In the seven months since she joined BILTIR as CEO, Suzanne Williams-Charles (pictured) has sought to help the association reaffirm its commitment to advocating for the insurance and reinsurance industry in Bermuda.
It’s a role that sees her working closely with global stakeholders to support Bermuda’s efforts to safeguard policyholders and help close the pension protection gap – and one that has given her significant insight into the topics dominating reinsurance conversations.
She noted that, last year, the pension protection gap, the Bermuda Monetary Authority’s (BMA’s) regulatory enhancements, and increasing innovation in the industry were among the subjects on the minds of the market.
“With the global lack of savings needed for retirement now in the tens of trillions of dollars and the gap continuing to widen, Bermuda’s combination of fit-for-purpose regulations, a strong capital regime, and a deep pool of subject matter expertise makes us well-positioned to provide effective solutions to narrow the pension protection gap,” she said.
“Many types of investors, from pension funds, and also private equity, are providing the needed capital to fund the pension protection gap through a variety of mechanisms, including delivering higher returns, investing in pension-related liabilities, partnering with insurers, and offering innovative retirement products.”
Williams-Charles highlighted that the implementation of the BMA’s enhancements to its regulatory framework has been a priority for BILTIR. Life insurers, both here in Bermuda and globally, have been investing in alternative assets for decades, she said, and the Bermuda regime incentivizes a balanced, well-governed investment portfolio.
More recently, she said, the long-term insurance industry in Bermuda has prioritized innovation to improve its ability to address policyholder needs through the increased use of asset-intensive reinsurance. “BILTIR supports the establishment of appropriate guardrails, however, discourages creating regulatory requirements that are impractical and result in barriers to progressing solutions necessary to address critical issues for policyholders,” she said.
In the early days of 2025, Williams-Charles said she expects many of these themes to continue to lead conversations this year as the industry continues to iterate on long-term insurance and reinsurance products. “There will be an increased focus in Bermuda on transparency,” she said. “There have been concerns that PE reinsurers are focused on short-term returns and high-risk behavior, such as a heavy reliance on illiquid assets.
“Private capital is well-suited to the insurance business because of its long-term investment approach and alignment with the stable and predictable nature of insurance cash flows. Private capital, particularly from institutional investors like private equity firms, sovereign wealth funds, and pension funds, often has a long investment horizon. “
These investors are comfortable with locking up their capital, she said, which matches the long duration of insurance liabilities. Life insurance policies, for instance, can span decades, and private capital can provide the steady, patient funding needed to cover these liabilities over time.
In addition to the current requirements for liquidity stress tests and liquidity coverage ratios, she noted that the BMA currently has public consultation proposals out for public disclosures to provide increased transparency into the assets and liabilities held by long-term commercial reinsurers. “We will likely continue to see new entrants into the Bermuda market, however, only companies that are committed to operating in a highly regulated jurisdiction will choose Bermuda and increased transparency will make that abundantly clear.”
Zeroing in on the opportunities facing the Bermuda reinsurance market, Williams-Charles emphasized the importance of transparency. “We have seen a knowledge gap about Bermuda’s regulatory regime and new enhancements, and we will continue to explain how our life and annuity sector operates,” she said.
“I’ve spoken with numerous regulatory leaders about our framework to great effect – they have learned more about our unique regulatory regime and more fully understand its position in the global insurance and reinsurance market. I look forward to continuing those conversations in 2025. The commitment of Bermuda to a highly regulated environment that responds effectively to market changes, will continue to differentiate Bermuda as the jurisdiction of choice.”