Insuring the insurers: Andrew Land speaks to Elliot Richardson
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What is reinsurance and why is it essential for the global economy?
I feel like our competitors are banks, right? So they're people who actually do this solely. So we know the market. So that's a huge advantage. The data element around that. So whether it's on the buy-sell side, whether it's on raising capital, whether it's ILS, cap bonds, whatever it is across this the gambit of capability, we've got the benefit of so much of the data within Halden, we've got the benefit of understanding the market better.
Welcome to Orbit, the HG podcast series where we speak to leaders and innovators from across software and the tech ecosystem. My name is Andrew Land. I'm a partner, and I lead investments in the insurance sector. And today we're gonna talk about reinsurance. which is a less well-known but critically important corner of the global insurance market. And the reinsurance sector is undergoing a period of incredible growth but also incredible volatility, where the importance of data is increasingly driving the sector. Now before we get started with the discussion, uh reinsurance has a few acronyms that uh we'll be talking about. So when we refer to CAT, we're talking about catastrophe reinsurance. So that's reinsuring hurricanes and earthquakes and other natural disasters.
When we talk about one one or one four, one seven, those simply refer to the dates where insur insurance in the reinsurance space is renewed, the calendar dates. And then finally when we talk about capacity, what we mean there is the insurance capital that backs the policies that are written. So I'm delighted to welcome to the podcast today Elliot Richardson, who is Vice Chair of Hauden Tiger. Hayden Tiger is the reinsurance broking business of the Hayden Group, of which HG is an investor, and it is one of the four Tier one global reinsurance brokers. Thanks for coming in, Elliot.
Yeah, well thanks Andrew and thanks for having us. Um so I sadly when you get to 35 years you sort of appear to veteran status. So um I've been in the industry since 1988. Ironically, started at a company called Alexander Howden, which was David Howden, the founder of Howden's former family company. They were long gone. By then it was owned by the American uh company A, then became Aeon. Um I've really been in the reinsurance business as part of that 35 years for around 30, 31 years. Um seen an enormous amount of change. Um but one thing that's been extraordinary is the the uh the rise of reinsurance and the importance of it, and we'll talk about that in a second. But the the the fact that probably it's one of the only industries in the world where the market share is almost an oligopoly.
Um So just over eighty percent of the market share is controlled by Gallagher, Aeon and Guy Carpenter. So a very unusual mix which will explain a little bit the rationale for some of the things we've decided to do. later in the pod. And the reinsurance business is probably one of the things that most people tend to describe as uh insurance for the insurers. Um it's the easiest way that most people when you ask you're stuck at a dinner party and f people's faces drop when they say you work in reinsurance. Um that we are we explain that we're the uh insurers for the insurers. But it's really um an enormously important part of the global economy because without reinsurance, Insurers would struggle to deploy capital in such large quantities.
Price would be uh far more damaging for consumers, companies, and anyone in the insurance ecosystem. So reinsurance is a key part of um sort of the whole global economy that drives insurance, which some people have described um as the cradle of capitalism. Very little happens without insurance. So Everything we do, whether it be an MA, whether it be in buying a house or otherwise. Um so the reinsurance market is a is a fascinating part of the ecosystem.
On that, um, I guess when people think about reinsurance, they they think about the catastrophe side and and hurricanes in Florida, but in reality. even more basic insurance ultimately gets reinsured. So as you said, it's um it's the
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is reinsurance and why is it essential for the global economy?
0:01–4:29
2
How did the reinsurance market evolve into an oligopoly dominated by three major players?
4:29–9:25
3
Why are current market conditions creating a hard market with scarce capital and rising rates?
9:25–13:38
4
How is data and analytics reshaping underwriting and risk assessment in reinsurance?
13:38–18:28
5
What is Howden Tiger’s delegated‑authority model and why does it give them a competitive edge?
18:28–23:22
6
How does Howden Tiger plan to challenge the “big three” and expand globally?
23:22–27:50
7
What role will AI and automation play in streamlining reinsurance processes and RFPs?
27:50–31:48
8
How are emerging tech‑driven insurers and new capital sources changing the future of reinsurance?
31:48–32:31
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