Fears of a perfect storm in the Nordics are unfounded, according to the Swedish club

Times are tough, but don’t despair, was the message from Tore Forsmo, regional manager of the Swedish club’s Norwegian team and vice-president of IUMI, at the Marine Insurance Nordics conference held in Oslo this week.

Asked to assess the state of the Nordic marine insurance market and warnings of a perfect storm, Forsmo addressed the industry’s key challenges and offered some hope for the sector moving forward.

He said: “Two of the main challenges for our industry going forward will be how we manage inflation and financial performance – let’s face it, we are a capital-intensive industry and that capital has to give a return. . In reality, however, once the operational factors are under control, the main uncertainties and challenges that we face today are simply related to the world in which we live – and it seems to me that the world at the moment may be in its most critical period since the Second World War. ”

He acknowledged that geopolitics and economics are currently creating an unpredictable immediate future. However, he pointed to a positive outlook:
“There has been a powerful conjunction of negative factors lately, particularly in P&I, but ultimately, given these uncertainties, the Nordic marine insurance market is as well positioned as any another to meet and overcome our immediate challenges.”

Mr Forsmo predicted a fairly stable outlook for the H&M market in the near term but was slightly more pessimistic for the P&I sector. “We need to look at the impact of inflation and underpricing that the market has been experiencing for some time,” he said. “There are still covid impacts on the previous and current P&I year, and of course we are seeing volatility and uncertainty in all global markets due to the war in Ukraine.

“On the positive side, however, there is light at the end of the tunnel, with pool claims seeking to reverse the trend we have seen over the past few years.

Indeed, as Tore Forsmo reassured the audience: “There is no perfect storm in Nordic marine insurance, either in terms of premiums or claims, whether it be H&M or P&I.”
Source: The Swedish club