ABGR Seminar

The event brought together risk managers from various parts of the country and brought up issues related to ESG and several panels that discussed open insurance, diversity and inclusion, sandbox and insurtechs, transport and risk management, among others.

Sustainability in risk management

The Brazilian Association of Risk Management (ABGR) proved once again why Expo ABGR and the XIV Seminar on Risk Management and Insurance have established themselves as the largest risk management event in Latin America. On the 16th and 17th of November, at the Pró-Magno Centro de Eventos, in São Paulo, around 4,000 people were present, including major players and decision makers in the risk management sector.

The central theme of the entity’s seminar, “Open Insurance and ESG: the challenges of innovation and sustainability for risk management”, attracted countless people who attended a cycle of simultaneous lectures. Twenty-one thematic axes addressed relevant issues such as risk management, open insurance and innovations, sandbox and insurtech, ESG & sustainability, transport – logistics and risk management, among others.

The ABGR business fair brought together exhibitors linked to some of the largest companies in the segment. On the occasion, in addition to offering innovative solutions, there was intense networking and business deals. In this environment, insurance buyers dialogued with the productive chain and got to know the diversified range of products available on the market. The expo and seminar were held simultaneously with another event – ​​CMS Financial Innovation.

“We were very happy with the presence of large companies and sponsors who believed in the event. Our mission is to bring the risk manager into the ABGR”, emphasized the president of the entity, Luiz Otavio Artilheiro. Financial director Wilnner Eduardo Silva added: “The event fostered the exchange of experiences between insurers, reinsurers, brokers, clients and risk managers”. In the view of the general secretary, Thiago Amorim, ABGR positioned the professional as a “market protagonist”. And the adviser to the Board and Board of Directors, Márcia Ribeiro, recalled that one of the merits of the event was to attract the participation of several insurance buyers.

ESG and sustainability

“What world will we leave for our children in the next 30 years”, questioned DHL Risk Management director, Guilherme Brochman, in the opening lecture of the seminar “ESG: Challenges, Risk Management and Sustainability”. Incidentally, the tripod Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (or Ambiental, Social e Governança Corporativa – ASG, in Portuguese) scored most of the panels.

According to Brochman, the use of technology in fuels is a concern for companies to reduce the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. “DHL has set a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030,” in line with the Paris Agreement through the Science-Based Targets (SBTi) initiative and investing an additional €7 billion globally to achieve the goal,” he revealed.

The debate on the ESG agenda continued in the next lecture. “We want to see the entire Brazilian economy focused on this agenda”, urged the director of the Superintendence of Private Insurance (Susep), José Nagano. The vice-president of the National Federation of Reinsurance Companies (Fenaber), Fred Knapp, said that reinsurers should bring new technologies to apply in the local market. He suggested that insurance buyers, brokers and reinsurers use part of their budget, ie a certain percentage, on carbon offsetting.

In the third lecture, Nathalia Abreu (Zurich Brasil Seguros) defended companies’ integrated actions with sustainability, working the entire product chain in this direction. Thomas Fabelo (Aon) reinforced the purpose established by DHL: “In the global agenda, 100% of carbon will be neutralized by 2030”. But Daniela Cavalcante Pedroza (Ambipar VG) made a caveat: “ESG is a subject that not all organizations understand”. Fátima Lima (Mapfre Seguros) highlighted the company’s commitment: “We work on carbon reduction and clean energy. We have major global commitments made in the transition to a low-carbon economy, underwriting risk”, he commented.

“Diversity & Inclusion on the ESG Agenda” brought testimonials from some of the main female protagonists in the sector, such as the president and founder of Sou Segura, Simone Vizani. “Our actions have a positive impact on society. We give voice, movement and visibility to women,” he declared. “We want to hire and train leaders who are not imposing. These leaders must have a mindset”, pointed out Stephanie Zaicman (Wiz Soluções). In the view of Edna Vasselo Goldoni, president and founder of the Vasselo Goldoni Institute, the entity believes in the transformative power of women and gender equity. “I understand that the best ones, today, know what they want and which direction to take”, observed mediator Márcia Ribeiro (ABGR).

Sandbox, insurtech and cyber risk

Topics on the market agenda, sandbox, insurtech and cyber risk suggested interesting debates on innovation. For Nikolaus Maack (Mapfre Seguros), insurtechs must transform people’s lives and make actions and procedures simpler. “The insurance market is collaborative and this has to do with the nature of startups. Susep allowed the entry of new players and made the market more flexible”, reinforced Luiz Gustavo Ferreira Galrão (Latú Seguros). Barbara Possignoto (Pier Seguradora) recalled that there is room for the risk manager in an environment of innovation, as he ensures the efficiency of the measures adopted by the companies.

On cyber risk and LGPD, Marta Schuh (Marsh), Marco Mendes (Aon) and Eduardo Bezerra (Wiz) reported their experiences, with an emphasis on best practices in the daily lives of companies. In Marta’s opinion, hiring cyber insurance must be accompanied by compliance measures. And he quoted a piece of data: “Eighty percent of companies pay ransom for hijacking hackers. Paying ransoms is not the best option. This needs to be further discussed.”

Agro and environmental

Agribusiness and the environment were discussed in a specific panel with some of the sector’s specialists. “There are some challenges for crop insurance. In the 2021/2022 harvest, coffee and sugarcane in the central-south region were punished by climate catastrophes, such as frost. The expectation in the future is insurance to guarantee the replacement of losses and the business modalities involved”, said Glaucio Toyama (Swiss Re).

In the view of Talita Ferrari (Wiz), agribusiness is a very important segment for the country, exposed to the main risk: “the unmanageable climate”. He cited the historical bottlenecks in infrastructure (food transport) and the need for companies to adapt to low-carbon agriculture, meeting ESG goals. Paulo Vitor Rodrigues (Aon) highlighted the phenomenon of growth of startups (agrotechs) that operate in agricultural insurance, but warned that 32% of food production is wasted in the transport chain.

Daniel Asseituno (AXA Seguros), in turn, lamented: “The producer still sees agricultural insurance as a cost. I defend it to be more competitive – an additional guarantee to the financing operation”. Little known in Brazil, the parametric insurance was remembered by the panelists. Insurance protects crops against climate disturbances, without being linked to production itself. Paulo Vitor suggested that this type of protection be built around an index that can be monitored remotely.

Transport and GR

Diego Gomes (Chubb Seguros), Sérgio Caron (Marsh), Rodolfo Albuquerque Alves (Liberty Seguros) and Denis Teixeira (Alper) composed the panel “Transport, Logistics and Risk Management”. According to data from the National Transport Confederation (CNT), more than 60% of the cargo in circulation in the country is transported by road. Brazil has a fleet of 2 million trucks, 60% of which are transported by self-employed drivers.

The panelists were unanimous in considering that risk management is a fundamental action in the risk management process of a Transport policy. Companies always need to invest in technological development and training of professionals to carry out operations properly. Customers must have technical and detailed analyzes with recommendations prepared by experts.

About ABGR

Created in 1983, ABGR is a non-profit society whose objective is to bring together companies and professionals interested in promoting the development, improvement and dissemination of Risk Management in Brazil. They are associated companies from different industry segments, including potential insurance consumers and players in the national and international insurance market installed in the country.

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