In an increasingly volatile world, how can the insurance industry rise to the challenge of identifying emerging threats? How can it continue to effectively provide the safeguards and certainty that its clients need to evolve and prosper in the years ahead? Chris Williams gives his views across a wide ranging and in-depth interview.
Chris Williams, Vice President Executive Officer, Co-Head of International Business Group, Co-CRSO
The world has seldom seemed so unpredictable, chaotic even. Everything from technology and politics to society and the environment is changing beyond all recognition and at a pace not seen before. And people, businesses, governments and society are looking for a solution.
The nature of that solution is not yet clear, but many are naturally turning towards insurance. Like everyone else, the insurance sector is working hard to understand what all this change means and how to respond.
Chris Williams, Vice President Executive Officer of Tokio Marine Group – a top ten insurer in the world and globally one of the leading specialist firms - is better placed than many to understand what this solution might look like.
He believes that closer collaboration within the insurance industry as well as between public and private sectors will be key. So too will a willingness for every part of the insurance sector to evolve and adapt to meet the changing challenges of the world today.
“It’s about having a strategically diversified portfolio of products, not only geographically but also by line of business,” he says.
“Tokio Marine doesn’t expect to make money in every line of business, in every country, every day – that’s not realistic. But we look at our exposure around the world and we’re confident we have constructed a portfolio that can absorb the events that are happening.”
While some insurers with a less diversified portfolio may shrink back in the face of these emerging risks, Tokio Marine’s approach allows it to maintain its core purpose – to be there to pay out when the worst happens.
For the sector as a whole, that ability to pay out is likely to become more and more challenging as exposures worsen and the cost of meeting them continues to increase. According to Swiss Re, natural catastrophes resulted in global insured losses of $105bn in 2021*1, the fourth highest level since 1970.
These weather-related losses are only likely to increase over time, so ignoring the problem isn’t an option. “It will be interesting to see who is going to respond to what in that respect,” says Chris.
He adds: “Certain perils should be covered by insurers, but such is the systemic nature of some of these risks, they would severely impact every insurance company in the world if insurance was to take full responsibility.”
He says that if we are to create the resilient societies we need, it seems likely there will need to be greater collaboration between the public and private sectors in the future as there is too much happening, too often, for any one institution to absorb the impact alone.
“Climate change is clearly impacting insurance results around the world. You have severe flooding in South Africa, unprecedented fires in California and rainstorms and hurricanes are increasing in regularity. There must be a meeting of minds somewhere,” he says.
If those minds are to meet, the insurance industry must undergo something of an evolution itself. While it is second nature for an insurer to look five to ten years into the future to understand the risk landscape, a much longer-term view will be required to meet changing client demands. Preparation levels will also have to increase dramatically to ensure effective and appropriate responses to large losses.
“The sector has to be the canary in the mine for society and move from a reactive position to being more prepared,” says Chris.
“If I look at my colleagues in Japan, their disaster response is probably second to none. A typhoon happens and they mobilise a massive number of people incredibly quickly. When I look elsewhere, if a big earthquake occurs, the industry doesn’t have things set up to the same level of sophistication.”
He believes that much could be learned from Japan’s approach to managing natural disasters. Sometimes referred to as a ‘natural disaster superpower’, Japan has 0.25% of the world’s landmass, 6% of its GDP but around 20% of the world’s natural disaster losses. Where the world is headed, Japan has already been for some time. Its readiness is something insurers around the world need to emulate.
In countries such as Japan, there is a trust in insurance that is lacking in other parts of the world. Chris believes that much of this positive sentiment is down to how the local industry responds to disaster, combined with its ability to offer a diversified, global perspective.
In Japan, insurers have proved highly adept at responding quickly and effectively to major losses, largely due to the sheer number of natural catastrophe events the country experiences. In addition, being domiciled in one of the most disaster-prone regions of the world has encouraged some carries to pursue a globally diversified strategy. Not only does diversification spread risk, but it also gives insurers such as Tokio Marine a broader corporate outlook. This is becoming increasingly important.
Chris Williams with Good Company Awards winners, Tokyo, 2023
Chris explains: “Tokio Marine has graduated from a Japanese company with some interesting international business to a truly global organisation.
“What was once a senior executive team completely dominated by Japanese, is now much more diverse and has representation from across the world, giving us a much broader view of how the world works.”
He adds that through its acquisitions over the past 20 years: “Tokio Marine has bought outstanding houses in great neighbourhoods that were managed well.
“You will pay a premium for that but every company we have bought is more profitable and larger now because every one of them has the one of the largest insurers in the world giving them the scale and the influence they need to grow.”
In addition to the benefits that diversification brings for insurers, there is also a great demand from customers who want to see the industry taking a more enlightened and worldly approach to societal challenges.
“People in their 30s and under will judge a company on how it acts,” says Chris. “They are looking to see how companies react to the societal issues around them.”
This is backed up by findings from the latest Edelman Trust Barometer*2 which gauges the levels of trust in institutions. According to the report, there is a desire for business to have a greater voice in societal problems with 52% believing business doesn’t do enough on climate change, 49% on economic equality and 46% on workforce reskilling.
In addition, 58% will buy or advocate for a brand based on their beliefs and values while 60% will choose their employer based on the same two metrics.
“ESG is a great example of this – what are companies doing about the environment? When I started in insurance, if you raised the topic of the environment, people would laugh at you,” says Chris.
“There wasn’t the contemplation of the long-term effects that those things have on society. But we need to be listening to that generation a lot more as they are becoming increasingly important in every respect.”
Adapting to and accommodating these demands requires an evolution, the same kind of approach Tokio Marine is taking to the energy markets. A long-standing player in the traditional energy sector, it is now leading the renewables market and helping clients through the transition to a greener economy.
“In 2020, we bought a company called GCube which is leading the market in the renewable energy space – we are now at the cutting edge,” says Chris.
He points out that traditional energy providers, while not flavour of the month for many, are working hard to switch to green energy. To get through that process they require the support of the insurance sector.
“It’s a transition. We as an industry have to support them. Renewable energy is where we want to be, but we need to get there first, and it won’t be tomorrow.”
As the world changes, the insurance sector must evolve with it. Historically, it has been largely reactive but increasingly, there is a need to be proactive, to predict the risk exposures of the future and help clients and societies manage them.
Chris says: “I think we are entering the age of the specialist and while we write some commoditised risks, our secret sauce internationally is that Tokio Marine is a leading specialist insurance company. But our real strength lies in the fact that even though we are a global company, we are comprised of outstanding, specialist insurance firms, that maintain their local control and influence.”
Combining in-depth specialist knowledge with a diversified portfolio and an enlightened and proactive approach to risk, will enable insurers to deliver for their clients and rebuild some of the trust that has been eroded in these increasingly unpredictable times.
- *1Edelman "2022 EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER"
- *2Swiss Re Group "Global insured catastrophe losses rise to USD 112 billion in 2021, the fourth highest on record, Swiss Re Institute estimates"
