Insurers need to ‘weed out signal from noise’ amid ‘polycrisis’

The challenge the industry needs to address is how to ”weed out the signal from the noise” when identifying emerging risk, according to Dean LaPierre, chief underwriting officer at CrossCover.

LaPierre said that while the market is inundated with recency data – which he labels “noise” – about how a combination of geopolitical and catastrophic risk is on a scale that has never been seen before, it can often be misleading when examined in its entirety.

In a new era defined by polycrisis where interconnected global risks amplify one another, traditional risk assessment models are challenged to capture the complexity of emerging threats, which is pushing insurers to adopt integrated risk solutions to understand unknowns.

Speaking during the Infuse webinar, called Everything, everywhere, all at once – welcome to the era of polycrisis, which was held in association with Send on 9 July 2025, LaPierre said: “The challenge is really to weed out the signal from the noise.

“With the communications that we have and the technology that we have to process information, underwriters and risk managers these days are deluged with information and the idea is to have that information be co-ordinated to improve decision-making.

“That’s really what is going to be the best response to a polycrisis or multiple emerging technologies or emerging risk at any one time. Focusing in on the noise to signal ratio [and identifying] what is the data that we can actually use to make good decisions to address these risks.”

LaPierre added that he believes the best business has been performed during periods of “elevated risk” as it “creates need, need creates innovation, innovation creates businesses, which in turn creates jobs and prosperity”.

“We’re in the business of risk and in my world that includes cyber, artificial intelligence (AI), natural disaster and geopolitical uncertainty,” he continued.

“I worry more about times where there is complacency and little perceived risk in the market, [as] that complacency can sometimes lead to a mispricing of risk in the marketplace and an overreaction to pricing when these events inevitably happen.

“The market is tremendously resilient, it will survive. It has seen polycrisis before.”

Using data 

With underwriters navigating a web of emerging risks, the panel agreed that it needs to be a priority to use new models and innovation to predict unknowns.

Ina Bajrami, financial risk manager at Apollo, explained that underwriting priorities need to be ”a change from a static risk assessment to look at the broader picture”.

She said: “You can no longer look at a risk just on its own – there’s data available.

“Where we struggle as an industry is using that data as a whole [to identify] potential opportunities. There is a limit to how much we can do in-house.”

At Apollo, Bajrami explained that underwriters have been given the ability to create a one-stop shop, where they can understand the exposure of their client and offer a complete package to align their exposure with the protection that they need.

She said: “It’s also encouraging a culture, especially within underwriting, for innovation, identifying blind spots and areas where there’s potential coverage gaps.

“Rather than saying that the global polycrisis is a risk, it’s also a place for opportunity to use the data available.”