Political instability has become one of the biggest risks for businesses in 2025. Ongoing wars, conflicts, terrorism and political unrest are bringing uncertainly and risk to multinational business. All of which is creating a more challenging environment for doing business globally. How will growing political tensions and political unrest, as well as supply chain disruption, potential trade wars and increasing reliance on technology affect global programmes?
-       How is the global economic and political situation affecting corporate risks?
-       Where are the hotspots and major concerns?
-       What insurance covers are becoming increasingly important for businesses globally?
-       Does the political and economic stability make it harder to run global programmes?

A brief rundown of the global insurance markets, looking at Europe, the US and Asia. The hard market is moderating but there are still issues such as the hardening reinsurance market, especially for property, and continued concerns overs inflation, social inflation and political and economic uncertainty around the globe.
-       Where is the global insurance market headed in terms of rates, coverage and T&Cs?
-       What are the outliers in terms of risks and covers, the areas of concern?
-       Is there insurer appetite for emerging and difficult risks?

 

Global M&A activity has been growing in the last year or so and is expected to grow steadily in the next few years. Transactional risk insurance is playing an increasingly important role in the M&A sector, helping to protect both buyers and sellers in deals. Covers include warranty and indemnity, representation and warranties, tax liability, contingent legal risk, and environmental liability insurance.
-       What are transactional risks and how can they be mitigated?
-       What insurance covers are available and what do they cover?
-       How is the transactional risk insurance market looking for 2025?

As political and economic instability grows, there is an increasing risk of political violence and terrorism globally. Terrorism incidents, riots, political violence around elections, and civil disturbances are becoming increasingly common, impacting global business operations.
-       What insurance covers are available to corporates in this area?
-       Is the market expanding? Is capacity available? What is the pricing outlook?
-       What are the key developments in wordings and exclusions?
-       What is covered under standard property policies?

What are the major claims trends in the core property and liability lines? Which types of claims are causing risk managers and their insurers the biggest headaches and why? What are the expected claims black-spots and in which territories? What factors are driving these trends, both in property and liability. How is new technology and digitalisation improving claims management? And how can claims information be best used to inform risk mitigation and loss prevention efforts and improve risks?

Risk managers know how important it is to keep senior executives happy – and that means making sure D&O cover is extensive and watertight. The D&O insurance market has been on a rollercoaster ride, with a hard market until 3-4 years ago and a soft market since. However, directors and officers face a number of challenges in 2025, including geopolitical tensions, insolvency, greenwashing and more. What is the current state of the D&O insurance market and where is it headed? What areas are underwriters concerned about?

Climate-related risks are on the increase as climate change brings record-breaking temperatures, increased flooding, devastating wildfires and more powerful storms. Adapting to the new climate “norms” is crucial, and the key is building resilience.
-       What is happening in the nat cat re/insurance market?
-       Where is the current market in terms of covers, pricing, T&Cs and availability of insurance for extreme weather.
-       How is the insurance industry looking to help corporates improve their resilience?
-       What is the role of parametric covers and captives in financing climate risks?

Around the world, liability risks are increasing, driven by litigation, regulations and consumer awareness. Social inflation is a huge issue, leading to massive claims and legal expenses. Class actions are a continuing problem in the US, where costs are spiralling and becoming unsustainable, with a worrying trend toward nuclear verdicts.
There are concerns that the EU’s Collective Redress Directive and the Product Liability directive will see the issue growing in Europe. There is a significant trend towards opt-out class actions in Europe, with the UK, the Netherlands and Slovenia introducing far-reaching mechanisms in recent years. Third party litigation funders across Europe are growing, and some US plaintiffs’ attorneys are opening offices in Europe.
-       What does this mean for the liability insurance sector in terms of capacity, rates, T&Cs?
-       What strategies are there available to corporates to tackle social inflation?
-       Will US style nuclear verdicts start to be seen in Europe?
-       Which areas are most affected by social inflation?

Many multinationals with global programmes will also have a captive insurer. A captive’s involvement in the setting and funding of retentions can be vital to a multinational programme. A captive is the one of the most cost-efficient ways to fill the gap between the group retention and the local retention levels. In addition, a captive can facilitate the ability to allocate premium to subsidiaries and operating units, and thereby improve loss control and risk management.
-       How important is a captive to a global insurance programme?
-       Is there a central role to be played, especially around retention levels and co-ordinating the different covers of subsidiaries around the world?
-       How can a captive be used in a global programme – as a primary insurer, reinsurer, or excess insurer?
-       Is the location of the captive relevant to a global programme in terms of regulatory and tax compliance?

Global regulations are continually shifting and impacting local markets as never before. This session provides an overview of the shift in regulations and the likely direction of travel for future regulation. It also provides an update on the tax situation around global programmes, and will examine some of the key considerations around insurance premium tax for multinational insurance programmes, including the implications of differing coverage mechanisms in global programmes, including Freedom of Services, non-admitted, DIC-DIL covers and financial interest clauses.

A successful global programme is based on up-to-date information on operations globally, to ensure that cover is appropriate, that risks are suitably covered, and claims are paid in the right place. The collection of information from a multinational’s numerous operations is time-consuming but important. What sort of information is required? How can brokers and insurers help with the gathering of information? And how is this data transferred to insurers to enable decisions about global programmes? How is technology and digitalisation helping with this process?

Crucial areas for a successful global programme include premium allocation and the setting of retention levels. What needs to be considered when allocating premium? How much flexibility is there? What tax and regulatory requirements are there? It is vital to avoid conflict with local operations and this requires dialogue and clear communication of benefits.
On the setting of retention levels, multinationals must achieve a balance between the parent’s desire for a higher retention level and the benefits that it will bring, and the need to satisfy the subsidiaries’ requirements of a realistic retention level and the ability to finance it. This issue of internal pooling and funding the gap is crucial, and a captive can often play a key role.