Long-term partnerships and stability key for QBE Re: Jamie Cook

Global reinsurer QBE Re is in growth mode, and as the firm pivots towards a longer-term view of the business and the client base continues to shift, deeper and more enduring relationships are paramount, according to Jamie Cook, Chief Partnership Officer.

Around the annual meeting of the reinsurance industry in Monte Carlo, Reinsurance News spoke with QBE Re’s Cook about the focus for the reinsurer at this year’s RVS, market trends and key updates for the company in 2024 and beyond.

Cook was appointed Chief Partnership Officer at QBE Re in April 2023, having joined two years prior from reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter.

The role, explained Cook, reflects where QBE Re is going as a business, and as the firm pivots towards a longer-term view, it’s clear that the focus in terms of client base is shifting as well.

“We felt the client element had maybe been missing, and we’re not alone in that as a reinsurer, so we created the role two years ago. I’m responsible for setting our strategic direction with key clients, distribution, so working with our broker partners, and then also managing our outwards buying relationships, which gives me a unique view across the whole landscape, and hopefully gives me a bit of empathy as well with the clients,” said Cook.

QBE Re is the global reinsurance arm of QBE Insurance Group, and growth in recent times has seen the reinsurer now account for 12% of the Group’s net earned premium.

Cook explained that RVS and the other conferences through 2024 are an opportunity for the company to articulate clearly that it’s in growth mode, but equally important is the opportunity to listen to clients and build relationships.

“For us, it’s about long-term partnerships, and we’re trying to create trusted relationships, and these sessions that we have over the next few months, starting in Monte Carlo, are invaluable for that. We value open communication and transparency with clients, and RVS is an opportunity to do that,” said Cook.

“There’s also an opportunity for us to articulate where we’re going, but importantly also for them to give us a deeper dive in terms of where their portfolio is going, and that allows us to stay on the same page. So, yes, it’s an invaluable exercise,” he added.

In many ways, continued Cook, QBE Re is working to portray stability, which is extremely important for the business.

“We’re trying to build deeper and much longer, more enduring relationships with clients, and I think that overcomes some of the issues historically that reinsurance markets had.

“I’m sure people will call out casualty as a potential issue at Monte Carlo and other conferences. But again, it’s all about picking the right cedents who are managing the original risk, who look at limit compression, who manage the claims on those smaller limits just as well as they would the bigger limits. For us, it really is about cedent selection.

“So, it might sound a little repetitive, but I think it speaks to where we’re trying to take the business, which is much more long-term and much more sustainable,” said Cook.

Discussing the reinsurance market more broadly, Cook told Reinsurance News that supply and demand dynamics, and price movements throughout 2024 suggest an equilibrium, but it’s important to remember that price is only one determinant.

“We often go into this season, and the narrative is focused on rates being ‘plus or minus five’, which is somewhat of a simplistic view. Touching on retro, we are a buyer, and we’re not just looking at price, we place a lot of value on the quality of who we buy from. The financial strength of those counterparties is critical. The breadth of the relationship is important, as is the ability to support across geographies and classes. We believe these characteristics are equally as important to key partners on our inwards portfolio,” said Cook.

“That’s where a lot of our success has been at QBE Re, growing with much larger and global clients. The underwriting expertise we offer across all those classes and in all geographies. A willingness to offer meaningful capacity and making that capacity both long term and stable,” he added.

Importantly, Cook explained that from both the buyer and seller side, there’s a healthy discipline in the marketplace, and the sense is that this will persist in 2024 and beyond.

“Capital providers have been very explicit in their requirement for more resilient, sustainable returns. And we haven’t seen new capital come rushing in either.

“So, are they waiting to see a proper track record? I think that’s probably the case, they want to see more than two years of good results on the basis the industry delivered five years of poor results,” said Cook.

Adding: “Ultimately, I do feel like there’s more discipline, but also, I look at the way we’ve pivoted our business to larger and global clients, more consistent buyers. It’s more about stability of purchase and less about price. Price is clearly important to everyone, it always is, but I think it’s more about the quality and stability of partners. So, I don’t get the sense that there’s anyone out there wanting to disrupt this hard-earned stability.”

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