Insurance Risk & Capital EMEA 2023

4 December 2023, London

Convene • 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4BQ

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Agenda

08:50

WELCOMING ADDRESS

09:00

KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION: IDENTIFYING THE RISKS OF A HEIGHTENED MACRO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT AND A VOLATILE GEOPOLITICAL LANDSCAPE. HOW SHOULD RISK TEAMS BE RESPONDING AND PREPARING?

  • The Macro outlook – where are we on the inflation journey and is the UK standing apart compared to the rest of Europe?
  • Is recession unavoidable?
  • Political instability: Potential implications of a UK election and change of government combined with the rise of the far right in some European countries - what implications does this hold for financial services?
  • Geopolitics: what are the key global flashpoints to watch for and what implications could these hold for the global financial markets?
  • How are risk teams responding to increased macro and geopolitical challenges?
    • What new scenarios and stress tests have you introduced to reflect the new challenges from the heightened macro-economic and geopolitical environment?
    • How are risk teams adjusting operating models in response to inflationary pressures?

Moderator:
Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Andreas Maekert, Chief Risk Officer, Hannover Re
Adam Seager, Chief Risk Officer – Americas, ArgoGlobal
Dr. Neil Melvin, Director International Security Services, Royal United Services Institute

09:40

PANEL DISCUSSION: THE FUTURE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE – UNDERSTANDING THE EXTENT OF ITS REAL-WORLD POTENTIAL AND LIMITATIONS

  • The big picture – what capacity does AI have to shape and change industries, businesses and lifestyle?
  • Best-and worst-case scenarios – where are the potential uses for good and for ill?
  • Are fears of a threat to society and humanity justified? How wary should we be?
  • How do we balance upside with safety and control?
  • Can Federal government and Congress act quickly enough to establish legal guardrails?
  • Potential effect of AI on the labour market?

Moderator:
Paul Walsh, Senior Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Briony Horvath, Chief Risk Officer, The AA
Rob Anarfi, Chief Risk Officer, Beazley
Sue Turner, Chief Executive, AI Governance Limited

10:25

MORNING COFFEE BREAK

10:50

ROOM ONE: HUMAN CAPITAL RISKS

ROOM TWO: NET ZERO

PANEL DISCUSSION: NEXT GEN CROs TAKE TO THE FLOOR

  • What do you consider the biggest challenges ahead for the risk function?
  • Given the risk landscape today, what skills and profile of the CRO and risk function do you think is necessary in order to tackle these themes?
  • What do you see as the future role of risk management within the organisation?
  • What should a good risk person have as their attributes?
  • What will be the valuable skills of the future?
  • What is the key to promoting good risk culture throughout the organisation?
  • Talent and development
    • How do we attract talent into risk profession?
    • What can CROS do to help support and champion you in your career progression?
    • D&I
    • What changes would you make to structure and remit of risk team? To profile of the CRO? Approach of CRO? Strategy of CRO?

Moderator:
Michael Hosking, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Risk Officer, Gen Re International P&C, Chief Risk Officer, Faraday Underwriting Limited

Panellists:
Antonia Mueller, Interim Group Head of Risk, Domestic and General
Sukhraj Takhar, Non Financial Risk Director, Direct Line Group
Rachel Flynn, Chief Risk Officer, Westfield Specialty
Ben Stilwell, Chief Risk Officer, Axis Re

PANEL DISCUSSION: THE SUSTAINABILITY PATH FORWARD – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

  • Can governments continue to push change through the financial services industry to avoid making uncomfortable decisions?
  • As the divide in political views over ESG widens in the US, how do we navigate the politicisation of ESG?
  • What risk and legal discussions are taking place on these topics within insurers?
  • What impacts are we seeing on the day-to-day operations of a company?
  • What role can/should industry initiatives/bodies such as ClimateWise or the NZAOA play?
  • Who do we look to for industry standards and consistency?
  • EU taxonomy –what progress has been made and is this the right way forward? Will this become the global standard?
  • Accelerating the speed of change. Why haven't we made more progress and what needs to change in order to meet the goals?

Moderator:
Alex Hindson, Partner, Risk consulting, and Head of Sustainability, Crowe UK

Panellists:
Adhiraj Maitra, Group Head of Sustainability, Canopius
Suzanne Scatliffe, Global Sustainability Director, Axa XL 
Gabrielle Durisch, Global Head of ESG and Sustainability Solutions, Allianz Commercial

11:30

ROOM ONE: HUMAN CAPITAL RISKS

ROOM TWO:  NET ZERO

PANEL DISCUSSION: NURTURING THE FUTURE TALENT PIPELINE

  • Where are we now with the war for talent? What steps have firms taken over the past year to address the challenges around talent?
  • Has the balance of power shifted?
  • Many insurers have ploughed lots of capital into efforts to secure and retain talent – has this proved successful and how sustainable is this?
  • What other tools are at our disposal other than financial incentives?
  • How much progress has been made with D&I initiatives?
  • Re-establishing a new 'normal' working environment - is a best practice/gold standard emerging?
  • What approaches are different firms taking - what is working/not working?
  • Succession planning – how do we develop leaders in a hybrid/remote model?
  • Managing different preferences across multigenerational groups
  • How do you create and nurture a workplace culture in the new look workplace?
  • Battle for talent in a very narrow market - thinking outside the box to broaden the talent pool
  • Regulatory interest in company culture – what can we expect in the way of intervention and supervision going forward?

Moderator:
Paul Walsh, Senior Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Socrates Coudounaris, Head of Risk Management (Executive Director - Enterprise/Operational Risk), EMEA Region, Reinsurance Group of America
Sheldon Lacy, Group Chief Risk and Governance Officer, Canopius Group
Tom Hughes, Group Chief Risk Officer, Domestic and General
Zoe Shapiro, Open Division Chief Risk Officer, Phoenix Group

PANEL DISCUSSION: NET ZERO STRATEGY AND TRANSITION - WHAT DOES BEST PRACTICE FOR A CREDIBLE TRANSITION PLAN LOOK LIKE?

  • How credible are current transition plans?
  • Can the insurance industry reach net zero if the real economy does not?
  • Greenhushing vs greenwashing - Should firms make net zero commitments?
    • Reputational risks
    • How are fears surrounding accusations of greenwashing inhibiting insurers' net-zero transition plans?
  • Are firms struggling to live up to commitments?
  • Challenges surrounding measuring scope 3 emissions
  • The work of the TPT (Transition Plan Taskforce) – update on framework and guidance.
  • Does this look to be the promised gold standard for climate transition plans?
  • Will it bring the much-needed clarity of definition, consistency and credibility to transition planning?
  • How will transition plans be used? Who are they for? Why are we doing them?
  • What takeaways from TCFD progress can we utilise for Transition planning?

Moderator:
Josh Geer, Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Deepak Jobanputra, Chief Sustainability Officer, Vitality UK
Ben Howarth, Chief Sustainability Officer, Association of British Insurers
Olivia Brindle, Head of Sustainability, Fidelis MGU

12:10

ROOM ONE: LONGEVITY & MORTALITY

ROOM TWO: EMERGING RISKS

PRESENTATION: BACKTESTING THE SOLVENCY II SCR: SURPRISING FINDINGS AND RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS

Speaker: Gerhard Stahl, Chief Research & Development Officer at HDI Group, and Non-Executive Director, HDI Reinsurance Ireland SE, Dublin

PRESENTATION: REINVENTING THE EMERGING RISK PROCESS

  • Lessons learned from recent high impact emerging risk events – how effective has the current ER process proven to be in recent times?
  • What works and doesn't work with the current ER process?
  • Integrating the emerging risk process with (business) strategy
  • Frequency of events - Do black swan events exist anymore?
  • How can CROs better prepare? Pushing boundaries
  • Making the ER process more dynamic

Speakers:
Alex Duncan, Group Chief Risk Officer, Just Group
Kirsty Leece, Group Chief Risk Officer, Vitality

12:35

LUNCH BREAK

13:30

KEYNOTE INTERVIEW: PETRA HIELKEMA, CHAIRPERSON, EIOPA

Interviewed by Chris Cundy, Managing Editor, InsuranceERM

13:55

CRO PANEL: A BALANCING ACT - PRIORITISING AND RE-EVALUATING MULTIPLE CO-EXISTING ‘EMERGING’ HIGH RISKS

  • Headwinds for the industry – which key risk factors are top of mind right now?
  • Adapting to a world where extreme risks crystallise at speed – How do you get prepared for that?
  • Is there such a thing as 'emerging risks' anymore or are we functioning in a state of perma-crisis?
  • Navigating the interconnected and systemic nature of risks
  • Managing heavy burden of regulatory change/implementing back-to-back regulatory change against backdrop of volatile economy – where do you allocate your time?
  • How do you prioritise?
  • How do you remain adept and agile?
  • How do we resource adequately for this when faced with considerable talent acquisition challenges
  • Budget pressures

Moderator:

Vinaya Sharma, Actuary and Managing Director, QRM

Panellists:
Aurore Lecanon, Experienced Chief Risk Officer, Direct Line Group
Feryal Nadeem, Chief Risk Officer, Utmost Life and Pensions
Vishal Desai, Chief Risk Officer, MS Amlin & Global Risk Strategy Advisor, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group
Fabrice Brossart, Chief Risk Officer, Hiscox Plc 

14:40

KEYNOTE PANEL: INDUSTRY AND SUPERVISORY BODIES IN CONVERSATION

  • What are the key areas of focus for regulators and supervisors in 2024 and beyond?
  • Solvency Reforms
  • What are the main innovations of the Solvency review and what is the net effect for the industry?
  • Do we see material differences between the EU and UK regimes?
  • Do the Solvency reforms go far enough? Given the new yield environment, are the revisions still adequate and relevant?
  • What will the UK Solvency reforms mean for the UK's ability to be competitive and a more attractive market internationally?
  • Do we see a continued potential for the de-regulation of the financial services markets in the UK post-Brexit?
  • Role of regulation in supporting net zero transition
  • Tightening of regulation surrounding greenwashing
  • Treatment of Diversity and Inclusion
  • Exploring potential regulation and guidelines surrounding the use of AI
  • If you had 1 wish, what piece of regulation would you like to see introduced?

Moderator:
Ronan McCaughey, Commercial Editor and Deputy Editor, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
David Otudeko, Assistant Director, Head of Prudential Regulation, Association of British Insurers
Manuel Sales, Head of Insurance Policy Division, Bank of England
Petra Hielkema, Chairperson, EIOPA
Ramón Carrasco Bahamonde, Chief Risk Officer (CRO), MAPFRE S.A.

15:25

COFFEE BREAK

15:45

ROOM ONE: BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION

ROOM TWO: AI & ML

PANEL DISCUSSION: WHAT IS DRIVING BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION & CHANGE AND HOW SHOULD RISK FUNCTIONS ADAPT TO SUPPORT?

  • What are the market trends driving business transformation and change programmes
  • What distinguishes transformation change and change with a small 'c' and how does this inform the role of assurance
  • What are the barriers to successful change transformations
  • The role of technology in business transformation
  • How are risk functions involved in change management and where should they be going forward
  • How should the second and third line of defence work together in providing challenge and assurance
  • How should we assess and manage the risk of organisation change fatigue
  • What are the lessons learned and top tips for risk functions on business transformation and change management.

Moderator:
Hanna Kam, Experienced Group Chief Risk Officer

Panellists:
Buki Obayiuwana, Managing Director and Head of Transformation, Risk Consulting, Crowe UK
Mariano Selvaggi, Operational and Transformation Risk Management / Assurance, QBE Europe
Michael Hosking, Chief Operating Officer & Chief Risk Officer, Gen Re International P&C, Chief Risk Officer, Faraday Underwriting Limited

PANEL DISCUSSION: INTEGRATING AI AND ITS ASSOCIATED RISKS INTO UNDERWRITING AND RISK FRAMEWORKS

  • AI is set to have a game changing impact and is the most rapidly moving of all the emerging risks – How should insurance companies be positioning themselves to embrace the opportunities whilst managing the risks
  • Where is AI currently being deployed in the insurance industry? How are firms currently using AI to their advantage?
  • What future opportunities and risks for the insurance value chain can we envisage?
  • How do we allow innovation safely - How do insurers capitalise on the key opportunities offered by AI to innovate and to improve efficiency and client engagement whilst simultaneously managing emerging associated risks?
  • How well do we understand the emerging risk factors surrounding use of AI both within our own organisations and those of the clients with which we underwrite?
  • How has your company responded to concerns around ChatGPT and data privacy concerns
  • How are firms looking to structure their risk response – separate AI risk function? Or incorporating into existing frameworks.
  • Developing an internal policy on use of AI
  • Where does ultimate responsibility lie?
  • Managing the underwriting of the risks associated with AI and what this could mean for the technology we are relying on to inform future business decisions

Moderator:
Ronan McCaughey, Commercial Editor and Deputy Editor, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Chika Aghadiuno, Chief Risk Officer, Munich Re Specialty Group
Bruno Latourrette, Chief Knowledge Officer, Scor
Edward Mishambi, Chief Risk Officer – Europe, Renaissance Re

16:25

ROOM ONE: LONGEVITY & MORTALITY

ROOM TWO: EMERGING RISKS

PANEL DISCUSSION: SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENSURING GOOD CUSTOMER OUTCOMES ARE AT THE FOREFRONT

  • How do we support customers in challenging economic times?
  • Transparency in pricing
  • Ensuring inclusivity in terms of product offerings
  • Insurers' role in narrowing protection gaps
  • Consumer duty – how much is enough? Putting the building blocks in place to avoid being the next big mis-selling scandal
    • Feedback to date - how is Consumer Duty working in practice?
    • Feedback from FCA – levels of compliance; examples of poor practice/ good practice
    • Ongoing project implementation challenges
    • How have approaches at different firms varied?
    • What is the single biggest change you have made to business practice?
    • Where have you seen the biggest impact?
    • How are exec committees looking at MI? Is it resulting in a change to approach/strategy/product design?
    • What constitutes a good customer outcome?
    • Where do you set the bar? Are you gold plating it enough?
    • Embedding the cultural change required by Consumer Duty rules

Moderator:
Isaac Alfon, Managing Director, Risk Consulting, Crowe

Panellists:
Charlotte Salisbury, Head of Assurance, Axa Health
Helen Cooper, Chief Risk Officer, Esure
Matthew Field, Senior Policy Adviser, Conduct Regulation, Association of British Insurers
Zoe Shapiro, Open Division Chief Risk Officer, Phoenix Group

PANEL DISCUSSION: A NEW DAWN IN THE WORLD OF DATA - GETTING TO GRIPS WITH DATA RISK MANAGEMENT

  • What does the future look like for data access and use and how do we stay one step ahead of the game?
  • Operational and cyber resilience in the supply chain - rethinking 3rd party risk
  • Assessing the supply chain and supply chain risk -gaining line of sight into the robustness of control and the ability to continue business
  • Sharpening up due diligence processes at procurement and ongoing management stages – what does good look like?
  • Managing the 3rd party relationship – influencing and leveraging other parties not subject to the same regulations
    • Challenges navigating long term relationships
    • How do you go about resolving disputes
    • Assigning ownership and responsibility – where does contract duty interact with consumer duty
  • 4th party risk management – how do you ensure that 3rd parties are onboarding and managing 4th parties in line with your own standards?
  • Cyber risk management –where are we most vulnerable to cyber threats?
  • What are the key cyber risks to be aware of?
  • Mitigating for cyber risks in cloud outsourcing.

Moderator:
Josh Geer, Staff Writer, InsuranceERM

Panellists:
Alberto Grigoletto, Head of Group IT and Operational Risk, Generali Group
Marion Shaw, Head of Data and Analytics, Chaucer Group
Robert Moorehead-Lane, Group Chief Risk Officer, Aventum Group

 

17:05

CLOSING REMARKS

17:10

END OF CONFERENCE