State of the Insurance Market Report

2024 Initial Outlook:
Executive Summary

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Executive Summary

Welcome to the 2024 Initial Outlook edition of our State of the Market Report, designed to help you understand insurance market trends and conditions and stay ahead of risk. The more informed you are, the better you can navigate an ever-changing complex market.

Insurance experts in our product lines and industry specialty practices work with our clients and are in the market placing insurance coverage every day. Collectively, we have the following observations on the insurance landscape as we move into 2024.

Mina

John Mina
Chief Executive Officer

Macro Conditions

We continue to face a challenging insurance market, with some lines of coverage, notably property and auto, at historic loss levels — impacting coverage availability and premium rates. Other lines, such as management liability and even cyber, have stabilized. Major market drivers include:

  • Catastrophic (CAT) weather events — 2023 is expected to be the third consecutive year with $100B in catastrophe losses, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Commercial property rates have increased 17.1% as of Q3, according to The Council, Commercial Property/Casualty Report.
  • Inflation and economic conditions — Rising interest rates, labor, and supply chain costs have affected virtually every industry, leading to increased costs across the board, including the cost of capital, cost of goods, and cost of risk.
  • Insurance claims costs — Driven by CAT events, economic conditions, and social inflation (including higher litigation expenses and nuclear verdicts), claims have increased in severity, frequency, and overall cost.
  • Medical and workforce impacts — Medical expenses continue to rise and are having a significant impact on employee benefits programs. Changing workforce expectations and growing employee needs are also drivers.

Outlook

These macro conditions are widespread and broadly impact commercial, employee benefits, and private client/personal lines insurance. Current market conditions are some of the toughest we’ve experienced for property and auto, and we do not foresee short-term or rapid improvement in these areas. Management liability, cyber, and workers’ compensation are currently stable with adequate capacity and stable rates, accounting for inflation, for those considered to be good risks. We expect current insurance conditions to continue into 2024.

Employers planning their annual employee benefits programs are also facing complex market conditions. Medical costs are increasing, double digits in some areas, and there continues to be much change within healthcare providers with consolidation and changing business models. Medical claims are up substantially as the healthcare system deals with a backlog of pent-up demand for medical services. Employers are also thinking more holistically about benefits for a diverse workforce and customization of programs to meet employee needs.

One thing is clear, we need to plan for increased risks and a challenging insurance landscape.

Recommendations

We believe that risk management and insurance are foundational to business stability and to creating a resilient, thriving organization. We find it helpful to think about insurance through the following lens:

  • Proactive — Understand your current and emerging risks. This requires a mindset of continuous change and education, as well as setting thresholds for your risk tolerance and business continuity. This is equally true for talent resiliency as you build employee benefit programs to support an engaged and thriving workforce, in a world of challenging healthcare and changing employee norms.
  • Prevent — Taking deliberate steps today to mitigate the potential for risk will pay dividends in preventing losses tomorrow. Confidence comes from a comprehensive risk management strategy. With ever-evolving risks, managing your risk profile is an ongoing process, not a one-and-done activity.
  • Prepare — Business stability and resilience come from knowing your risk tolerance, exploring options across the insurance spectrum that align with your vision, and making informed decisions for the long term. Insurance may be an annual renewal process, and it’s critical to have a strategic framework that guides your decisions and tradeoffs.

Your degree of impact depends on the unique variables you face such as geographic location(s), lines of insurance, risk profile, and more. The better informed you are, the better you can protect what matters most to you – to positively affect your outcome in the short term, while building long-term business resilience.

On behalf of the entire Risk Strategies team, we are here as your partner to help you navigate the uncertainties and secure your future.

Sincerely,
John Mina
Chief Executive Officer

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The contents of this report are for general informational purposes only and Risk Strategies Company makes no representation or warranty of any kind, express or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein. Any recommendations contained herein are intended to provide insight based on currently available information for consideration and should be vetted against applicable legal and business needs before application to a specific client.