InsuranceERM's judges agreed the work of PCS, a Verisk business, on events like hurricane Ian, and specialty losses from the conflict in Ukraine, was essential to re/insurers in managing risk and capital effectively.

PCS was able to receive first-hand information before, during and after hurricane Ian as it has a senior analyst positioned in south Florida permanently.

The firm's leadership team of Tom Johansmeyer and Ted Gregory conducted numerous meetings with clients in London and the US immediately after the hurricane. This helped their clients to understand the dynamics of the Florida market and the challenges the industry is facing, such as potential labour shortages that may affect the event's overall loss severity.

PCS also tracks and reports on man-made and political violence catastrophe loss events, and Tom Johansmeyer, head of PCS, says it is planning to add strike, riot, and civil commotion (SRCC) to the PCS Global Terror platform later this year.

He says: "The rise of non-terror political violence since 2019 has made the development of broader reporting tools necessary to help the re/insurance market manage risk and capital in the face of this threat.

"As the trend gained momentum, PCS began informally reporting SRCC losses outside our current platforms as a service to the industry. We saw the need for independent loss data given the changes in the risk environment and wanted to help immediately."

In Johansmeyer's view it is difficult to say whether man-made catastrophe losses will rise in 2023.

He says: "The Ukraine losses, and Russian aviation leasing losses, create a high baseline for 2022, which suggests a higher loss in 2023 would be difficult to achieve. However, the risk of further political violence activity this year remains high. Civil unrest in Bolivia, Peru and Moldova are indicative – likewise the protests in Iran."