In this edition we catch up with Michele Cibrario who took over as Chair of our Offshore Energy Technical Committee at the Singapore conference last September.
You are Chair of the IUMI Offshore Energy Committee. What does it involve?
The honour to lead the Offshore Energy Committee brings with it the task of addressing the key issues facing the state of the energy insurance market and the key trends we see in the underlying industry and to form a view for IUMI. There are many technological and economic underlying trends in energy that impact the valuation of the assets, the unit value of crude oil and natural gas, plus continued geopolitical influences.
What would you like to achieve during your time as Chair?
I took the Chair specifically to push our committee further in creating awareness amongst the energy underwriting community to the increasing degree of complexity and the need for underwriters to remain up-to-date. Evolution in our industry is moving fast with offshore wind farms, complex subsea cables and Mobile Offshore Renewable Units (MORUs).
How did you first get involved with IUMI and why is it important to you?
IUMI is my professional home next to my current employer. I joined this Committee in 2017 and it is a fundamental source of know-how and a forum to exchange views and perceptions with the wider marine insurance community. I have met very capable individuals and friends who are like-minded people and who share my professional interests, a passion for the sea and intellectual curiosity.
What is your day job and how did you get to that position?
Today I co-head the Energy Centre of Competence in Swiss Re. This is the underwriting nerve centre in P&C Reinsurance where all lines of business dealing with energy come together for aligned strategic direction, risk appetite steering, technology insights and training for several underwriting teams. This includes Upstream, Mid and Downstream, both operational and construction, on traditional and renewable power generation, on the value chains of carbon capture, utilisation and storage, on hydrogen, on electrification of heavy industries such as “green cement” and “green steel”. The team I lead is composed of several product/technology specialists, all of them being underwriters simultaneously holding market responsibility for at least one line of business.
With a 10 years background as a risk manager in an integrated oil company and Upstream focus, I then became an Energy Upstream Underwriter for a further seven years then progressively expanded to engineering underwriting and to the wider energy onshore and power generation sector until, Â in 2023, I became Head of the Energy Centre of Competence of Swiss Re Reinsurance.
Would you recommend a career in marine insurance to people just starting out on their career?
Marine insurance is a fascinating world, full of very interesting people who share a passion for their work and for the sea. With a strong sense of purpose and community, marine underwriters are a relatively small circle of like-minded people and I would strongly recommend it as a career launch pad. Marine insurance touches every line of business, the banking world and the world economy more generally as well as ports, logistics and even fine art collections and museums. And offshore energy underwriting literally powers the world!
What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?
“When you learn something, make it available to others. Write a paper about it!” I have studied papers and books from so many other people and I can now “stand on the shoulder of giants”, thanks to those people from which I learned something. Now, when I discover something new, I write about it.
Where would you like to see life take you in the future?
Professionally, there is so much to develop as far as steering an integrated book of global energy across several value chains. I feel every insurance company needs to develop a new framework that fosters a comprehensive approach to energy and the way it is transitioning. Facing the increasing complexity and interrelation of the various energy sources, I feel a coordinated approach is needed more and more and we are now taking the first steps towards this. There is more to come on this exciting journey and I want to continue helming this particular ship.
What do you like to do away from the office?
I mostly enjoy water sports, especially sailing and windsurfing. My home country is Italy and with my family I either sail there or on the lakes of Switzerland, my current second home. Hiking in the mountains is also a big family passion.
