According to the CEO of Marsh McLennan, maintaining the status quo in the insurance sector is “not an option” given the rapidly changing risk environment.
President and CEO Dan Glaser (seen above), speaking at Marsh McLennan’s Rising Professionals Global Forum 2022 in London, said he couldn’t recall a time when C-suites had been confronted with this many risk challenges.
Today’s board meetings cover more than simply strategy and financial results, according to Glaser. “Risk plays a bigger role in them than any other aspect. That elevates our standing at our clients’ boardroom tables, and it implies that we are now actively involved with the C-suite for our sector.
The current risk picture includes macro challenges like inflation and a slowing GDP, as well as smaller ones like cyber issues, climate, COVID-19, ESG factors, and a changing international order, according to Glaser.
Our job is to offer the most efficient solutions since “these are all ongoing, concurrent difficulties that our clients are encountering,” he said.
According to Glaser, such a difficult environment necessitates the creation of cutting-edge methods that manage each risk in a way that is specific to the interests of the customer.
“This generates a very significant possibility for product innovation,” he said. There may be more risks and challenges than in the previous 20, 30, or 40 years, but there is also a higher level of optimism.
However, Glaser asserted that in order to accomplish the scale and pace of product creation necessary, businesses must foster cultures that value unconventional thinking.
He declared, “Our business is fundamentally a people business. “And as a people business, we need to make sure we’re fostering a sense of community and a culture in which people feel free to speak out — one that understands there is always a smarter way to do things and that innovation cannot exist without dissent.
Glaser declared, “I can assure you that stability and maintaining the status quo is not an option. Either nations, businesses, and people are expanding, striving, innovating, and developing themselves, or they are decaying and eroding.
Glaser exhorted the sector to prioritise the needs of customers and advised executives to maintain their firms adaptable and creative.
Because this is an industry that tends to settle in, he added, “our business is facing a plethora of issues, and it is going to need some amount of agitation to face these.” Don’t allow this happen on your watch, I’d say to each of you.
