An optimistic view of the reinsurance market against the context of an industry in flux has been expressed by Emmanuel Clarke, chief executive officer of PartnerRe and Charlie Goldie, CEO of PartnerRe’s P&C.

They spoke at a press event at the Monte Carlo Reinsurance Rendez-Vous 2018 conference.

Mr Clarke said that there was a bright future ahead for reinsurers that can increase their relevance in a riskier world where demand for volatility protection is growing.

He pointed to a reversing trend in recent years among large global insurers that have been moving away from buying reinsurance only for capital management purposes, towards reinsurance solutions for both capital management and volatility control.

PartnerRe’s privately-owned reinsurance model, he said, was particularly well placed to play a role in managing volatility because it focuses on economic value creation over the long term and not on managing quarterly volatility.

Cycles, he said, would remain but with lower amplitude and that success now depends on how efficiently reinsurers execute and succeed in creating value for their clients.

“Our insurance clients want to work with reinsurance partners that have a vested interest in helping them to grow and develop their businesses, support their most confidential initiatives and that can provide capacity after large or unexpected events,” Mr Clarke said.

“PartnerRe’s business model as a pure-play, privately-owned reinsurer perfectly positions us for that role.”

Meanwhile, looking to the future, Mr Goldie said that reinsurers needed to be able to match capital in order to lower the overall cost of capital for their clients across a broad suite of reinsurance solutions.

“Reinsurers need to become experts at sourcing and matching capital. We believe using all forms of capital to improve our product offering for our clients is the right thing to do,” he said.

Further, in the face of a consolidating reinsurance market, he said that the most successful reinsurers would be those that remain nimble and agile as they become larger.