Louise Lumley, Northern Region Underwriting Manager, Executive Assurance, at Arch Insurance Australia, speaks to Daniel Wood, News Editor at Insurance Business Australia, about some of the current challenges facing the D&O market, the increasing role of ESG and her new role at Arch.
In the article, Louise discusses some of the key factors impacting the class, including “increased underwriting capacity within the market and external risks, such as interest rates, inflation and geopolitical risks.”
She also identifies some of the significant emerging D&O risks, including cyber and greenwashing, “where companies make unsubstantiated claims about their environmental credentials.”
ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors have also come to the fore in recent years. However, Louise points out how governance has always been a key part of D&O underwriting, and “the social component of ESG has been a core aspect of ethical business practices for a long time.”
She goes on to highlight how “environmental imperatives have become increasingly prominent as reporting requirements for areas such as climate change are growing more onerous and expanding in scope.”
Australia remains one of the most litigious countries in the world, and whilst there has been a recent drop in class action activity, Louise was wary about companies letting down their guard.
“While there has been a recent lull in class actions, the long tail nature of the risk means that this situation could change as many class actions take three to four years to surface,” she says. “Class actions continue to pose a clear risk to companies.”
Read the full interview at Insurance Business Australia.