As the reinsurance market transitions from a period of relative stability, market stakeholders are looking for greater alignment, an approach which has made Nationwide and Ryan Re’s partnership so successful over the past seven years, according to Russ Johnston and Emil Issavi.
For our latest video interview, which took place around the annual meeting of the reinsurance industry in Monte Carlo, Reinsurance News spoke with Russ Johnston, President of Nationwide Commercial, E&S and Specialty, and Emil Issavi, Chief Executive Officer and President of Ryan Re.
Over the past seven years, Nationwide and Ryan Re have built and grown a significant partnership, and that relationship has continued to evolve with the reinsurance market.
During the interview, Johnston and Issavi explored current reinsurance market conditions, and examined the strong partnership between the two companies. We also discussed the Markel renewal rights transaction, and looked ahead to the opportunity in specialty reinsurance for the companies.
“The reinsurance market, if you look back over the last four or five years, has enjoyed a degree of stability. On the surface, it has been a market that has hardened in some areas, and we’re now starting to see a transition in others,” said Issavi.
He also noted the abundance of capacity in the market, highlighting the challenge of balancing that capacity with risk and reward for all stakeholders.
Johnston underlined that “insurers want alignment with their reinsurers,” but warned that as the market becomes increasingly competitive, it’s important participants “don’t lose sight of those longer-term loss trends, particularly around property and the potential for losses to gravitate back toward the mean.”
In terms of Nationwide and Ryan Re’s long-standing partnership, Johnston emphasised cultural alignment as key to its success, as well as Nationwide’s compelling position as a mutual, where focus on clients is paramount.
“And so, having a strong and stable partner, being able to take a long-term view, and then being able to deliver that to cedents, I think helps the partnership. But at the end of the day, it’s that cultural alignment that I think has made it so successful,” he said.
For Issavi, overcommunication has been critical as the companies embarked on this journey all those years ago.
“There’s no rigidity here as far as this is a certain, absolute guideline somewhere. We think through the problems that we’re facing in the industry and try to solve those. And clients understand that, they get that, that we’re actually here to find a solution, rather than this doesn’t fit this paper that I just wrote yesterday. And I think that flexibility and thoughtfulness resonates,” said Issavi.
Watch the full video interview to hear more from Johnston and Issavi on market conditions, Nationwide and Ryan Re’s partnership, the Markel renewal deal, what the future holds for the firms in the specialty reinsurance market, and more.
