While technology and the growing role of capital markets are changing the reinsurance landscape, industry leaders still flock to Monte Carlo, Monaco, for an annual conference unlike most industry events.Les Rendez-Vous de Septembre, the annual reinsurance conference that has met in Monte Carlo every year since 1957, is rooted in tradition. Unlike many conferences, the schedule of formal seminars is light, and the bulk of discussions take place in small, private meetings. Executives sit down in informal tete-a-tetes, often over coffee or a meal, for 30 minutes or so with clients or would-be clients.
"You meet pretty much the whole industry in Monte Carlo," said Marc Beckers, head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Aon Benfield Analytics. "I never meet more clients in the same place than I do at Monte Carlo."
While technology has made it easier for people to communicate, data to be transferred and risks calculated, brokers, consultants and reinsurers still meet face-to-face at Monte Carlo to discuss industry trends, said Martin Davies, director of Towers Watson Reinsurance Brokers.
"It's a useful opportunity to get a lot of people together from all over the world, even for short meetings," Davies said. "It's a bit more strategic than some of the other conferences."
"Monte Carlo," as the conference is often called, marks the unofficial start of the Jan. 1 renewal season, a time when a majority of reinsurance contracts are due. It's a little early in the process to discuss rates, Davies said, but "there's an opportunity to talk generally about new ideas, new markets and new structures."
As long as a major hurricane or other disaster doesn't strike the United States between now and then, new markets and new structures are likely to be hot topics at this year's conference.
In recent years, the conference has grown to attract additional players interested in reinsurance, including lawyers, investment bankers, private equity interests, cat modelers and journalists. While once press conferences would have been a rare sight, about a dozen or so are planned for this year's conference, which runs Sept. 7 to 12.
"The type of people who come to Monte Carlo has changed," Beckers said. "You still have reinsurers and brokers, but investment banks and accounting firms come now."
Capital markets are playing a larger role in the industry through investing in industry-linked securities and backing other types of collateralized reinsurance. "We see a huge amount of money being transferred to collateralize alternative reinsurance," Beckers said. "It's going to change the insurance industry and the strategy of reinsurers themselves."
Also, while there's still a large focus on reinsurance underwriting and the liability side of the business, there's growing interest in managing the asset side through hedging solutions, Beckers said. Investment bankers can also play a role there.
Monte Carlo was originally chosen as the site of the conference because it is a neutral country, and until recently, no insurance company was domiciled there, according to the event organizers, the International Congress of Reinsurance. When the Les Rendez-Vous de Septembre conference was launched, about 500 professionals attended, mostly from Europe and the United Kingdom. Today, more than 2,600 people are expected to attend from all over the world as the conference has grown more international.
"We've talked for years about video conferencing, but there is nothing like meeting a client and having a chat with them," Beckers said. "The physical contact, the eye-to-eye ... it's important."