Chubb: Geopolitical meltdown doesn’t spoil global growth strategy

A sharp rise in global geopolitical risks does nothing to throw  Chubb from its plans to roll out a global offer, the company’s chief executive officer Evan Greenberg (pictured) has argued.

“Nothing has changed,” Greenberg said of Chubb’s global strategy in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. “We take a medium-term and longer-term view of opportunity and strategy when we think about growth for the company.”

“The world goes through periods of greater volatility and risk,” he said. “You recognise that and you build that into your thinking when you approach your strategy and tactics.”

High growth remains an emerging-market specialty. Greenberg can source up to 2/3 of the world’s pending growth over the next one to two decades from Asia with the conclusion that “ Chubb’s presence, and increasing presence there, is a good thing.” LatAm may bear a “volatility signature that is more extreme,” but those risks get built into the business plans and “the trend line over time is increased growth opportunity.”

Chubb has most recently stuck its neck out globally with a $5.75 billion cash deal for the life and accident and health business of Cigna across seven mostly APAC nations. More recent tweaks to that deal have removed a joint venture in Turkey from the list, officials indicated.

The risk-reward story is evolving away from core-market safety as risks undergo their own era of globalisation. Hiding under the covers in a small handful of the world’s most developed markets is no longer the risk-free option.

“I don’t think that any country or region in the world, given the interconnectedness of the globe, is immune,” Greenberg said, citing the global nature of current inflation risks, supply chain problems or the kick-on from the Russia-Ukraine war.

“We all live on the same planet; there’s nowhere to hide.”

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