Global Reinsurance Masterclass series 5 - Strategic reinsurance relationships

How to evaluate information and build trust

Building and managing client relationships involves a significant investment of time and resource. As we have seen in previous Masterclasses, increased competitive pressures are forcing reinsurance companies to target new clients, either in new territories or through new products. Therefore they are having to forge new relationships, maintain more of them, and do so across more diverse client portfolios. "One size fits all" relationship management is now increasingly less likely to work.

In this Masterclass we show how reinsurers can manage their clients strategically, so that the valuable time and resources invested support the business strategy and 'pay off'; either directly, in the form of profitable business deals, or indirectly, in the form of increased goodwill, or access to information, the lifeblood of the reinsurance business.

Here we investigate how information in business relationships is tied up with the concept of 'trust'. We draw on theories of inter-organisational trust to demonstrate three distinct types of information and trust.

We then develop a framework that enables managers to distinguish clients based on their economic value and the value of the information they can provide. The framework identifies four distinct client relationship types, each of which justifies different levels of investment in relationship management and suggests different forms of client engagement.

Finally, we examine how the different types of information and trust are generated in different forms of engagement with clients, such as 'road-show meetings' or social events. Matching up client types with the appropriate forms of engagement will ensure that the investment in relationships 'pays off'.

The compete Masterclass 5 file "Strategic reinsurance relationships" can be downloaded via the link below.