Reinsurance market conditions do not necessarily represent doom and gloom, according to Guy Carpenter Europe Middle East and Africa Operations CEO Nick Frankland.

He challenged delegates at the recent Baden-Baden Reinsurance Symposium to adapt.

“The wide variety of supply means choice for our customers,” Mr Frankland said. “So we must become expert in and able to advise our clients on all that is available, helping to create solutions that exploit this cornucopia.

“We must also work with the reinsurers and insurers to stimulate demand by filling known insurance gaps and providing solutions for the new breed of risks.”

Other industry leaders also stressed that change brings opportunity.

Hannover Re Group Chairman Ulrich Wallin says traditional reinsurance offers more than just capacity.

“Our long-term-oriented business model provides extensive experience in assessing current and future risks, in managing risks and in creating tailor-made risk transfer solutions.”

He says new product and distribution initiatives will become even more important in future.

“We support the development of covers for emerging and future risks – for instance, infectious diseases, technological and cyber risks.

“In addition to the support offered for sensing new business opportunities, we also provide distribution capabilities, particularly for life and health products in new markets.”

Allianz Re CEO Amer Ahmed highlighted reinsurance’s increasingly strategic value.

“We are seeing a shift towards the use of reinsurance as a strategic tool to manage capital and earning volatility from a group perspective, and away from a trading activity at an individual entity or line of business level,” he said.

Hamilton Insurance Group CEO Brian Duperreault assured delegates the reinsurance industry does not face an existential threat.

“Yes, it is at a critical inflection point, but we have seen a number of inflection points before and it is usually a place where real opportunities lie,” he said.

“At the end of the day, we are all risk-takers. We place a risk and match it up with the best possible capital. How well we match risk to capital will be driven by how well insurers, reinsurers and brokers adapt to the winds of change.”