Between unstable pricing environments, turbulent external market conditions and evolving catastrophe exposures – the re/insurance industry is no stranger to change. Having supported the market for over three decades now, Gloria Hendrickson (pictured) has seen it through the rough and the smooth alike – and developed a keen appreciation for taking the path less travelled.
Having spent the bulk of her time in the market focusing on catastrophic risk, aggregation and accumulation – first at Munich Re and later at Catlin – she built on those foundations to launch an E&S startup focusing on cat risk and reinsurance. From there, she became chief risk officer for Florida Domestic before joining a firm focused on parametric risk, which further whetted her appetite for finding solutions where markets are stressed, or where no solutions are yet available.
It was a natural next step to join Delos as head of reinsurance, having seen the profound emphasis on hurricanes, earthquakes and other “proven” events in the catastrophic risk space.
“Wildfire has always been something I’ve been interested in but didn’t have the breadth of knowledge I would like to have about it,” she said. “That interest is what led me to Delos who are essentially the ‘rockstars’ of championing knowledge about wildfire risk. The opportunity to take my learning about wildfire to the next stage, while using my knowledge to help push them to that next stage, just seemed like a natural fit.”
Offering insight into some of the capacity challenges facing those operating in the wildfire risk sector, she noted that it’s a fluctuating space given the relatively long length of the wildfire season. It’s almost as long as the earthquake season, which is 24/7, 365 days a year.
“I think what we’re starting to see is that, given the cyclical nature of the reinsurance industry, we’re in a time where the market has the capacity, it’s just about knowing where to deploy it to get the best return and to get to the best environment,” she said.
“So, being able to identify the markets that have the appetite, have the capacity, and are looking for ways to deploy it is probably one of my biggest tasks. And since joining Delos, we’ve had significant engagement with a number of partners already in the market but also possible future partners in the market.”
There is a real need for what Delos is doing in the marketplace, she said, and for it to exercise its ability to develop new programs and solutions in the wildfire risk ecosystem that will help insureds gain access to the protection they need. “It’s my job to help us get these new programs out there on the market, protecting the carriers that we’re putting at the forefront and then getting the reinsurance behind those programs to make sure the risk has been spread properly across the parties who have the appetite for that.”
Hendrickson noted that key to her role in securing reinsurance capacity for new programs and strengthening partnerships with reinsurance providers is changing the conversation about wildfire risk - whether talking to reinsurers looking to deploy capital to wildfire risk for the first time or those who have had historically poor loss ratios so they can feel more confident.
As to what’s driving the market’s appetite for new solutions and innovation around wildfire risk, she emphasized the power of having a stable portfolio, a proven track record and access to top-level data sources and resources.
The foundations of what it takes to build great reinsurance partnerships are the same whether you’re working with wildfire risks or any other peril. It all comes down to consistency of experience and great performance, she said, because results matter but so does the way they are achieved. “Trust is built on integrity and execution,” she said. “I’ve seen that first-hand, that you don’t make promises too big and you don’t make promises that you can’t keep. That goes a long way in both maintaining relationships and in bringing on new partners.”
