Swiss Re tackles rising perils: property, casualty and specialty focus

With geopolitical tensions high, natural catastrophes occurring frequently and economic challenges intensifying, Jens Mehlhorn, head of property treaty EMEA; Patrick Roder, head of casualty treaty underwriting EMEA; and Jimmy Keime, head of engineering and nuclear, all at Swiss Re, shared their perspectives on how these developments are shaping property, casualty and specialty insurance in a pre-Baden-Baden press conference.

Mehlhorn reflected on the complex global environment. “Geopolitical tensions do not go away: the Ukraine war is ongoing, and the conflict in the Middle East, along with riots in far-off places such as New Caledonia, have continued for months. 

“The potential impacts of strike, riot, and civil commotion events today are much greater than 20 years ago,” he said. 

He pointed to the growing occurrence of natural catastrophes: “We’ve had a high number of weather-related natural catastrophes. Global insured losses reached $60 billion in the first six months of this year, with the new normal being over $100 billion annually.”

“Increasing losses call for holistic risk management and investment into protection measures.” 

Rising property values and inflation are adding pressure to the market, according to Mehlhorn. “Higher property insurance, particularly in areas with intensified natural catastrophe risks, is driven by rising property values, urbanisation, and inflation. Our aim is to be a steady partner, offering consistency for the 2025 renewals,” he said. 

Addressing Europe, he said: “The September flooding in central Europe was another devastating event. The weather pattern that caused it, called Vb, used to occur every 10 years, but this year it happened twice, affecting Germany in June and Central Eastern Europe in September.”

He stressed the importance of addressing these risks through collaboration.

“Increasing losses call for holistic risk management and investment into protection measures. A concerted effort by the private and public sectors, as well as society at large, is needed,” he said.

Roder focused on the challenges facing casualty lines, especially in terms of inflation and its broader impacts. “We all hear about decelerating inflation, which is great news,” he stated. 

“For casualty, it’s more complex—wages and healthcare costs matter more than CPI (the Consumer Price Index).”

Roder highlighted that wage and healthcare inflation continued to affect long-tail casualty lines, noting: “These forms of inflation are stickier.”

He emphasised the need for collaboration between insurers and reinsurers. “We want to partner with our clients to ensure the casualty market remains sustainable for the long term. This partnership is based on insight- and risk-sharing.”

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