resilience and efficiency- they’re okay.
“It’s the ‘me too’ players who feel as though they have to pay too much to see the business, who get worried about share and volumes. It all starts to drift off, and firms end up going and doing something entirely different.”
