At the recent Bermuda Risk Summit, AXA XL’s managing director highlighted Bermuda’s successful efforts in attracting talent to the re/insurance industry, contrasting it with a global challenge in drawing millennials into insurance careers.
Patrick Tannock praised Bermuda for its effective promotion of insurance as a vital career path, noting the island’s unique position in having a robust talent pipeline, with insurance being a key economic driver.
Despite Bermuda’s success, Tannock pointed out a concerning trend globally: only 4% of millennials express interest in pursuing careers in insurance, and merely 20% of the industry’s workforce is under the age of 30. With millennials set to dominate the workforce by 2025, Tannock emphasized the urgent need for the insurance industry to advocate more vigorously for itself and the value it offers.
The conversation, which included insights from Soraya Wright, Amazon’s global head of corporate risk and claims, also addressed the acute “war on talent” facing the industry. Wright underscored the importance of making insurance careers more appealing and promoting the significant impact insurance carriers can make, as outlined in a Royal Gazette report.
A critical area of discussion was the growing need for innovative risk solutions for intangible assets, a sector witnessing a significant gap between insured and uninsured risks. Tannock, who also serves as the chair of the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC), highlighted the increasing relevance of intangible assets in today’s economy, noting the challenge presented by the vast amount of uninsured risk associated with these assets.
“Never before, in the history of the planet, have we had so much uninsured risk,” Tannock said. “The delta between uninsured risk and insured risk is really growing. We need to do more, especially when you factor in that the top 10 companies on Wall Street do not really make anything tangible.”
Intangible assets, which include elements like goodwill, brand value, and intellectual property, are increasingly dominant on corporate balance sheets, especially among American and, to a lesser degree, European companies.
This shift towards intangible assets, compared to the more tangible asset-focused companies in Japan and emerging markets, represents a pivotal area for the insurance industry to address.
Wright also pointed out the potential for advancement in managing intangible risk, emphasizing the wealth of information and data available for developing strategies to mitigate these risks. She stressed the importance of comprehensive risk management that goes beyond traditional property and liability insurance to consider a broader portfolio of risks facing firms today.
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