ABIR hosts US regulators
The Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR) meets with US regulators this week to discuss international reinsurance and climate risk.
As part of their visit, the president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and Florida insurance commissioner David Altmaier and NAIC US president-elect Dean Cameron will be among those participating in a live webinar hosted by Abir.
They’ll be joined by Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) director of supervision Gerald Gakundi and members of ABIR’s leadership: ABIR CEO John Huff and the chairman of the organisation’s climate committee and SVP for underwriting and head of global public sector partnerships at RenaisssanceRe, Jeff Manson.
Altmaier and Cameron will also meet Abir members and address its board of directors during their visit.
Bermuda companies provide more than 60 per cent of the hurricane reinsurance in Florida and Texas, and BMA figures earlier this year showed they had paid $210 billion to US policyholders since 2016 – more than paid out in the previous 20.
“The ability of US re/insurers to cede risk to Bermuda enables diversification of risk globally, making the cost of buying insurance—particularly catastrophe, property and casualty insurance—more affordable to customers living in US danger zones and significantly lowering the insurance protection gap,” said Gakundi at the time.
The Abir webinar follows closely on RenaissanceRe’s 15th annual risk mitigation leadership forum last week, which focused on climate change.
“Climate change is making extreme weather events more frequent and severe and is an urgent issue for communities, businesses and governments,” said RenaissanceRe president and CEO Kevin O’Donnell.
“Protecting communities and enabling prosperity is an important purpose, and we’ve long applied our risk expertise and resources to drive better understanding of the impacts of climate change.”
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam was among those attending the virtual event.
“The fight against climate change requires us all to work together — public and private sectors, as well as the people it affects every day,” he said.
“We see real results when we listen to the science, focus on mitigation efforts and understand the roles private industry and the public sector must play to help communities transition to a resilient and sustainable future.”
