Paul Lucas 00:00:07
Hello arm. Welcome to Insurance Business TV, a special program brought to you in association with Axis, WSIA's annual market leader. This is a supplement for us wholesalers as we examine the market for excess damage from challenging losses to social inflation risks to potential opportunities that await your business. And because of that, we have a real expert in the field on board, Mike Flaherty, Head of Extreme Injury at Access North America. Mike, welcome to Insurance Business TV.
Mike Flaherty 00:00:40
Thank you, Paul, it's great to be with you today.
Paul Lucas 00:00:42
So Mike, to get us started, talk to us about the current trends within the mass casualty market.
Mike Flaherty 00:00:48
Right now in the US casualty market, we will see continued tightening of the market, continued price tightening, more restrictions. Rebalancing continues to occur, but I would say generally, the market is characterized by a downward trend in behavior across the market. So, you know, it creates a good, healthy opportunity for markets like us, we, you know, to be experts and to work in an area that we see, you know, a huge opportunity in the current market.
Paul Lucas 00:01:21
Okay, I like that line, great opportunity, although it's a challenging market right now. So where does Axis see the opportunities, and what is your growth strategy?
Mike Flaherty 00:01:31
However, we see opportunities across the broad spectrum of US excess injuries, you know, generally you know, the effects of the increasing loss trend, the increasing severity trend, the social inflation. I mean these are broad and far-reaching challenges and problems in the market. So we often see a problem that affects the entire market place, where we operate in markets with a broad and diverse risk, appetite and a very broad and diverse portfolio. You know, at some point, we're going to see some areas of disruption and displacement, that's where we can be. We can be very helpful in responding to those areas of high disruption, high displacement, and escalation and providing solutions to those class groups. So, you know, it's not just one area of us, unusually, this challenge, it's the entire product area. This challenge right now, and, you know, it's creating a broad and far-reaching opportunity for us, areas where we're looking to grow as well. One point I would highlight is that sellers tend to think of us as the biggest, most exposed business with the lowest attachment. But what I can remind everyone is that our abilities are more than that. We write low attachment, medium attachment and high attachment business. We are happy to participate in the middle market. We enjoy watching other dangerous classes. It doesn't have to be the biggest accounts, just the worst and worst accounts to get our interest. We are happy to work in a wide range of risks in the market. So that's another message I'd like to convey.
Paul Lucas 00:01:53
However, as you mentioned, the personal injury market is facing serious risks. That's what you do. So what is the overall outlook for 2024 and next year? Yes, what risk factors do underwriters like you pay attention to the most?
Mike Flaherty 00:03:40
However, within the product space, I'm actually very bullish on the next 18 to 24 months. And you know, we've all seen and heard that the core issues of the declining loss trend, the severity of the worsening loss, social inflation, nuclear decisions, you know, negative annual loss development. These are ongoing issues and to be honest, the court system is still playing out that, you know, the delays that we saw during covid. So these are all ongoing and ongoing issues. All are areas of ongoing concern. However, for us, I can say that they are not that worried, because actually, we are very comfortable working in that space. We are free to underwrite difficult areas. We're comfortable with underwriting in the most obvious places, you know. So, you know, that's a really big strength with Axis, and that's an area where we can bring great solutions to the table and help our vendors out. Not everyone is as comfortable as we are in this space, and you know, not everyone has prepared in time to meet the new challenges of heavy losses and the worsening claims trend. So we help you. It's a really good position to capitalize on, in a situation going forward, and to step up and be useful, step up and provide solutions where, when other, other markets may not be available. I am very optimistic about the near future in the product area.
Paul Lucas 00:05:21
I'm sure you want dealers to come up and join you at the WSIA conference. So tell us a little bit about what you expect from the conference. What do you expect sellers will be asking about, and indeed, what will your messages be to them there?
Mike Flaherty 00:05:35
Well, Paul, we are very excited about the upcoming WSIA conference. And you know, it's always a good opportunity for us to meet our customers and talk about our common challenges in the current market and our future plans, our growth plans. And especially, I believe that this time it was here that we Casley And we who come from casli will be featured more as a topic of discussion. Everyone is aware of the important ongoing challenges, you know, the lost trend, the intensity, the trend, the nuclear decisions, the inflation in the society, some carriers suffering from the bad development of the previous year. I mean, all of those are really pushing the topic of reaching carelessly forward. So we're eager to sit down with our customers and talk about our plans for the future. Also, I am very optimistic about the opportunities that lie ahead of us in the next 18 to 24 months within the product space. I am looking forward to a really productive conference.
Paul Lucas 00:06:41
I'm sure there will be many people eager to reach out to you, Mike. If you want to find out more, you can contact Mike, or indeed, any of his over-the-top partners. Thank you very much for your time, and we hope to see you at the annual market. And that's right, right here next time on Insurance Business TV.
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