‘A global initiative underway’ – Tokio Marine’s Chris Williams highlights ambitions in the opportunity-rich renewable energy market

Chris Williams is a dynamic leader deeply passionate about collaborating with renewable energy companies.

In the lead-up to his interview with Voice of Insurance, the chairman of international business engaged in a series of meetings in New York, concentrating on renewable energy—an area where Tokio Marine Group aims for global impact and growth.

“The dollars that are involved to develop some of these alternative sources of energy are very, very significant,” he shared with host Mark Geoghegan.

Global renewable plans and state of cyber

Tokio Marine has been hiring teams and making acquisitions, most notably in 2020 with GCube, a specialist renewable energy underwriter.

According to Williams, the complexities inherent in renewable energy projects present unique challenges that align perfectly with Tokio Marine’s expertise, highlighting areas such as credit insurance.

“So, we see that as a place we’re putting some effort in. We’ve got a global initiative underway about it,” he said.

Cyber is another product where insurers can offer that high-level expertise and risk management.

However, new entrants have poured into cyber, prices fallen and wordings expanded – leading to losses.

“So that market, to us, seems to be correcting itself a little bit. I think insurers have been more responsible, and I think they’re also being smarter on terms and conditions,” he said.

Ambitious strategy

Underpinning the product innovation, is Tokio Marine’s global strategy. The insurer has been making acquisitions worldwide in the last 20 years.

The insurer has around a $75bn market cap, operating in 44 countries with 44,000 staff.

“If you turn the clock back approximately 20 years ago, about 3% of our earnings came from our international business. If you fast forward that today, it’s more like 75%,” Williams explains.

Challenges of a giant

Being a global giant presents its challenges. How do you keep such a large business aligned with its corporate goals and foster a successful culture?

Williams explains how acquisitions are offered a level of autonomy, while also feeding off the historic expertise of Tokio Marine, which can make them ‘bigger and better’.

Tokio Marine boasts a diversified portfolio of product offerings, which not only appeals to clients, but also effectively spreads and diversify its risk mixture.  

Williams emphasises the importance of culture in this process: “When you bring a company or individuals in, that they’ve got a culture they come from, whatever environment they’re in.

“I think as a group, we, over the last five years, have made significant strides to get people on the same page.”

Williams has experienced different business culture throughout his career.

He has enjoyed a 50-year career starting in Australia, working at Lloyd’s and moving to the US. During that time, he also worked as a broker. Williams joined the group in 2015 via the acquisition of HCC.

“It’s been a fast 50 years, that’s for sure,” Williams enthuses.

Claims is key

Achieving best-in-class performance in claims management is vital for Tokio Marine’s future success.

Williams emphasises that strong claims handling is essential for creating value for both customers and the company.

Tokio Marine will bring in people  during the middle of the night if that’s what it takes to solve a claim.

He concludes: “It really is a very thoughtful process that they go through, and it’s one of the reasons we have such a dominant position in Japan. We need to make sure we’re doing that around the world. And as a general comment, we’re getting better and better at that; we are there to respond in the event of some sort of adversity.”