As risks become more interconnected and unpredictable, organisations are looking for more than insurance capacity. Manuel Meier, Chief Client Officer, reflects on how insurers can help clients navigate complexity, anticipate disruption and make better-informed decisions.
What makes today’s environment difficult is not simply the pace of change, but the way risks have become more interconnected, more complex to manage and more relevant to board-level decision-making.
A cyber incident can quickly become an operational, financial and reputational event. Geopolitical volatility can disrupt supply chains, delay production timelines and reshape investment decisions across multiple markets. Climate-related events can affect infrastructure, workforce continuity and digital operations all at once.
Clients are no longer managing isolated events. They are managing overlapping disruption.
There is a clear tension here. Clients experience risk holistically, while insurance has often been organised in more compartmentalised ways. Yet today’s organisations increasingly expect insurers not only to provide protection, but also to bring insight, responsiveness and practical support as challenges grow more complex and unpredictable.
In conversations with clients, one theme comes up consistently: complexity.
Rising expectations for risk managers
Having worked both in market-facing leadership and on global transformation initiatives focused on client outcomes, I have seen how quickly expectations are shifting. Risk managers today are under growing pressure from boards, regulators and stakeholders, often while making decisions in uncertain and fast-moving environments.
In conversations with clients, one theme comes up consistently: complexity. Risk management is no longer viewed only as a protective discipline. Increasingly, it is becoming a source of resilience, strategic clarity and competitive advantage. That shift also means clients expect insurers to understand not only the risks they face, but the realities of their business and the dynamics shaping their industry.
No single organisation has all the answers: not clients, not brokers and not insurers. But when clients, brokers and insurers maintain open dialogue, share insight and work collaboratively around emerging challenges, they are far better positioned to build resilient, forward-looking solutions.
As risks evolve, the most effective outcomes increasingly come from bringing together underwriting, risk consulting and claims expertise around the client. What matters is the ability to bring in the right specialists wherever they sit, connect those perspectives quickly and translate them into practical support.
Before the loss
Increasingly, clients need support navigating uncertainty before a loss occurs, not only after. For some risks, prevention is becoming just as important as risk transfer. In some cases, it may support the management of exposures that are becoming harder to insure, while also helping clients better understand their risk profile and strengthen long-term resilience.
Preparing for potential supply-chain disruption linked to geopolitical developments, for example, may involve prevention measures, scenario planning, operational resilience discussions and coordination across multiple areas of expertise long before an incident materializes. The same applies to areas such as cyber monitoring, supply chain visibility and climate-related risk assessment, where earlier insight can help inform decision-making and support a more proactive approach to risk management.
That philosophy is reflected in initiatives such as the AXA Digital Commercial Platform, which aims to provide clients with access to services that support risk management and resilience, or the launch of AXA XL Risk Advisory, our new business unit dedicated to prevention.
We also work closely with clients to understand their strategic priorities, operating environment and industry context so we can anticipate where future challenges may emerge and provide relevant, timely support.
The most rewarding part of my role is helping clients think through difficult challenges and find practical ways forward. The strongest relationships, though, are often built long before a claim arises.
Technology needs human judgment
Clients increasingly expect simplicity in the way they interact with insurers. They want transparency, speed and efficiency, and technology and AI will continue to play a defining role in meeting those expectations. Digital trading will also become increasingly important as clients look for more seamless and efficient ways to access solutions. Used well, these tools can help create a better view of risk, connect insight more effectively and enable faster response times.
But technology alone is not enough.
When organisations face uncertainty, they are also looking for human judgment, responsiveness and trusted relationships. They want partners who understand their business, communicate clearly and help them make informed decisions in fast-moving situations.
In client-facing leadership roles, I have learned that responsiveness matters just as much as expertise. Clients remember how clearly you communicate, how quickly you react and whether you stay close to them when circumstances become more uncertain or complex.
That is also why forums such as our Client Councils and Broker Councils are so valuable. Bringing organisations together to discuss shared challenges, lessons learned and emerging risks creates opportunities for meaningful exchange, broader perspectives and better preparedness.
Data and digital capability are becoming ever more critical to our industry. We have access to more information than ever before, but the real opportunity lies in connecting the dots at scale and turning that insight into meaningful support for clients. Claims data, for example, can help identify patterns earlier and strengthen prevention efforts before issues escalate.
We are in a period of significant transformation for our industry, with technology creating new opportunities to improve how risk is understood, managed and responded to. But human expertise and talent remain critical, especially at the moments that matter most to clients. The insurers that will matter most in the years ahead will be those able to combine data, technology and specialist insight to help clients act earlier, decide better and navigate risk more effectively across the full spectrum of their exposures.
- Share This Article:
-
-
Global Asset Protection Services, LLC, and its affiliates (“AXA XL Risk Consulting”) provides risk assessment reports and other loss prevention services, as requested. In this respect, our property loss prevention publications, services, and surveys do not address life safety or third party liability issues. This document shall not be construed as indicating the existence or availability under any policy of coverage for any particular type of loss or damage. The provision of any service does not imply that every possible hazard has been identified at a facility or that no other hazards exist. AXA XL Risk Consulting does not assume, and shall have no liability for the control, correction, continuation or modification of any existing conditions or operations. We specifically disclaim any warranty or representation that compliance with any advice or recommendation in any document or other communication will make a facility or operation safe or healthful, or put it in compliance with any standard, code, law, rule or regulation. Save where expressly agreed in writing, AXA XL Risk Consulting and its related and affiliated companies disclaim all liability for loss or damage suffered by any party arising out of or in connection with our services, including indirect or consequential loss or damage, howsoever arising. Any party who chooses to rely in any way on the contents of this document does so at their own risk.
US- and Canada-Issued Insurance Policies
In the US, the AXA XL insurance companies are: Catlin Insurance Company, Inc., Greenwich Insurance Company, Indian Harbor Insurance Company, XL Insurance America, Inc., XL Specialty Insurance Company and T.H.E. Insurance Company. In Canada, coverages are underwritten by XL Specialty Insurance Company - Canadian Branch and AXA Insurance Company - Canadian branch. Coverages may also be underwritten by Lloyd’s Syndicate #2003. Coverages underwritten by Lloyd’s Syndicate #2003 are placed on behalf of the member of Syndicate #2003 by Catlin Canada Inc. Lloyd’s ratings are independent of AXA XL.
US domiciled insurance policies can be written by the following AXA XL surplus lines insurers: XL Catlin Insurance Company UK Limited, Syndicates managed by Catlin Underwriting Agencies Limited and Indian Harbor Insurance Company. Enquires from US residents should be directed to a local insurance agent or broker permitted to write business in the relevant state.