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“I want to reinforce a very simple truth that an insurable world is an investable world. And where risk is understood and managed, capital will flow. And when capital flows, prosperity will follow,” he told delegates at the Singapore International reinsurance Conference.

“So, our industry is very much a foundation of economic development. And there is no industry which develops sustainably without us.

“So without us, infrastructure is not built, businesses don’t grow, and communities cannot recover from adversity.”

In 2024, global premiums for the reinsurance industry were about US$400 billion, according to Townsend, and since the turn of the last millennium, claims paid have been around US$2.5 trillion, “which has been put back into society and put back into the economy”.

“I remain convinced of both the efficacy and the potential of our industry to meet the challenges going forward because we have, aside from capital and a wealth of other things,” he added.

Well for the future

Townsend highlighted talent, data and trust, which in his view, really position the industry “well for the future”.

“Our industry is rich in both expertise and insight. We’ve got leaders capable of understanding these complex, interconnected risks, but there is a responsibility on us to make sure that we continue to attract and nurture talent and develop talent for the future as well, an area where the industry hasn’t been great historically,” he added.

“We hold information and data which rivals that of only the real largest tech giants. And whilst this might be for many of us, particularly the legacy players, whilst it might be in disparate systems, different formats and different languages, if we can use properly different tools of Gen AI and machine learning, we can unlock that treasure trove of data and use it to solve some of the most pressing problems for our industry.

“In a polarised world, one in which faith in institutions is declining, and where businesses in many countries have surpassed governments in terms of trust to deal with real-life problems, people fundamentally trust insurance and reinsurance.”

And three key themes also need to be considered for the reinsurance market to meet the challenges faced by the industry, according to Townsend.

“The first is the role of alternative capital and the opportunity for creativity and collaboration that we have with both data and with innovation,” Townsend said.

“The second is the defining challenge of our time, climate change and the protection gap and stepping up to show leadership in an existential issue and the private sector has to bring solutions to the problem or the state will step in, and if the state steps in, that will be lost forever.

“And third, again we need to meet that challenge with the appropriate talent strategy which is about retention, attraction and nurturing talent going forwards.”

Alternative capital represents a threat and an opportunity, according to Townsend.

“Alternative capital continues to pose a significant challenge to the reassurance industry, given they clout their willingness to absorb new financial risks and their overall approach,” he said. “So, it’s very much a force to be reckoned with going forwards.”

Meanwhile, Townsend said there is so much more the industry can do in terms of resilience and adaption.

“We’ve spoken about the protection gap many times. I’ve been in disconfidence a number of times where we’ve heard and spoken about, but we really haven’t done very much to change it,” he added.

“We’ve got the skills, we’ve got the resources, but it needs a much more collaborative approach and one with firmer leadership than I think we’re demonstrating today.”

Finally, Townsend conceded that the industry had not done a great job in terms of attracting talent.

“We have to position the industry as more innovation focused and not purely about taking risks,” he said.

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