Highlighting SCOR’s commitment to risk research, an international conference titled “New Challenges in Insurance” brought leading economists and risk experts together in Paris recently to examine the many new financial and technological challenges facing the insurance industry, from derivatives to digitalization, while also considering the impact of emerging risks, climate change and new risk measures. Co-organized by the SCOR Foundation for Science, the Toulouse School of Economics and the Institut Louis Bachelier, and hosted by the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers, the event featured presentations by a number of pre-eminent insurance academics and marketplace experts, and also included a roundtable on big data and customization.

The challenges facing the industry, such as ageing, environmental risks, digitalization and big data, are huge and will profoundly reshape the structure of the whole sector, albeit progressively rather than by disruption in the case of digitalization. Consequently, companies with the appropriate adaptation strategies, designed to extend well into the future, should have a competitive advantage.

Philippe Trainar, Director of the SCOR Foundation for Science, comments: “The SCOR Foundation aims to stay at the cutting edge of risk expertise and research, which is clearly demonstrated by its support for a large number of scientific disciplines. With this in mind, one of its key priorities is to monitor new challenges facing the (re)insurance industry, focusing particularly on how these challenges impact risks and the design of risk coverage tools. This conference has provided a unique opportunity for leading international experts to draw lessons from recent changes, to analyze the potential contributions of developments in digitalization, and to look at where the future of the industry is headed.”