Pricing Climate Volatility in 2026: Insurance, Banking, and the Future of Risk Capital
How insurers, reinsurers, and financial institutions are recalibrating underwriting, capital allocation, and resilience strategy as climate volatility persists
Description
As climate volatility continues to shape global insurance and financial markets, insurers, reinsurers, and lenders are reevaluating how risk is priced, transferred, and financed. This discussion brings together leaders across risk management, underwriting, and capital markets to explore how institutions are responding to a shifting risk landscape. The conversation will examine how organizations are reassessing portfolio exposure, adjusting capital allocation strategies, and navigating evolving reinsurance and capital markets conditions. Participants will also discuss the growing role of catastrophe bonds and other alternative capital in distributing climate risk, and how institutions are balancing increased market capacity with the reality of persistent climate volatility.
Background
Climate volatility is increasingly reshaping the global risk-transfer landscape. Early 2026 market signals suggest a changing environment: reinsurance pricing softened at January renewals as underwriting capacity expanded, while alternative capital—particularly catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities—continues to grow rapidly. At the same time, extreme weather events remain structurally …
Date: 2026-04-24
Time (ET): 2:00 PM EDT, Apr 24, 2026
Time (Local): 6:00 PM UTC, Apr 24, 2026
Location: online
Speakers
Toby Belsom
Director of Investor Guidance & Reporting, UN‑supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)
Jay Muska
Department Vice President, Accounting and Financial Issues, American Property and Casualty Insurance Association
Brandon Katz
EVP, Product and Strategy, KatRisk
David F. Snyder
Vice President, International Policy, American Property Casualty Insurance Association
Megan Hart
Head of Data and Analyics for North America, Willis Re
Guided Questions
Jay Muska
Given your experience in insurance capital frameworks and climate related financial risk policy, how are regulators and standard setters approaching the integration of climate risk into capital and solvency requirements?
David F. Snyder
From your perspective on trade and cross border insurance markets, what challenges and opportunities do you see in aligning regulatory frameworks to support the efficient flow of capital, including alternative capital, in response to growing climate related risks?
Toby Belsom
Given your extensive experience in sustainable investing and investor reporting, how are institutional investors evolving their expectations around the pricing of climate risk within insurance and reinsurance portfolios, particularly as alternative capital continues to scale?
Brandon Katz
Given your deep expertise in catastrophe modeling and climate analytics, how are advances in risk modeling reshaping the way insurers and reinsurers price increasingly volatile and uncertain climate driven risks?
Megan Hart
Given your leadership in data and analytics for reinsurance markets, how are firms refining their view of risk across geographies and perils as climate volatility challenges historical assumptions used in underwriting?