SCOR targets a market share in the US on a par with its global status

SCOR is targeting becoming a top-end reinsurer in the US by size—an achievement that would see it match its position and market share globally—as it executes a long-term plan that will boost its presence in this market, Jean-Paul Conoscente, president and CEO of SCOR’s US P&C operations, told PCI Today.

Conoscente pointed out that while the company is ranked among the top four or five global reinsurers, it is ranked only #13 in the US. He added that an important part of this plan was a policy of deepening its relationships with its clients in the US.

“The US is one of the main areas of development for SCOR. We see a long-term opportunity to grow our US business to be of a similar size compared to our global business,” Conoscente said.

He added that to achieve this, the company plans to focus heavily on clients and their needs. At present, he said, the company has around 250 clients in the US. SCOR is looking to deepen its relationships with those clients, for instance, such as by reinsuring them across multiple lines of business in a coordinated way.

“Progressive growth is coming from expanding our client base, which in the US has so far been focused on regional clients, excess & surplus lines clients, specialty clients, and global players,” he said.

“The main segment that we haven’t really developed yet is nationwide carriers and insurers, so we plan to target that segment next.”

Conoscente stressed that SCOR has been targeting growth in this market in this way for some time and will continue to do so.

“This is a long-term plan, it’s not flashy, but it’s something that we’ve been doing very consistently, growing the client base little by little,” he said.

He added that he has been encouraged recently by signs of a bottoming-out of the market, with rates not so much increasing as stabilising and any further decreases shallowing.

“That’s always a good sign,” he said. “We seem to be reaching this bottoming-out of the market. However, in terms of what might turn the market around, it might not be a cat event. It could be a change in the economic environment or a series of losses or adverse developments.”

According to Conoscente, excess capital remains one of the biggest problems the market has at present. This is unlikely to change as long as reinsurance is seen as an attractive area to invest in.

He added that, should interest rates increase to the point that other industries and investments offer more attraction for investors, some excess capital may leave and be put to work elsewhere.