The Reinsurance Podcast

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320

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Jun 2026

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About the show

Navigating the world of reinsurance can feel complex, but it doesn’t have to be dull. Join Jerad Leigh and Ben Rose—co-founders of Supercede and genuine reinsurance nerds enthusiasts—as they unravel the nuances of market dynamics. With industry expertise, they dive into the trends, challenges, and stories shaping the reinsurance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking for a little more knowledge to ensure the glazing over of eyes at parties, tune in for an engaging journey through the world of reinsurance!

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June 10, 202624 min

How to Win a Soft Market Without Burning Bridges | TRP #172

In a softening reinsurance market, it’s tempting to chase the cheapest capacity, squeeze every last point out of pricing, and call it a win. But that’s how you burn bridges. In this episode, Ben and Jerad unpack how cedents and brokers should approach renewal season when capital is abundant, pricing pressure is building, and everyone suddenly has options again.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:06 Soft Market Strategies02:17 New Narratives & Softening Conditions03:49 Cedents: Opportunity or Trap?06:24 How Poor Data Damages Relationships08:27 The Broker’s Role in a Soft Market09:11 Price Cuts vs Long-Term Partnerships11:31 Why Hammering Existing Partners Can Backfire15:20 A Benign Cat Year… But What Comes Next?19:14 Spotting Gaps Across Programmes20:23 Using the Soft Market to Rethink Structures21:23 Broker Nimbleness & Proactive Ideas24:09 Closing Thoughts

June 2, 202618 min

How Challenger Brokers Are Winning Clients in a Soft Market | TRP #171

Reinsurance brokers invest heavily in analytics, cat models, and back-office systems. Almost none of it faces the client. In a softening market where cheaper reinsurance is table stakes, Ben Rose and Tom Spier break down why the broker-client relationship is the one that actually needs the technology — and why most firms have completely overlooked it.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:Why getting clients a cheaper deal is no longer enough to keep their business in a soft marketHow challenger brokers backed by private equity are forcing the big three to rethink their value propositionThe structural reason brokers can't build client-facing tools in-house (and why clients don't want them to)Why the broker who meets the client where they already work will win over the one with the flashiest portalWhat cedents should be looking for when choosing between ten credible brokers instead of threeCONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:57 How Supercede Started04:06 The Real Friction Isn't Between Broker and Underwriter05:54 The Broker Landscape: From Big Three to Top Fifteen08:13 Hard Market vs Soft Market: How Broker Value Shifts09:19 Cheap Reinsurance Is Table Stakes — Now What?10:31 What Brokers Actually Spend Their Tech Budgets On12:34 The Gap: Nothing Between Broker and Client13:56 Why In-House Portals Don't Work for Clients14:48 Analytics & the PDF Report Problem16:08 Meeting Clients Where They Are17:48 Minimising Change Management by Using Existing Workflows

May 20, 202632 min

Your Reinsurance Tech Isn't Making You Money | TRP #170

Since cat modelling landed in the early '90s, nothing in reinsurance tech has stuck with the same force. Blockchain, digital exchanges, Blueprint 2 — the graveyard is long. Ben Rose and Tom Spier trace the history of failed innovation and land on a question the industry still hasn't answered well: if efficiency doesn't move the needle and speed doesn't matter, what does technology in reinsurance actually need to do?WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:Why the efficiency argument falls flat in reinsurance — and what to pitch insteadHow blockchain's transparency killed its own value proposition in a market built on information asymmetryThe chicken-and-egg problem that buried most market-wide adoption playsWhy single-player value — tech that works even if nobody else uses it — is the pattern that survivesWhat AI actually changes for reinsurance software and where vibe-coded solutions will fall shortTIMESTAMPS:(00:00) Intro(01:57) Cat Modelling: The Last Innovation That Stuck(04:58) The Graveyard — Why Digital Reinsurance Keeps Failing(06:50) Reinsurance Is Not a Commodities Market(09:00) Digitisation vs. Digitalisation — What Actually Adds Value(10:49) The Efficiency Trap — Why It Doesn't Move the Needle(14:47) Speed, Timing and Precision — The Real Nuance(15:17) Blockchain's Transparency Problem(17:02) Information Asymmetry and Why It Matters(17:56) The Chicken-and-Egg Adoption Problem(19:54) AI's Promise — And the Vibe Coding Trap(22:37) Niche Software, Common Standards and Interoperability(26:27) Why the Placement Process Hasn't Changed(27:20) Trust, Relationships and £100M Decisions(31:39) Will Robots Be at Monte Carlo This Year?CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: producer@thereinsurancepodcast.comWebsite: https://www.supercede.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehqX: https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQRSS Feed: https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss

May 12, 202631 min

Why Cedents Still Buy Reinsurance Blind | TRP #169

The reinsurance market spent 2025 promising to invest in technology. In 2026, something actually happened — and it wasn't what anyone expected. In this episode, Ben and Tom Spier unpack why the market suddenly stopped fearing tech, what "placement intelligence" actually means for cedants, and why the biggest shift wasn't new software but a change in how people talk about it.WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:Why Q1 2026 became the best quarter insurtech vendors had ever seen — after years of stalled budgetsHow cedants went from flying blind during renewals to getting a broker's-eye view of their own dealsWhat killed the appetite for "big bang" transformation projects — and what replaced themWhy the word "platform" became a liability and how reframing as "intelligence" changed buyer behaviourHow integrations with accounting, capital modelling, and settlement systems made adoption feel invisibleEPISODE LINKS:Placement Intelligence for Cedants: ⁠https://supercede.com/placement-intelligence/⁠CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq⁠X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro00:38 Ben and Tom set the scene01:28 Two propositions getting traction in the market02:04 The positioning shift: same tech, different story02:52 2025's tech budgets vs 2026's reality04:36 The sentiment shift: from big-bang projects to quick wins06:23 Getting back to basics after the AI honeymoon06:46 Starting with the cedant side of the chain07:31 Why Supercede started as a placing platform08:22 The educated buyer: why cedants drive reinsurance deals09:16 What cedants had before — spreadsheets and waiting10:14 Information asymmetry and the system rigged against buyers11:55 Why there was no technology serving cedants13:00 From placing platform to cedant-first product14:34 Starting with firm orders and audit compliance16:17 How compliance risk drives behavioural change17:13 The post-Blueprint 2 shift away from "platform" language18:06 Minimal operational change, maximum positioning shift20:06 The product evolution: APIs, integrations, and real use cases21:39 Partner analysis dashboards and capital modelling25:06 Quote-to-signed-line: intelligence brokers weren't tracking25:40 Placement intelligence — what's behind the name27:01 Placement intelligence vs placement automation28:00 Where broker value actually lives in the process29:42 Step-by-step data transformations as proof of value30:56 Why brokerage fees aren't extortionate (when you can see the work)31:15 Outro and what's next

April 30, 202620 min

Reinsurance News | April 2026

Ben & Jerad run through what’s happened within the world of reinsurance during the past month.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:19 1/4 Renewals & Softening Rates02:34 Record Reinsurance Capital03:43 Cedent Performance & Data Quality04:56 Lloyd’s Syndicate Results06:00 Performance Variation Across Lloyd’s07:22 Reinsurance Strategy Across Syndicates08:32 Q1 Cat Losses & Secondary Perils09:29 Non-Hurricane Losses to Watch11:03 Atlantic Hurricane Forecast11:35 What Could Move Pricing?12:34 Aggregate Covers & Selective Capacity12:49 Q1 Cat Bond Activity13:20 Third-Party Capital & Investor Appetite14:42 Cat Bonds as a Competitive Pressure16:14 Softening Isn’t Universal17:05 Marine, War, Energy & Political Violence18:36 Specialist Risk as Revenue Opportunity19:26 Pricing Risk Through the Cycle19:47 April Wrap-Up

April 28, 202622 min

How Brokers Prove Work with a Client Workspace | TRP #168

In this episode, Ben and Jerad put reinsurance brokers centre stage and tackle one of the market’s most awkward questions: how do brokers actually prove the value of the work they do?EPISODE LINKS:Client Workspace for Reinsurance BrokersCONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:28 Why Broker Value Is Hard to See02:50 Outcomes vs Evidencing the Work04:28 Why Technology Matters for Brokers05:13 Making Broker Work Visible06:01 The Risk of Black-Box AI07:12 Explaining the “How” and “Why”08:02 When Broker Data Creates Confusion09:34 Introducing Client Workspace10:22 Turning Data into a Living Workbench12:20 Helping Clients Make Better Decisions13:53 Evidence Over “Trust Us”14:49 Showing the Receipts15:33 The Map Analogy: Advice You Can Follow16:48 Remembering Why Decisions Were Made18:14 Tracking Market Conditions and Assumptions19:46 The Broker’s Spreadsheet Nightmare20:19 Cold Sweats During Renewal Season21:29 Building a Shared Space for Brokers and Cedents22:04 Final Thoughts on Client Workspace

April 21, 202619 min

How to Improve Placement Outcomes | TRP #167

Reinsurance strategy doesn’t need to be abstract. In this episode, we break down practical ways to improve placement outcomes, make clearer decisions, and extract more value from your programme. Expect actionable thinking on data, discipline, and execution — the small changes that materially improve results at renewal and beyond.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro01:42 Market Context & Cycle Positioning04:18 Broker–Reinsurer Dynamics08:55 Technology Reality Check12:11 Data & Placement Strategy16:03 Key Takeaways

April 14, 202625 min

Using AI for Reinsurance | TRP #166

AI is everywhere, but where does it genuinely add value in reinsurance? We unpack where AI helps, where it struggles, and why human expertise still matters. From cost realities to creativity limits, this episode explores how practitioners can adopt AI pragmatically without losing the relationships, judgement, and innovation that drive the market.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro00:54 What AI Actually Is02:03 Hallucinations & Why Models Guess04:10 Where AI Works (and Where It Doesn’t)05:44 AI Use Cases in Reinsurance 09:30 ROI Reality Check for Enterprise AI Spend11:00 The AI Arms Race & IPO Economics13:04 Can AI Truly Innovate in Reinsurance?16:00 “AI Slop” Reinsurance Products17:05 Data Scarcity in Reinsurance vs Other Industries20:04 Trust, Relationships & the Human Advantage22:12 Efficiency vs Value 23:24 Where AI Actually Helps Practitioners24:40 Balancing Technology with Human Expertise

April 7, 202622 min

Placement Intelligence | TRP #165

Renewal is the most consequential thing a cedent does all year. Most treat it like a handover. Placement Intelligence is what it looks like when you stop outsourcing your situational awareness. Live signals across placements, brokers, and market appetite, in one place and in time to actually matter. The gap between passive process manager and someone who controls their capital? Not strategic capacity. Information.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro 00:42 Reinsurance Intelligence02:05 Fragmented Placement Processes04:18 Timing of Information Matters in Renewals06:18 Diversifying Brokers vs Maintaining Oversight08:24 Real-Time Insight as Competitive Advantage10:07 From Passive Buyer to Active Deal Leader12:02 Control for Reinsurance Buyers13:42 Speed to Clarity & Decision-Making Power16:28 Managing Subjectivities & Internal Alignment17:55 Real-Time Collaboration Between Brokers & Clients19:02 Technology & Relationships20:11 Influence Across the Reinsurance Ecosystem

March 31, 202634 min

The Iran Conflict Explained Through Insurance | TRP #164

War has pushed insurance into the headlines — but how does marine war cover actually work? We unpack what’s really happening in the Iran conflict, why premiums are surging, and how energy disruption, geopolitics, and uncertainty could reshape reinsurance markets ahead of Monte Carlo, Baden-Baden, and 1/1 renewals.CONNECT WITH US:Say Hello: ⁠producer@thereinsurancepodcast.com⁠Website: ⁠https://www.supercede.com⁠ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/supercedehq X: ⁠https://twitter.com/SupercedeHQ⁠ YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@SupercedeHQ⁠ RSS Feed: ⁠https://anchor.fm/s/7e741c8c/podcast/rss⁠ OUTLINE & TIMESTAMPS:00:00 Intro02:01 How marine war cover actually works04:03 Insurance as a risk signal, not a green light04:40 War exclusions, fortuity, and policy structure06:20 Why insurers stop covering new ships entering war zones07:02 Premium spikes and why some voyages still go ahead08:14 When insurance costs start to look absurd09:42 Sanctions, shadow fleets, and political pressure11:11 Why uninsured ships cannot dock12:57 The US-backed reinsurance scheme and capacity questions14:04 Macro impacts: oil, markets, and insurer balance sheets16:52 Deep uncertainty and what it means for the market cycle18:18 Indirect losses: BI, trade disruption, and contract frustration19:29 Tourism, confidence shocks, and falling asset values21:23 Strategy under uncertainty: how firms should think about it22:35 Global energy stress and the scramble for supply25:24 Energy dependence, AI demand, and planning horizons26:01 Who can actually end this conflict?27:19 Why Iran may feel it has leverage29:30 America’s unclear endgame32:49 What happens next 34:24 Outro