Opinion

Broker consolidation, angst about loss trends in long-tail lines and the confidence of the E&S market were key themes in Colorado Springs.

Now that the tides have turned from a “growth-only” to a “profitability first” mindset, companies are letting go of the additional hires and focusing on insurance fundamentals and insurance expertise.

Performance overall has been good, but there have been insurance M&A missteps and its share price has lagged.

Reinsurers seem unwilling to concede on ground won, but insurers continue to feel the pain in an elevated cat environment.

It is more dependent on property, and its longevity is uncertain.

The market has passed a watershed around the apportionment of losses for attritional cat events between insurers and reinsurers.

Industry loss estimates range from $3bn to $10bn, but loss figures will become clearer in the days to come.

In a recent report titled “TFC: Primed for activist”, Wells Fargo notes investor discontent and lists pressing issues to be addressed at Truist.

The consequences of Vesttoo will hurt the fronting companies, but the changes are less important than the role it plays in uncovering what was already there.

The question of how to finance the private brokers no longer begins and ends with a PE flip.

Areas of focus should include hiring external talent, securing capital for M&A, speeding up US growth, and answering the reinsurance question.

Adoption of telematics is the first step, but the next step is analyzing the data and using it to make better drivers via retraining, rewards and incentives.