The XX-th Annual Reinsurance Conference. Post release

The Conference ran under the theme "Reinsurance is a Vector of Positive" 

The Conference was held under the aegis of the All-Russian Insurance Association.

The event was co-organized by Business Format Group.

The 2016 Conference was supported by Russian and foreign insurance and reinsurance companies. Rosgosstrakh PJSC traditionally became the general partner. TRUST RE; General Insurance Corporation of India CIG Re, Eurasian Economic Union, National Insurance Guild and Standard & Poor's international credit rating agency became the partners.

The Conference brought together 264 participants from 19 countries. Among them were market representatives from the Western Europe, the Middle East, the Central and Southeast Asia. The primary audience included managers and top managers on insurance, reinsurance, brokers, adjusters, independent experts.

First day plenary discussion was devoted to the most pressing issues the insurance and reinsurance community now face: to analysis of the situation on national and international reinsurance markets, prospects for the development of national capacity, governmental regulation and supervision, national reinsurance company establishment and results expected therefore in the industry. Considerable attention was paid to agricultural risks reinsurance, GRO owners’ civil liability and the role of self-regulatory organizations in the development of the national insurance and reinsurance market.

Leading the discussion: Ella Platonova, Chairman of the Conference Organizing Committee, Vice President of the All-Russian Insurance Association, President of NP National Insurance Guild  and Svetlana Gusar, Vice President of the National Liability Insurers Union

The issues were actively discussed by the participants: Igor Zhuk, Director of the Insurance Market Department of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Svetlana Nikitina, Deputy Director of the Insurance Market Department of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Igor  Yurgens, President of the All-Russian Insurance Association,  Vera Balakireva, Deputy Director of the Financial Policy Department of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Marina Pishchulina, Head of the Insurance Market Department of the FAS Russia's control of the financial markets, Aigul Zhumataeva, Deputy Head of Capital Markets Office, ECE Financial Policy Department, Korney  Bizhdov, President of the National Agrarian Insurers Union, Andrey Yuryev, President of the National Liability Insurers Union.

Topics sections and round tables of the Conference were devoted to the exchange of experience and to the discussion of practical issues such as reinsurance of catastrophic risks, sanctions reservations, renewal results, new products and electronic workflow of documentation in the sphere of reinsurance.

Traditionally, the Conference Program included business game devoted to actual issues of the portfolio transfer:  "Withdrawal from the Market: Take French or a Good Note Leave?".

The Conference was held in a friendly atmosphere. Both Russian and foreign participants noted the open nature of the event, the willingness and ability of the parties to openly discuss problems and prospects of the reinsurance market development, to seek ways to resolve difficult situations.

Sompo Canopius pleased to work in Russia

Simon Low
Head of political risk and crisis management, Sompo Canopius

Tim Davies
Head of sabotage and terrorism, Sompo Canopius

In view of the events that are happening now in the world and the threats that exist, terrorism risk insurance is becoming an increasing priority for many clients looking at insurance products.

Russia is no different, and as an industrial country, many requests for terrorism risk reinsurance that we see coming in to Sompo Canopius are related to large-scale industry, such as power generation companies.  We also insure commercial property such as hotels, retail business.

We are pleased to work as a reinsurer in Russia, and work here mainly through the big brokers. In particular we have a long established relationship with Ingosstrakh and Willis CIS Insurance Broker. Small insurance companies do not provide much demand in Russia, therefore, we mainly focus on the major players.

Russia is a growing market and the demand for terrorism risk reinsurance is certainly increasing.  We receive more and more requests from insurance companies.  Events in Syria have an effect on the terrorism insurance and reinsurance demand but so also do large scale international events such as the upcoming football World Cup . Our sister company, Sompo Japan Nipponkoa Insurance Europe, which has a representative office in Moscow, was involved in some projects related to the Tokyo Olympic Games and we were able to cooperate on those.

In any country where we operate there are different issues to contend with.  In Russia for example, we need to deal with sanctions, but this is not a new issue for Sompo Canopius.  Russia is not the only country where business is affected by sanctions and we are able to work worldwide within these regulations. They do not "shut" the entire business.

In fact, there are clients who cannot be reinsured now but there are also those with whom we can continue to cooperate. Typically, the sanctions are not applied to a particular economic sector but more often to a particular policyholder. Therefore, our task is to take great care to check each deal and each owner to establish if any sanctions apply.

In summary, we at Sompo Canopius are ready to provide the Russian insurance market with our extensive experience and expertise on crisis management, political risk and terrorism coverage. By working together in partnership, we can develop the right products for our clients and make progress together.