By: Carlos Pacheco

Insurance Corp  – Withal the Pension’s reform sanctioned by the president and the possibility of another on the way, the tax reform, do you believe that the new economic scenario being drawn will be conductive to the evolution of the reinsurance market?

Eduardo Toledo – I begin the answer with a phrase that I constantly use: “There’s no economy without insurance”. In this way, it’s right to claim that the reforms proposed by the government are of extreme value to the evolution of the reinsurance market. The consequences of the reforms approval will bring credibility to the country, creating a favorable political environment and, as a consequence, attract new investors, which will directly impact the injection of new resources on the economy and, as I said, there’s no economy without insurance.

IC – What is your expectation for the business’ promotion in the areas of infrastructure, construction, transports and civil liability?

ET – The expectations are the best possible. The actions that the government is taking relative to the investments are disruptive innovations. I believe in the Infrastructure minister, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas, an extraordinary guy that has all of the infrastructure in Brazil on his head, in terms of ports, airports, highways, railways. He knows deeply the priorities to be adopted, as seen on the recent auctions of airports concessions and railways that are under way, in special the North-South Railway. The consequences of this revolution in infrastructure will revive the engineering and civil responsibility insurance contracts, reducing the loss ratio in transportation and the cost of merchandise to the final consumer, which will further heat up the economy.

IC – How do you evaluate the role taken by the Susep’s superintendent, Solange Vieira, that, recently, opened a public consultation for projects from companies able to participate in the regulatory sandbox?

ET – The performance of Susep has been surprising and innovative. I had the opportunity, as vice-president of Abecor, to have a meeting with Solange. The summary of the talk signaled to the debureaucratization of the sector and the necessity to innovate. The proof is that Susep opened the public consultation for participation in the regulatory sandbox and expects to receive products and services that bring, indeed, different technologies to the insurance market with new proposals for subscription and risk retention.

IC – The market, today, is prepared to quell invasion and/or cyberattacks at large scale?

ET – The question of exposition of cybernetic crimes and attacks on companies, in general, be they large corporations or small and medium scale, is a latent market concern. I would say that this country is still very late with its homework, not only in terms of risk awareness, but in terms of purchase of this insurance. Today, only large companies buy this kind of protection, the so-called single policy, going against the basic principle of insurance, the mutualism. Another question that we need to improve is with the regulation of a cyber claim. In Brazil, until today we didn’t have any regulation of this portfolio and that shows our fragility in an eventual liquidation and loss calculation. We need to be very aware of the new General Personal Data Protection Law (LGPD), which will come into effect beginning in 2020, very severe in matter of sanctions, and that ascribes responsibility of companies regarding the treatment of personal data.

IC – Abecor always defended a good interaction between the insurance and the reinsurance brokers. How, today, is this interaction?

ET – Abecor not only defends this interaction but intensifies the synergy between the insurance and reinsurance brokers. The broker has a fundamental role in intermediation with the clients and the support of this professional in placing the reinsurance has been shown effective, especially in obtaining the risk information. After all, the more information we have about a risk, better the chance to bring the best terms and conditions available in the reinsurance market. In addition, to attest our synergy, I take the liberty to make an analogy to the insurance brokers and launch firsthand a phrase: “Reinsurance, only with the reinsurance broker”, even better if he’s associated to Abecor.

IC – Because of the latest environmental catastrophes, in special in the tailing dams of Mariana and Brumadinho, the risk manager has taken a protagonism until now unknown to the Brazilian citizen?

ET – The risk manager is, and had always been, a decisive professional in managing the risks inherent to his business or the organization he represents. He’s a professional that is alert to all the actions taken by a company, be it a dam, oil platform or airline company. What have been drawing attention to risk management are the catastrophic consequences of recent accidents such as Mariana and Brumadinho. The insurance and reinsurance become reparation tools for these losses, giving back the local economy of a given affected region, which is, in my view, one of the noblest roles in our market.