’As an industry, we need to look at how we can better use data,’ says senior vice president
Risk managers are struggling to keep up with the pace of change as the market continues to evolve.
That was according to Bill Bradshaw, senior vice president and operations manager at FM Global, who said that brokers and insures were looking at ways in which they could support risk managers navigate the new landscape.
Bradshaw was speaking in Edinburgh at the Airmic annual conference, where he felt risks such a storms was contributing to change, such as the need to have better access to data.
“I think the biggest issue for our clients is quite simply the pace of change we have seen in recent months and years,” he said.
“Events such as the hail storms in France and the floods in Italy have highlighted the level of risks we all face and many of our clients have been affected.
“As an industry, we need to look at how we can better use data to manage risks. The past four years have seen over $100bn of insured natural catastrophe losses annually.
”However, the majority of those losses have not come from the major loss events we have seen in the past. Much is now from the new or secondary perils such as floods drought and wildfires for instance.
”The major risk, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, are very well modelled, but we do not have the level of data and modelling for the secondary perils and it is something that the industry is working hard to deliver.”
Support
Bradshaw added the need to understand the exposures have seen risk managers looking for greater support from their insurers.
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“If you take the example of PV cells in solar panels, we need to understand if they are resistant to sudden and violent hail storms,” he said.
”We are moving to a world of greater sustainability and the need for new technology and investment to reach net zero.
”However, while businesses are looking to solve one risk in terms of sustainability, they are doing so with new technology which is likely to create new risks.
“If we don’t understand the risks around the move to net zero energy provision and build resilience, then if we do see problems arise, it will be the public that will bear the brunt though higher energy costs, for instance.”
FM Global has been working with its clients to identify current and future risk challenges and deliver advice on the steps needed to enhance resilience.
Under its scheme, it will return 5% of the client’s premium to invest in resiliency measures.
“The money can be spent how the client sees fit, but we will have provided advice to the client on where we believe the money could be best utilised,” added Bradshaw.
“On the whole, the clients see us as the resilience experts and will take our advice and the results have seen around $30bn worth of risk removed from our clients facilities.”
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