2023 IAIS Global Seminar
The 2023 IAIS Global Seminar took place in person in Seattle, USA on 15-16 June 2023, welcoming over 340 participants from across the globe. Read the highlights, watch the video replays and view photos of the panel sessions below.
A special thank you to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) for hosting the event.
Panel discussions
Welcome remarks
National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
NAIC President Chlora Lindley-Myers, Director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance, welcomed participants and attendees to the Global Seminar providing an overview of the event.
She impressed upon the audience the example insurance supervisors have set for what can happen when unique individuals work together to accomplish a common goal. She also encouraged attendees to view the variety of topics on the agenda through a consumer-first lens.
Chlora Lindley-Myers – NAIC President and Director, Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance
Keynote speech
World Bank
From one vibrant city to another – Jean Pesme, Global Director of Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation at The World Bank – joined the Global Seminar to deliver a keynote speech remotely from Dubai.
Jean set the scene by reflecting on the shared goals of the IAIS and World Bank and the critical role that insurance can play in supporting the World Bank’s commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development, by:
- facilitating trade, credit and efficient economic activity;
- promoting effective risk management; and
- contributing to the development and deepening of the financial sector and capital markets, including the deployment of long-term capital in the real economy.
The keynote speech addressed priority topics for insurance supervisors:
- Stability and capital adequacy – Insurance penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa, MENA and South Asia regions is less than 2% of GDP, below the global average. Developing local insurance markets is key to addressing low penetration rates. Supporting the implementation of risk-based solvency frameworks can provide trust and confidence and can thereby help increase insurance penetration in Emerging Markets and Developing Economies (EMDE) markets.
- Climate-related risks can affect vulnerable populations disproportionately – Up to 130 million people could be pushed into poverty by climate change over the next decade. Insurance can play a fundamental role in building resilience and helping people respond effectively to climate-related shocks.
- Addressing the financing gap via private capital – Developing capital markets is essential to addressing potentially increasing financing gap resulting from increasing emerging risks and trends such as climate change, pandemics and geopolitical tensions. Insurers and pension plans could play a key role in the development of capital markets due to their role as institutional investors.
- Digital Innovation can support access to and affordability of financial services. Access to basic financial services, such as insurance, can help vulnerable populations to harness economic opportunities and build resilience. At the same time, we need to be mindful of the risks that digitalisation can pose for the end users and the financial system.
- Supporting EMDEs in their implementation efforts is at the core of the IAIS’ implementation strategy and it is a priority area for the World Bank.
Vicky Saporta, IAIS Executive Committee Chair, then moderated a Q&A where they delved further into supervisors’ efforts to strengthen their risk based solvency regimes, assessing climate risk, best practices in addressing natural catastrophe protection gaps and capacity building for insurance market development and growth.
Jean Pesme – Global Director of Finance, Competitiveness and Innovation, World Bank
Vicky Saporta – Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Executive Director, Prudential Regulation Authority and Bank of England
IAIS Leadership
IAIS Executive Committee dialogue
Victoria Saporta, IAIS Executive Committee Chair, welcomed participants and provided opening remarks highlighting key advancements in IAIS work since the IAIS Annual Conference in November 2022.
Vicky emphasised the importance of the insurance sector in building resilience in societies and economies and how this links through to so many IAIS projects.
Jonathan Dixon, IAIS Secretary General, then launched into the new format interactive Q&A with members of the IAIS Executive Committee (ExCo). They covered a broad range of topics spanning across all of the IAIS’ high level goals – financial stability, standard setting, supervisory practices, capacity building and implementation.
ExCo members and Champions touched on key macroeconomic and emerging risks facing the insurance sector as monitored in the Global Monitoring Exercise (GME), the development of the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), exchanging supervisory practices including in the area of FinTech, conduct risk, operational resilience, financial inclusion, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and the updating of the IAIS strategic plan.
Also underlined was how in tackling the IAIS’ key projects, including on closing the protection gap, the IAIS takes a broad lens, looking at consumers beyond existing policyholders, and coordinating with other standard setting bodies and institutions.
Gary Anderson – Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Commissioner, Massachusetts Division of Insurance
Peter Braumüller – Chair, IAIS Implementation and Assessment Committee and Managing Director of Insurance and Pension Supervision, Austrian Financial Market Authority
Gerry Cross – IAIS Diversity, equity and inclusion champion and Director of Financial Regulation Policy and Risk, Central Bank of Ireland
Jonathan Dixon – Secretary General, IAIS
Dieter Hendrickx – Chair, IAIS Macroprudential Committee and Head, Prudential Policy Insurance, National Bank of Belgium
Petra Hielkema – Chair, IAIS FinTech Forum and Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Siham Ramli – Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Director of Communication and International Relations, Autorité de Contrôle des Assurances et de la Prévoyance Sociale Morocco
Vicky Saporta – Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Executive Director, Prudential Regulation Authority and Bank of England
Matt Walker – Chair, IAIS Policy Development Committee and Manager, Insurance Supervision and Regulation Section, Federal Reserve Board (FRB) of the United States
Daniel Wang – Chair, IAIS Climate Risk Steering Group and Executive Director, Insurance Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore
InsurTech
Impact on market conduct and insurance market development
Artificial intelligence (AI) can support insurers across the entire value chain. That was the clear message from the audience in a poll as participants discussed the use of FinTech in insurance – during a panel moderated by Petra Hielkema.
As insurance supervisors, it is equally important to scrutinise the potentially huge risks arising from the adoption of FinTech tools. The panel highlighted how important it is to bear in mind that decisions made by AI and machine learning can actually impact human lives; and that the AI model outputs are only as good as the data input and governance around them. Appropriate safeguards, including on data governance, risk management, transparency and consumer-centric approaches are key to unlocking the true potential of technology.
Beth Dwyer – Superintendent of Insurance, Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation and Chair of the NAIC Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Working Group
Petra Hielkema – Chair, IAIS FinTech Forum and Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Sheila Senfuma Nakanyike – Head of Programme, Digital Finance, Consumers International
Sophie Sirtaine – Chief Executive Officer, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
Rong Yi – Principal, Data Science Modeling Practice, Milliman
Climate risk
Integrating climate risk into supervisory practices
80% of respondents to a poll conducted during the climate risk panel at the Global Seminar believe climate risk is increasing. Moderated by Daniel Wang, the panel underlined that the time to act and mitigate climate risk is now.
Even though the various impacts of climate change are emerging relatively slowly, with the most material impact expected to occur in the medium- to long-term, panellists agreed it will be too late to mitigate the risk when it starts to materialise fully.
The majority of respondents to the poll felt that transition plans are useful for the insurance industry. Industry representatives stressed that any supervisory actions on transition plans should be principle- and risk-based and should not obstruct insurers’ activities in carbon-intensive industries, as the decarbonisation of these industries is critical for achieving net zero. A significant benefit of transition plans is that they are inherently forward-looking and can facilitate cross-border cooperation.
While there is little doubt that climate change could impact financial stability, it is clear it will be felt most severely by the small and most vulnerable countries, with the impact exacerbated by the possible reduction in their access to financial services as financial institutions take actions to de-risk their own exposure to climate risk.
Ramon Carrasco – Group Chief Risk Officer, Mapfre
Mlondolozi (Lotz) Mahlangeni – Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer, Sanlam Limited
Marina Moretti – Deputy Director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund
Dimitris Zafeiris – Head of Risks and Financial Stability Department, EIOPA
Daniel Wang – Chair, IAIS Climate Risk Steering Group and Executive Director, Insurance Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Emerging risks
Impact of the global economic and financial markets on insurance sector
The panel on emerging risks elaborated on the key risks facing the insurance sector, following an overview of risks being considered as part of the IAIS’ Global Monitoring Exercise given by the IAIS Secretariat.
The panel discussion, moderated by Dieter Hendrickx, often came back to how in this current macroeconomic environment, the different risks are intertwined and focused on inflation, interest rate and liquidity risks, as well as credit risks, including those stemming from (commercial) real estate exposures. An audience poll showed that participants agreed.
The importance of sound risk governance in order to be able to withstand future shocks and crises, which will likely be different in nature from the previous, was also emphasised.
Continued trust and confidence in the insurance sector is vital, recognising the sector remains resilient yet is interconnected within the broader financial system and real economy. This is notably important in a digitalised era, which has increased customers’ velocity to shift money, increasing surrender risks for insurers.
Looking ahead to medium-term risks, the panel turned to operational resilience, notably to cyber risks, as well as technological innovation, including generative artificial intelligence, which is making breakthroughs across the insurance value chain. Also, climate risks, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and geopolitical uncertainty are top of mind for risk managers.
Tom Bolt – Chief Risk Officer, AIG
Carlo Ferraresi – Group Chief Risk Officer, Generali
Dieter Hendrickx – Chair, IAIS Macroprudential Committee and Head, Prudential Policy Insurance, National Bank of Belgium
Patrick Montagner – First Deputy Secretary General, Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution / Banque de France
Cecilia Zhang – Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Ping An Group
IAIS priorities for 2025 and beyond (panel 1)
Assessing and responding to market developments and standard setting
As the IAIS begins developing its next five-year strategic plan, two panels discussed the key issues that the IAIS will need to consider in its planning in an environment where risks are becoming more frequent, severe, connected and ambiguous.
Following an introduction from the IAIS Secretariat, this first panel discussed key risks and trends that will impact insurers’ business models in the medium-term, as well as where the IAIS should focus its standard-setting activities. The second panel considered the priorities of the IAIS in sharing good supervisory practices and observance and implementation of standards.
Panellists across both panels acknowledged they had no crystal ball. Still, they anticipated many risks, dynamics and trends shaping the second half of the decade, which the supervisory community should plan for. These include protection gaps, demographic and technology risks, distribution equity and social unrest/polarisation. They also flagged unknowns around the pace and implications of technology adoption and social dynamics, such as declining trust in institutions.
Panellists underscored that continued engagement between supervisors and a wide range of stakeholders will be essential, including across government, industry, consumer groups, and supervisory college mechanisms.
This panel was moderated by Andy Mais.
Jad Ariss – Managing Director, Geneva Association
Clement Cheung – Chair, IAIS Audit and Risk Committee and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Authority Hong Kong
Stefan Holzberger – Chief Rating Officer, AM Best
Andrew N. Mais – Insurance Commissioner, Connecticut
Susan Neely – President and CEO, American Council of Life Insurers and President, Global Federation of Insurance Associations
IAIS priorities for 2025 and beyond (panel 2)
Supervisory practices and observance of standards
As the IAIS begins developing its next five-year strategic plan, two panels discussed the key issues that the IAIS will need to consider in its planning in an environment where risks are becoming more frequent, severe, connected and ambiguous.
This second panel considered the priorities of the IAIS in sharing good supervisory practices and observance and implementation of standards. The first panel discussed key risks and trends that will impact insurers’ business models in the medium-term, as well as where the IAIS should focus its standard-setting activities.
Panellists across both panels acknowledged they had no crystal ball. Still, they anticipated many risks, dynamics and trends shaping the second half of the decade, which the supervisory community should plan for. These include protection gaps, demographic and technology risks, distribution equity and social unrest/polarisation. They also flagged unknowns around the pace and implications of technology adoption and social dynamics, such as declining trust in institutions.
Panellists underscored that continued engagement between supervisors and a wide range of stakeholders will be essential, including across government, industry, consumer groups, and supervisory college mechanisms.
This panel was moderated by Peter Braumüller.
Peter Braumüller –Chair, IAIS Implementation and Assessment Committee and Managing Director, Insurance and Pension Supervision, Austrian Financial Market Authority
Jon Godfread – Insurance Commissioner, North Dakota
Mary Frances Monroe – Director, Insurance Regulation and Policy, Institute of International Finance
Tomas Soley – General Superintendent of Insurance, Costa Rica and President, Association of Insurance Supervisors of Latin America
Laura Tamblyn Watts – CEO, CanAge
Protection gaps
Natural catastrophe protection gaps
In this fireside chat, moderated by Farzana Badat, panellists discussed the pressing topic of natural catastrophe (NatCat) protection gaps, the prospects for the future, potential solutions and the role insurance supervisors can play.
Key highlights of the session include:
Close to 50% of respondents to a poll expect significant differences in NatCat coverages based on geography/exposures to NatCat risks over the next decade. There is general agreement that the increase in frequency and severity of weather-related events can significantly impact conditions and availability of coverages.
Collaboration should be a priority for addressing protection gaps. The impacts and effects of protection gaps are not restricted to one sector or another. We need to have collective and collaborative discussions between the public and private sectors and other stakeholders, to respond to the cross-sectoral challenges posed by protection gaps.
Supervisors can support efforts to address protection gaps by supporting NatCat-related data sharing and analysis, providing incentives or implementing regulation to encourage risk prevention measures, and contributing to the design and implementation of multi-stakeholder responses.
Shigeru Ariizumi – Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Vice Commissioner for International Affairs, Financial Services Agency of Japan
Farzana Badat – Deputy Commissioner, Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa
Yoshihiro Kawai – Chair, OECD Insurance and Private Pension Committee and Chair, Global Asia Insurance Partnership
Michel M. Liès – Chairman, Insurance Development Forum and Zurich
Insurance Capital Standard
Finalising the global solvency standard
The IAIS Global Seminar concluded with a panel on the Insurance Capital Standard (ICS), where the latest updates on the finalisation of the ICS were provided. The IAIS should formally adopt the ICS in December 2024. at the IAIS AGM.
Paolo Cadoni provided an overview of the public consultation on the candidate ICS as a prescribed capital requirement (PCR), including the most substantive changes that were made to ICS version 2.0.
The panellists then discussed:
• Key elements of the candidate ICS as a PCR consultation;
• The progress and momentum on finalising the ICS, which is currently one of the most tested international standards;
• Developments on the implementation of the ICS in the EU, Japan and the UK; and
• An update on ICS discussions and the next steps on the comparability assessment.
Gary Anderson – Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Commissioner, Massachusetts Division of Insurance
Shigeru Ariizumi – Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Vice Commissioner for International Affairs, Financial Services Agency of Japan
Paolo Cadoni – Vice Chair, IAIS Policy Development Committee and Head, Insurance Policy Division, Bank of England
Petra Hielkema – Chair, IAIS FinTech Forum and Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Vicky Saporta – Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Executive Director, Prudential Regulation Authority and Bank of England
Photo gallery
Speakers
Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Commissioner, Massachusetts Division of Insurance
Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Vice Commissioner for International Affairs, Financial Services Agency of Japan
Managing Director, The Geneva Association
Deputy Commissioner, Financial Sector Conduct Authority of South Africa
Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, AIG
Chair, IAIS Implementation and Assessment Committee and Managing Director of Insurance and Pension Supervision, Austrian Financial Market Authority
Vice Chair, IAIS Policy and Development Committee and Head, Insurance Policy Division, Bank of England
Group Chief Risk Officer, MAPFRE
Chair, IAIS Audit and Risk Committee and Chief Executive Officer, Insurance Authority Hong Kong
Chair, IAIS Operational Resilience Task Force and Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
IAIS Diversity, equity and inclusion champion and Director of Financial Regulation Policy and Risk, Central Bank of Ireland
Chair, International Actuarial Association’s (IAA) Insurance Regulation Committee and member, IAA’s Climate Risk Task Force
Secretary General, IAIS
Superintendent of Insurance, Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation and Chair of the NAIC Big Data and Artificial Intelligence Working Group
Group Chief Risk Officer, Assicurazioni Generali
Chair, IAIS Supervisory Forum and Insurance Commissioner, North Dakota
Chair, IAIS Macroprudential Committee and Head, Prudential Policy Insurance, National Bank of Belgium
Chairperson, European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority
Chief Rating Officer, AM Best
Chair, Governance Working Group and Senior Manager of Governance, Remuneration and Controls, Bank of England’s Prudential Policy Directorate
Chairman of OECD Insurance and Private Pension Committee, Chairman of Global Asia Insurance Partnership, Advisor to Commissioner, Financial Services Agency, Government of Japan and
Member of International Advisory Council, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission
Senior Director, Insurance and Pension Supervision, Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, Canada
Chairman, Insurance Development Forum and Zurich
NAIC President and Director, Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance
Acting Head of insurance Supervision, Central Bank of Lesotho
Insurance Commissioner, Connecticut and President-elect, NAIC
Chief Actuary and Chief Risk Officer, Sanlam Limited
Director of Insurance Regulation and Policy, Institute of International Finance
First Deputy Secretary General, French Prudential and Resolution authority (ACPR)
Deputy director, Monetary and Capital Markets Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
President and CEO, American Council of Life Insurers and President, Global Federation of Insurance Associations
Global Director, Finance in the Finance, Competitiveness & Innovation (FCI) Global Practice, World Bank
Vice Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Director of Communication and International Relations, Autorité de Contrôle des Assurances et de la Prévoyance Sociale Morocco
Chair, IAIS Executive Committee and Executive Director, Prudential Regulation Authority and Bank of England
Head of Programme, Digital Finance, Consumers International
CEO, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor
General Superintendent of Insurance, Costa Rica and President, Association of Insurance Supervisors of Latin America
Vice Chair, Market Conduct Working Group and Manager, Insurance Supervision, Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets
CEO, CanAge
Chair, IAIS Policy Development Committee and Manager, Insurance Supervision and Regulation Section, Federal Reserve Board of the United States
Chair, IAIS Climate Risk Steering Group and Executive Director, Insurance Department, Monetary Authority of Singapore
Chair, Market Conduct Working Group and CEO, Financial Service Regulatory Authority of Ontario
Principal, Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
Principal, Data Science Modeling Practice, Milliman
Head of Risks and Financial Stability Department, EIOPA
Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, Ping An Group
