BMS Re President and CEO talks Bermuda, inflation and investments

While the economy, supply chains, and environmental, social and corporate governance factors must all be contemplated and included in discussions ahead of renewals, inflation and property are going to be very large conversation piece at this renewal cycle, said Pete Chandler, president and chief executive officer of BMS Re.

“I believe, as we go forward in the immediate and long-term, the conversation is going to be around inflation, property and the availability of capacity therein. There is truly a finite amount of capacity,” he said.

Joining the 1.1 Club, Intelligent Insurer’s online, on-demand platform for one-on-one interviews with industry leaders, Chandler added that the industry needs to focus on inflation.

“As we look at all the tools available to us in our industry to help us anticipate and price risk, to try to see around corners and to use the crystal balls we look into for direction, I do believe that inflation in particular is something that has not been woven into a lot of those tools just yet. We need to get out in front of that,” he said.

Chandler added that companies need to buy insurance in order to survive, and brokers have to make sure “we’re bringing the most efficient capital to bear on their behalf”.

“We have to make sure we’re educating and advocating on behalf of our clients so they know what’s going on, what is the cost of that capital they’re pursuing and what underwriters are expecting in return for deploying that capital,” he said.

According to the executive, the supply of capacity has far exceeded the demand, but a more balanced approach at this renewal season will appear.

He said: “We are still seeing capital come into the re/insurance community. It is disciplined capital, and in certain ways it is opportunistic capital. At the same time—as brokers, intermediaries and advocates on behalf of our clients—our charge is to go and find the most efficient capital available, wherever it resides around the globe and bring that to bear on behalf of our clients.”

According to Chandler, Hurricane Ida and the summer’s European floods have evidenced the fact that the cost of claims are increasing. He said this is driven by global inflation, global supply chain dysfunctions and a labour market that is different from what we’ve seen in a long time, particularly in the US.

On pricing, Chandler explained that underwriters are “looking through lenses that are very much more critical than they have been historically, but there’s still an abundance of options and alternatives out there for them”.

In addition to property, he said that certain other professional liability lines (such as medical malpractice) “jumps off the page on occasion on some of the results and the impacts of social inflation on that line of business”.

BMS Re recently conducted its own directors and officers renewal, with Chandler noting that it remains a very challenged line of business from a pricing standpoint.

“As brokers, and in that particular instance as purchasers of insurance, we need to make sure that our clients’ stories are being told and they’re being differentiated from everybody else’s in the marketplace, so we don’t all get painted with the same brush,” he said.

While a lot of firming has occurred, said Chandler, he expects to see the “angle of the slope moderating a bit at this January 1 compared to the last two years”, although it will still be pointed northward from a rate standpoint.

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Planting the flag on Bermuda

It’s been a busy six months for BMS Re, and the reinsurance broker is racing ahead of its own plan and strategy, according to Chandler. Over the past six months, BMS Re has opened up an office in Bermuda and wrapped up its acquisition of Trean, the Minnesota-headquartered reinsurance intermediary which BMS Re jointly founded with the firm’s president Sean Ryan back in 2013.

“We’ve added in excess of 100 new colleagues to the BMS family since May 2019. We’ve more than doubled our revenues, and more than doubled our headcount. The market has been extremely receptive to BMS Re and our mandate,” said Chandler.

Turning to the Bermuda unit, Chandler said that planting the flag on the Island had been “overdue”.

“In the US reinsurance world, Bermuda is a very important trading platform. It’s an area where BMS has enjoyed some fantastic relationships for decades, and an area we should have been in previously,” he added.

Adam Mullan, who joins from Attestor Capital, is tasked with building out operations and being the driving force behind the initiative.

Chandler concluded: “We’re just getting started. We’re in the very early stages of our intention to invest heavily into the Bermudian marketplace so that we build a world-class broking discipline on that Island.”

To view the full 1.1 Club interview click here