PwC hosted over 400 reinsurance executives across three events at the annual Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo this week.

The PwC Executive Breakfast at the Hermitage Hotel featured keynote speaker John Neal, CEO of Lloyd's.

The firm highlighted conference themes with regard to the ongoing hard market, improved resiliency of reinsurers, AI and concerns around increasing climate-related risks.

Matt Britten, partner, Insurance at PwC Bermuda said the event was a great opportunity to engage with the reinsurance industry.

He said: “As we navigate an era marked by increasing climate-related risks and a heightened focus on digital transformation, it’s clear that innovation and resilience are more critical than ever.

“The discussions in Monte Carlo around harnessing advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to better predict and mitigate emerging risks have been particularly insightful, and further reinforce Bermuda’s pivotal role as a hub for addressing these global challenges and driving the future of reinsurance.”

PwC’s annual Insurance Legacy Market Update and Deals Outlook allowed the PwC team to provide an overview of deal activity and perspectives on the outlook for the sector.

The report said that despite a turbulent 12 months, recent deal activity suggests the market for legacy transactions remains strong. New PwC analysis shows the North American market in particular has bounced back after a quiet 2023, in line with predictions in PwC’s March 2024 Global Run-Off Survey.

The 13 North American deals involving over $3 billion of liabilities completed in the first eight months of 2024 already exceed the total number of deals announced in all of 2023.

Commenting on the Bermuda market, Matt Britten said: “During the year we have seen a couple of legacy deals executed with ILS players providing a solution to trapped capital. At the same time the Bermuda market has also seen an increased level of activity and interest in ILS casualty space, which I believe provides legacy acquirers with the potential opportunity to provide solutions – upfront solutions would probably be of most interest, to help support the development and growth of this ILS casualty space.”

PwC also hosted a new session this year in Monte Carlo on AI, and its potential impact on reinsurers. The firm’s research found that 70 per cent of reinsurers’ CEOs believe that AI is going to fundamentally transform their business.

PwC AI specialists outlined four key areas of opportunity enabled by AI that reinsurance market participants can exploit to transform operations: data acquisition, connecting across the value chain, optimising and automating processes and Ddecisions, and driving insight and assisted decision making.