Focus on expertise at InsureTalk56

InsureTalk56 took place on 18 September 2025, attracting over 3 000 delegates to the live webinar. Our host, Christelle Colman, once again kept the wheels turning smoothly, while our headline sponsor Old Mutual Insure provided some top notch content. The theme for the session was “Redefining expertise: underwriting, claims and the future of insurance”.

Lwandile Ntwana, head of the Public Sector and Specialty Division at Old Mutual Insure, opened proceedings with a quote: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”

This, he said, captured the essence of his message of responsiveness and adaptability. Lwandile cautioned that industries which ignored disruption, like Kodak, ultimately failed. He drew parallels with insurance, noting how paper files and commoditised offerings of the past had been replaced by technology and a need for flexibility.

Reflecting on his two decades in the industry, Lwandile observed how commoditisation had stripped products of differentiation and led to customer distrust. Clients, he said, had grown more informed and demanding, questioning rejections and generic policies such as the Multi-Mark III that failed to address unique risks. Over time, insurers were forced to adapt as clients sought tailored solutions.

Lwandile explained that insurers began working more collaboratively with clients and brokers, creating multi-year risk remediation programmes rather than imposing rigid deadlines and punitive measures.

Lwandile outlined the new forces shaping specialist insurance: cyber risks that had evolved into mainstream threats, climate change–driven catastrophes like the KZN floods, shifting regulation and consumer expectations, and volatile global market dynamics. He highlighted additional challenges, including capacity constraints, rising reinsurance costs, limited risk diversification, shortages of specialist skills, and cultural resistance to innovation. According to Lwandile, these pressures demanded that insurers shift from reactive to proactive thinking, use data more effectively, and reposition brokers as strategic partners rather than mere distribution channels.

In conclusion, Lwandile stressed the need for deep expertise, tailored solutions, pricing precision, agility and sustained innovation. He said insurers should invest in actuaries, data scientists and product developers to anticipate risks that did not yet exist, using data to inform decisions. Agility and collaboration, particularly with brokers, would be central to sustaining the industry.

“Our responsiveness to change,” he said, “is what will inform our long-term sustainability as an industry.”

Richard Eustace, head of Speciality Risk Engineering at Old Mutual Insure, reflected on how the role of surveyors and risk engineers had shifted dramatically over the past 30 years. He recalled being told early in his career, “I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to protect our treaty reinsurers.”

Today, he said, the focus was far broader: client-centricity, pragmatic solutions, and collaboration across insurers, brokers and clients. He argued that risk engineering was no longer a back-office function, but a strategic enabler of resilience and sustainability.

Technology, Richard said, had become central to OMI’s value proposition. Survey processes were managed through Salesforce, supported by modelling tools from Swiss Re and JBA for catastrophes, as well as virtual inspection technologies like “Virtual Eye” that enabled remote walkthroughs with clients. He stressed that risk engineers needed to serve as problem solvers, not box-tickers, proposing pragmatic, internationally aligned solutions. He gave the example of multi-year sprinkler installation projects, which could take up to seven years to complete. In such cases, his team’s role was to guide clients through design, approvals and milestones, ensuring progress while keeping insurers and reinsurers comfortable.

In closing, Richard positioned risk engineering as a bridge between technical rigour and relationship-building.

“The better the risk, the more we need to sharpen our underwriting pencils,” he said, noting that transparency and collaboration fostered loyalty in a competitive market. For him, thought leadership meant reframing risk engineering as more than compliance: it was about creating long-term value through improved portfolio quality, client intimacy and resilience to emerging hazards. As he put it, the challenge was not simply to survey risks but to help shape a safer, more sustainable operating environment for clients and insurers alike.

Thokozile Mahlangu, CEO of the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA), used the occasion of Heritage Month to reflect on the importance of foundations, learning and growth in the industry. She said heritage reminded professionals that “true progress is built upon strong foundations,” just as predecessors invested in knowledge and skills. She encouraged members to continue developing themselves, focusing on leadership and intergenerational collaboration to ensure a sustainable future for the profession.

She also highlighted IISA’s anniversary celebrations in October, noting events such as Sip and Paint on 10 October and the annual golf day on 30 October, both designed to create opportunities for members and partners to connect. Thokozile reminded members of the value of continuous professional development, encouraging at least 1.5 hours of CPD activity each month, and announced that planning for AIE 2026 was well under way, with early bird registration now open. She invited members to contribute ideas for the conference theme and content, reinforcing IISA’s commitment to shaping industry dialogue and growth.

Rianet Whitehead, co-owner and editor of FA News, gave a wide-ranging update on developments in the short-term insurance industry. She highlighted key themes dominating the market: affordability pressures on households, the rising cost of claims, climate-related disasters and the vulnerabilities caused by weak infrastructure.

“Insurers are walking a tightrope between keeping cover affordable and still pricing for risk,” she said, pointing to bigger excesses, stripped-down cover and mounting claims costs. She also noted the growing prominence of cybercrime and fraud, alongside regulatory pushes for greater transparency and climate-risk reporting.

While challenges were evident, Rianet emphasised that innovation was keeping the sector relevant. She spoke of AI, predictive modelling, embedded products and parametric insurance as examples of progress, even as millions of South Africans remained uninsured or underinsured.

She also cautioned the audience to prepare for the administrative requirements of the CoFI bill, saying that waiting until the last moment would be a mistake.

“There will be a time that it will be implemented,” she warned, urging professionals to begin preparations early.

Turning to the Insurance Apprentice, Rianet shared the success of the vodcast series linked to the competition. She described the audience response as “overwhelmingly positive”, with more than two million unique viewers reached on SABC3 during the season. She praised industry support for contestants, singling out Old Mutual Insure and Santam for backing their representatives. Congratulating the 2025 winner, Kaya Mosholoane of Old Mutual Insure, she said the initiative had become a valuable platform for industry engagement and visibility.

Rianet closed with a reminder about Wills Month in September, noting that 65% of South Africans still died without a valid will. She argued that advisers and brokers had a duty to ensure clients not only had cover but also the means to protect their legacies. “All the work that people put into protecting their assets… can unravel if there’s no will,” she said, urging professionals to raise the subject with clients. She concluded by summing up the current landscape as a balance between financial recovery, regulatory pressure, innovation and the responsibility to safeguard families’ futures.

The entertainment slot was filled by Cape Town vocalist Andy Ralph, courtesy of our friends at Business and Arts South Africa – an amazing organisation that does phenomenal work in bridging the gaps between the business and arts sectors.

Simon Colman of The Liability Company spoke on the rise of the “augmented underwriter”, a concept he defined as an insurance professional enhanced by artificial intelligence rather than replaced by it. He traced the journey of technology in the industry, recalling the panic around Y2K, the growth of the internet, and now the breakneck speed of AI adoption.

“Every time I log into ChatGPT, it can do more amazing things than the last time,” he said, noting how AI was moving beyond information access to actively shaping how people think and make decisions.

Simon argued that specialists remained essential, especially in complex markets like liability insurance. He described specialists as individuals with deep product knowledge, the ability to tailor cover, and the courage to say no when necessary. AI, he suggested, could provide data insights and efficiency, but it lacked the judgement, context and empathy required in nuanced underwriting decisions.

“It’s not man versus machine,” he said. “It’s the concept of the augmented underwriter – specialists working together with AI tools to move faster and make better decisions.”

He cautioned, however, against over-reliance. Professionals, he warned, could become lazy if they simply accepted AI outputs without verification, pointing to cases where legal practitioners had cited fictitious precedents generated by AI. Instead, Simon urged underwriters and brokers to use AI as a support system – helping frame questions, generate options and speed up processes – while still applying critical thinking, human judgement and empathy.

“Clients still want answers from a person,” he said, stressing that trust in the insurance relationship was built on human connection.

Looking to the future, Simon predicted that new specialisation fields would emerge by 2030, including ESG and climate litigation underwriting, AI-related liability and social media reputation cover. He encouraged professionals to focus on adaptability, critical thinking and soft skills alongside prompt engineering and data literacy.

“AI is not going to replace underwriters or brokers,” he concluded, “but it will replace the people who don’t know how to use it.”

His message was clear: be curious, embrace augmentation, and “pack up your fear in a jiffy bag” while holding onto the human values that underpin the profession.

Shaun Scandling, CEO of HDI, opened his talk by highlighting the intersection between the macro and micro environments and their impact on insurance.

He said, “Geopolitics isn’t really abstract for us anymore… it’s real world for us and has real world implications.”

He drew attention to how global conflicts disrupt supply chains, fuel inflation, escalate cyber risks, and ripple into markets as far away as South Africa. By referencing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, he illustrated how global events reshape insurance exposures, from food security concerns to aviation and political violence claims.

Shaun noted that the world is simultaneously “more connected than it’s ever been” and paradoxically fragmented, with over 150 conflicts annually. Africa, he explained, is no exception, with instability in the Sahel and Cabo Delgado directly impacting mining and energy projects. He stressed that technology amplifies geopolitical risks, making them “largely borderless,” as seen with state-sponsored cyberattacks and semiconductor supply chain vulnerabilities. He warned that insurers can no longer rely on historic actuarial models, as geopolitical risks fall into “black swan territory,” forcing underwriters to grapple with scarce data and unpredictable shocks.

The insurance sector, he said, which once once offered niche products like political violence cover, now faces surging demand.

“Political risk, political violence, supply chain failures and cyber are now all converging,” he said, noting that reinsurers are wary of correlated risks and pricing pressures. For businesses, he argued, supply chain diversification is no longer optional – it is essential. He also underlined the role of insurers as not only risk carriers but also risk advisors, guiding boards to incorporate geopolitics into governance and ESG frameworks. Without this, Shaun warned, companies could face board-level accountability for overlooking major geopolitical exposures.

In closing, Shaun urged the industry to adopt proactive, collaborative strategies: embedding geopolitical intelligence into underwriting and broking, investing in data analytics, exploring parametric solutions and testing clients’ supply chains through stress scenarios.

“Geopolitics isn’t just a headline from some distant country,” he concluded. “It’s something real that impacts us on our shores and our continent.”

Christelle closed by reminding delegates to register for InsureTalk Live, which takes place in Johannesburg on 13 November 2025. Register here.

To watch InsureTalk56 on YouTube, click on the video link below: