Abundant P&C capacity shifts growth opportunity to new demand, say Everest Re leaders

Artur Klinger and Marco Schiattone of Everest Reinsurance discuss how emerging risks, evolving capital needs and regulatory change are creating new opportunities for growth.

Key points:
Widening risk transfer demand
Financial risks offer diversification
CRT/SRT deals are expanding fast

“Opportunity will come from new demand rather than traditional coverages.” 

Abundant capital is putting pressure on pricing and shifting the search for growth in the market towards new sources of demand across financial risks, infrastructure, the energy transition and capital solutions, according to senior leaders at Everest Reinsurance.

“Dedicated reinsurance capital rose to a record level in the first half of 2026,” Artur Klinger, head of international reinsurance at Everest Reinsurance, told Baden-Baden Today. “The highly competitive environment is challenging. Opportunity will therefore come from new demand rather than rate increases.”

He sees that demand emerging in areas where specialist expertise, structuring capabilities and tailored solutions matter as much as balance sheet capacity. Renewable energy, digital infrastructure, complex specialty risks and capital solutions, Klinger said, are among the areas that will drive growth, alongside embedded products that can be distributed more efficiently through digital channels.

“Demand is growing fast alongside investment in renewable energy and critical and digital infrastructure,” he said. “The main pressure is concentrated risk, increasing the importance of understanding how new technologies, asset concentrations and interconnected exposures behave over time. Larger projects and data centres pack high values into single sites, hence pushing risk up to reinsurers.”

The exposures themselves are also changing. Klinger noted that while wind historically dominated renewable energy portfolios, solar has grown rapidly to become a major exposure, alongside the increasing importance of battery storage, clustered sites, smart energy infrastructure and the potential for longer-duration outages.

Everest expects energy transition and renewable energy-related risks to grow year on year as investment expands across markets. Led by global head of renewable energy Jonathan Mesagaes, Everest continues to invest in specialist expertise and capabilities to help clients and brokers navigate the increasingly complex risks associated with the energy transition.

Financial growth

A second source of demand is emerging where banking and insurance increasingly overlap.

Marco Schiattone, global head of financial risks at Everest Reinsurance, sees growing demand for credit and political risk insurance as regulatory pressure, geopolitical uncertainty and financing needs converge.

“The regulatory environment is getting more complex and demanding, especially in areas where banking and insurance converge,” Schiattone said. “This triggers additional need for sophisticated non-payment insurance, such as credit risk transfer and significant risk transfer.”

Credit risk transfer (CRT) and significant risk transfer (SRT) allow financial institutions to reduce selected credit exposures and manage regulatory capital more efficiently while retaining the underlying loans.

For reinsurers, they offer access to what Schiattone described as “a growing and increasingly sophisticated segment of the financial risk market” that is largely unrelated to natural catastrophe exposures.

CRT and SRT continued to see strong momentum in 2025, with significant growth in both insured volume and market participation. Activity is expected to accelerate further in 2026, driven by increasing demand across corporates, SMEs and asset-based lending.

“For banks, the win is freeing up capital without selling the loans, reducing risk concentration and allowing more financing,” Schiattone said. “For unfunded reinsurers, it means covering without deploying upfront cash while gaining access to selected and diversified books of business.”

Regulatory push

The pace of growth will depend partly on regulation. Competitive pricing can make SRT deals less attractive, while funded covers can be more expensive and capital-intensive for reinsurers. Schiattone also pointed to the need for transparency, consistency in risk assessment, alignment of interests and straightforward structures.

Everest sees potential for proposed securitisation reforms in Europe to allow more insurers and reinsurers to participate in standardised transactions, while regulators in other jurisdictions are considering how non-payment insurance should be recognised for capital relief.

Geopolitical uncertainty is adding another layer of demand. Businesses are increasingly looking for protection against sanctions, economic coercion, supply chain disruption and other political and credit-related exposures, Schiattone noted, as cross-border trade becomes more fragmented.

Beyond rates

Klinger also sees opportunities in digital infrastructure, parametric solutions, embedded insurance and protection gaps. Geopolitical and economic uncertainty is also widening the need for risk transfer, he noted, with reinsurance being a proven flexible tool to address these. 

“Organisations are seeking partners that can provide both expertise and flexible capital solutions.”

“There is increased awareness that rare circumstances such as a closure of the Strait of Hormuz can trigger losses simultaneously across multiple segments, including marine, energy and aviation, in addition to credit and political risk insurance,” he said.

This is also increasing demand for more tailored solutions and for long-term partners able to combine underwriting expertise with flexible capital support. “Organisations are seeking partners that can provide both expertise and flexible capital solutions, built to endure the next cycle, and built for whatever comes next” Schiattone said.

With pricing under pressure and capacity already plentiful, Everest believes the opportunity lies increasingly in areas where new investment, new exposures and changing capital needs are creating new opportunities for risk transfer solutions. Drawing on more than 50 years of experience in structured and specialty solutions, Everest continues to invest in the expertise and capabilities needed to support clients as their risk management needs evolve.

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