Ep166 James Boyce CEO Global Specialties Guy Carpenter: Retro pushing peak affordability

My career in insurance was spent largely as a generalist and
that’s why when I meet a specialist I really enjoy it. There is
something amazing about the level of nuance and detail that
specialists can reach into that adds enormous value to the rest
of us if we have time to get all of the details out of them.
Today’s specialist is James Boyce CEO of Global Specialties at
Guy Carpenter which means we are in for a treat because we are
getting the best of both worlds. That’s because Guy Carpenter can
share as broad a global view of the market as is possible but at
the same time we get an incredibly deep level of specialist
knowledge and understanding. In today’s show we are focusing
primarily on the retro markets. James and his colleagues have
been in the thick of it and in this Episode we really clear the
decks about where the market has landed after one of the most
turbulent renewal periods in its history. I think that the
picture that emerges is quite positive. The market has made
rational changes that will set it in good stead for seasons to
come, but although the product has fundamentally repriced right
to the top of its useful range, the market is clearing and is a
lot more predictable than it was at the end of last year. The
underlying health of the market has also been buoyed by the news
that despite Hurricane Ian and the Ukraine conflict, the retro
market managed to post a profit in 2022 and has moved decisively
back up the value chain, well away from attritional exposures.
James is excellent company – well, he is a broker after all – and
after this episode you’ll be right up to speed with the mood of
underwriters and their capital backers in this the highest, but
often least understood end of the capital stack that underpins
the global insurance industry. LINKS We thank our naming sponsor
AdvantageGo: https://www.advantagego.com/