Willis Research Network Newsletter

Which emerging signals should re/insurers be watching?

Many risks shaping the re/insurance market today are emerging in places where traditional frameworks struggle to capture them. Climate signals are appearing in new datasets, geopolitical tensions are escalating interconnected forms of disruption, and advances in artificial intelligence are raising entirely new liability questions. For insurers and reinsurers, the challenge is not simply identifying these risks, but understanding how they evolve and interact across different parts of the risk landscape.

In this edition, we bring together insights from across the Willis Research Network, Willis and Willis Re colleagues that speak directly to these challenges. You will find analysis of recent catastrophe activity, emerging climate signals in UK rainfall and flood risk, and new thinking on difficult modelling problems such as severe convective storm losses and hurricane behaviour in the North Atlantic. We also explore risks sitting beyond traditional catastrophe frameworks, including gray-zone geopolitical disruption, the evolving landscape of AI liability, and the growing strategic role of scenario analysis.

Across these articles, a consistent theme emerges: many of the risks now shaping underwriting, capital and resilience strategies are evolving faster than traditional frameworks can adapt. Through the Willis Research Network, we work with leading academic partners to identify these signals early, test new approaches to understanding them and translate that research into insights the insurance industry can act on. The pieces in this edition reflect that effort and offer practical perspectives on some of the most complex and rapidly evolving risks facing the market today

The Willis Research Network

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Stuart Calam

Program Director,
Willis Research Network

Stuart Calam

Program Director,
Willis Research Network

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