The Best Policy

33: Mark Randall on the 2020 mental health events and impact of Covid-19

In a special edition of The Best Policy podcast, we talk to Mark Randall, CEO of Mark Randall Consultancy, performance and resilience coach, and organisational mindfulness specialist. Throughout today's episode, we discuss this year's major mental health events that have been triggered by the impact of Covid-19 in an industry so used to face-to-face interaction. Our guest shares strategies for improving the mental health culture within the workplace, simple techniques that help us manage stress, and how we can support our colleagues remotely.

32: Lou Iglesias on Covid-19, hard market conditions, new capital and profitable growth opportunities

In today's episode of The Best Policy podcast, we are joined by president and CEO of Allied World, Lou Iglesias. In our exclusive interview, we discuss the challenges of Covid-19 and the economic downturn, hard market conditions, the impact of new capital and profitable growth opportunities in (re)insurance. We start by asking our guest how the carrier is helping customers overcome challenges faced as a result of the pandemic and how it ensures operations continue to function. We discuss the main drivers for price increases in a hard market, lower for longer interest rates, and how much the latter drives sustainability in terms of longevity of current market conditions. We also talk about areas of claims from the second Covid-19 wave, opportunities for profitable growth in current market conditions and the level of flexibility and responsiveness Allied World has as part of Fairfax. The chief executive shares his thoughts on the need for capacity in the marketplace and the impact of emerging start-ups and scale-ups on market dynamics. Finally, we look at capital formation in Bermuda, reinsurance pricing and the retro market, as well as opportunities to expand.

31: Aon's Nick Frankland on Lloyd's trade capital, retro market, start-ups, and 1.1 renewals

In our latest edition of The Best Policy podcast, we are joined by Nick Frankland, UK CEO of Aon's Reinsurance Solutions business. In today's episode, we discuss Lloyd's trade capital, the impact of Covid-19 and the current working environment, the tight retro market, start-ups and scale-ups, and the best ways to attract capital support for new entrants into the marketplace. We look at the role of alternative capital at Lloyd's and the evolution of the portfolio of business across the short to medium term at Lloyd’s. The executive also talks about MGAs in a hardening market, Covid-19 as a catalyst for tech and innovation, and how critical reducing costs to the end-customer is. And we touch upon the future of Aon's Reinsurance Solutions business in the UK, what the combination with Willis Towers Watson means for the company's capabilities, as well as growth opportunities for the reinsurance industry as a whole. Finally, our guest shares his expectations for the upcoming 1.1 renewals.

30: Richie Whitt on capital raising, low interest rates and pandemic as catalyst for change: Part II

In the second instalment of our podcast interview with Markel's Co-CEO Richie Whitt, we discuss Covid-19 losses, capital raising and what low interest rates mean for return expectations. Richie talks about Covid-19 from a company perspective and shares his thoughts on the potential impact of a second wave on the business. We also discuss the overall insurability of pandemic as an exposure from an industry perspective and what role the latter should play in any solution. Following the significant amount of capital raises and start-ups beginning to emerge in the sector, our guest explains why he expects capital inflow will not temper hardening in the areas that Markel operates at upcoming renewals. Finally, we look at return expectations in a low interest rate environment and the pandemic as catalyst for technological revolution in the industry.Part I [https://reinsurance.createsend1.com/t/i-l-mbijky-l-j/] covers market conditions, capital allocation, fundraising in the ILS space and the fronting solutions business at State National.

29: Markel's Richie Whitt on market conditions, capital allocation and State National: Part I

In our latest edition of The Best Policy as part of #REinsuranceMonth [https://reinsurance.createsend1.com/t/i-l-mouka-l-j/], we are joined by Richie Whitt, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Markel Corporation. In the first half of our interview, we discuss market conditions across the broad platform that Whitt oversees and how Markel makes capital allocation decisions to address opportunities in an improving market environment. We start by looking at the E&S market and how it compares to previous cycles, the chief executive's expectations for the upcoming renewal across property, casualty and specialty, and potential opportunities on the retro side. We also talk about fundraising in the ILS space and the fronting solutions business at State National. Finally, Whitt shares how capital allocation decisions are made across insurance, reinsurance and retro. Part II will air later this week and will cover capital raising, low interest rates and the Covid-19 pandemic as a catalyst for change in the industry.