In April 2019, when risk managers and other insurance professionals headed to Boston for the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. conference, few if any would have thought there would be a three-year hiatus before the next in-person RIMS.

The annual get-together was a peripatetic ritual for many in the U.S. and international risk management community but was placed on hold when the Denver conference slated for 2020 was canceled due to COVID-19 and the 2021 edition was shifted from Chicago to a virtual format. 

A lot has changed in the insurance world over those three years. While the hardening market was already a key topic of conversation in Boston, insurance prices have continued to climb at sometimes astonishing rates, stretching risk management budgets and the placement capabilities of brokers.

While underwriters have benefited from those increases, they have faced other challenges. The annual consumer price index increased nearly 8% in February, compared with 2% in April 2019, which makes pricing insurance coverage difficult as replacement costs surge. In addition, so-called social inflation, or rising jury awards and settlements, appears to be driving yet more increases as insurers try to adjust.

Of course, even more has changed in the wider world, which has had a direct effect on the risk management sector. The pandemic brought some businesses to a halt and curtailed the operations of many others while providing a dramatic boost to a few. The resultant supply chain crisis is still affecting companies and increasing their exposures.

In addition, ransomware attacks and other cyber breaches have surged since late 2019, with hackers from around the world extorting hundreds of millions from inadequately protected companies. The subsequent increase in cyber liability insurance costs and reduction in capacity have created even more problems for commercial insurance buyers. 

While the pandemic and enduring cyberattacks are relatively novel experiences for most people, the effects of war on those involved and the rest of the world unfortunately are not. Nevertheless, the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been shocking. Obviously, the lost lives and other humanitarian costs are of the most concern, but the economic consequences, including sky-rocketing prices for oil and other commodities and yet more supply chain disruptions, are affecting everyone.

Tackling problems with such a global scope is difficult if not impossible to do in isolation but it looks like people are ready to trade ideas. If the price of my airfare is anything to judge by, an awful lot of people plan to descend on San Francisco to reconnect at RIMS, which resumes this month. 

As organizations strive to adapt to such rapidly changing times, pulling on the experience and expertise of numerous people in the world of risk management, including peers and service providers, will be vital.