From the Desk of the Secretary General – November 2023

by Jonathan Dixon

This month, it was wonderful to see more than 400 members and stakeholders from over 100 jurisdictions attend one of the most anticipated events in the IAIS calendar – the Annual Conference , preceded by three days of committee meetings and the Annual General Meeting of members in Tokyo.

It was a hugely successful week, marking what in my view is a new standard of content and engagement. The week saw the ushering in of our new IAIS Executive Committee Chair, Shigeru Ariizumi , and a fond farewell to past Chair Vicky Saporta after a distinguished eight-year term. We also published a timely paper on the role of insurance supervisors in addressing natural catastrophe (NatCat) protection gaps. Last but not least, the event served as a platform for insightful discussions on the evolving landscape of the insurance sector and the critical role of supervisors in addressing global challenges.

The Annual Conference kicked off with impactful remarks by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, which set an important tone for the discussions that followed. Notably, the Prime Minister emphasised the critical role of insurance in tackling today’s societal challenges – and by extension the importance of effective regulation and supervision. He highlighted the vital nature of the IAIS’ work in terms of bringing together supervisors and multiple stakeholders to address global challenges.

The Prime Minister’s remarks were notable because they resonate with what we have set out as the key mission of the IAIS. Effective and globally consistent supervision of the insurance industry is critical to the sector being able to reliably and sustainably play a leading role in tackling societal challenges of the day, such as climate change. Beyond this, the IAIS is also increasingly looking to support collaborative efforts between public and private sectors to address these societal issues. Their global nature demands global solutions, calling for supervisors worldwide to forge collective and collaborative efforts.

Our report on the role of insurance supervisors in addressing NatCat protection gaps outlines supervisory actions critical to enhancing affordability, availability and uptake of insurance coverage against NatCat events, emphasising the pivotal role of insurance supervisors amongst other key parties. Looking forward, the report will serve as a catalyst for further collaboration amongst insurance supervisors, the insurance industry, consumers, policymakers and other stakeholders. Partnerships with other international organisations operating in this space will help in translating the report’s insights into meaningful action.

Lastly, I also want to mention that the Tokyo meetings were also very helpful in shaping our strategic plan for 2025-2029, especially during the two dedicated Annual Conference roundtables on this topic. We will share more on this in the first part of next year.

In the meantime, December still promises some exciting publications from the IAIS before the wind-down for a well-deserved break around much of the globe towards the end of the year. This includes our 2023 Global Insurance Market Report which will detail the IAIS’ assessment of key risks and trends facing the global insurance sector, a note on the FinTech Forum’s deep dive into use of artificial intelligence and machine learning and the publication of our Issues Paper on policyholder protection schemes.

I take this opportunity to wish all our members and stakeholders a relaxing holiday period and a great start to 2024. Next year will see the IAIS deliver on some key projects; it will also be a year in which the ability of the global insurance supervisory community to come together to agree joint solutions will be as important as ever.