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It’s been a whirlwind of a year for me.
I joined CFO Brew in January after covering the property/casualty insurance industry for about two years. To narrow down the firehose of news and information blasted my way these last 12 months to just three was a…challenge. So I gotta start with what I know: P/C insurance.
Full coverage. My reporting on the implications of hurricane damages was a pleasant reminder for finance leaders who’ve grumbled about seemingly endlessly rising insurance costs: Insurance carriers don’t jack up your rates just for funsies.
Hurricanes Helene and Milton struck the Southeast just two weeks apart in September and October. Along with the tragic loss of life came up to an estimated $47.5 billion in economic damages from Helene and up to $34 billion in damages from Milton.
It’s typical for insurance companies to respond to big catastrophe (CAT) losses by increasing rates and/or cutting back coverage. While it’s fair to assume this could happen, since the hurricanes followed other severe US storms earlier in the year, one expert told me the impact on property insurance rates may be minimal.
With ample market competition and insurers overall feeling good about the returns they’re getting from property policies, “I tend to think it’s going to continue to lead to a competitive market,” Mike Rouse, leader of Marsh’s US property practice, said.
It ain’t just the feds. Over the course of the year, I also learned that not every new reporting rule needs to come from regulators. The SEC’s climate disclosure rule is facing strong headwinds. It’s stuck in court battles, which some experts expect will not end in its favor. There’s also the recent overturning of the Chevron deference precedent, and, oh yeah, a second Trump term that promises to be cartoonishly deregulatory.
But that doesn’t mean companies are off the hook when it comes to disclosing climate information.
Yes, there are other governmental bodies requiring emissions disclosures (lookin’ at you, EU). But after hearing from numerous people—both through my regular reporting and especially at Workiva’s Amplify conference—it quickly became clear that, if not regulators, then investors and other stakeholders will pressure companies to report climate information.
Finance and reporting teams are still thinking about climate disclosures because “it’s more than a regulatory consideration,” Steve Soter, Workiva VP and industry principal, told me at the Amplify conference. “Their customers are looking for it…Investors and other stakeholders are looking for it as well.”
It’s how you say it. As a reporter, it’s my job to gather information and turn it into a readable story so it was a refreshing surprise to learn that a key to being a strategic-minded CFO is the ability to go beyond facts and figures. They also should know how to tell a compelling story to stakeholders. Doing that is harder than sharing a spreadsheet.
A successful investor relations strategy involves clear and accurate communication and crafting the right message for the intended audience, IR experts told me this year.
An adept CFO should understand when to keep things high-level and when they can get more granular with company metrics, according to Michael Bayer, CFO of data storage company Wasabi. “I always believe it’s important to meet the audience where they are,” he explained.