Ahead of the Insurance Leadership Forum, MS Reinsurance North America CUO Lisa Butera discusses maintaining underwriting discipline as property pricing softens, the accumulation potential of emerging exposures and where the reinsurer sees selective opportunities for growth in the US.
An influx of capacity is putting downward pressure on US property reinsurance pricing, but favourable recent hurricane experience should not be mistaken for a reduction in underlying risk, according to Butera.
Reinsurers must remain disciplined as severe convective storm losses persist, US casualty claims continue to rise, and emerging exposures, including data centres, artificial intelligence and PFAS, create increasingly complex accumulation risks.
The ILF, hosted by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), takes place in Colorado Springs from October 2–6, 2026, and will provide an opportunity to build on discussions from Monte Carlo and establish expectations ahead of the January 1 renewal season.
For Butera, the focus against the backdrop of current market conditions will be on underpinning the importance of underwriting discipline, identifying well-supported opportunities for growth and deepening relationships with key clients.
Butera is new to her role as CUO of North America at MS Re. Her appointment comes at an important stage in MS Re’s development. Following four years of transformation, the company has grown its global portfolio to more than $4 billion, with US and Bermuda contributing approximately a quarter of the business.
Building on this foundational success, she said her initial priorities include getting to know her people and assessing her team, namely how they work, what motivates them, who does what, and how they collaborate.
“Our people are our biggest asset. Talent – attracting and retaining talent – is an important topic for MS Re and in our industry,” the executive explained.
Turning to the key areas of the North American portfolio, Butera began with property, where she pointed to continued attritional losses from severe convective storms.
“The past couple of North Atlantic hurricane seasons have been fairly benign in the U.S., and insurers and reinsurers have reported good results. But that does not mean the risk or exposure has gone away, especially when attritional losses from severe convective storms in the US and catastrophe losses elsewhere in the world continue at a steady pace year over year.
“We cannot become complacent or allow recent results to justify relaxed pricing and terms. Our priority is to remain disciplined, understand where risk is accumulating, steer the portfolio accordingly, and pursue growth where the fundamentals support it,” she said.
Butera also stressed that, in a softening market, MS Re is not looking to grow simply for growth’s sake, and she described the approach the company wants to take instead.
“Our primary ambition at MS Re is to take a portfolio approach with our key clients and to support them across multiple lines, over the long term throughout different market cycles. We are looking to deepen relationships across our clients’ organisation, including with the C-suite, business leaders, and reinsurance buyers, and to really understand their business and ambitions,” the executive added.
Looking at specific markets, MS Re is well positioned in the regional account space, Butera said, where it has grown its portfolio over the past two years and added new talent. She sees particularly strong potential among regional mutual insurers.
“These are important companies across the U.S. that use reinsurance as a capital tool and value enduring relationships—often with the expectation of ‘partners for life.’ That long-term view is exactly what we bring.
“Having just returned from National Association of Mutual Insurance Company Annual Convention, we see a significant opportunity to bring the full capabilities of MS Re to these clients in support of their strategic and growth ambitions, just as we do for larger national and global insurers. We are really just getting started.”
MS Re’s MGA business has strong momentum, backed by what Butera classifies as a ‘best-in-class’ underwriting team and a clear focus on partnering with MGAs that value high-quality data and partnerships built on transparency, and open dialogue.
“Building on this strong foundation, I see our next step is to deepen relationships with our existing clients—looking beyond individual programs to understand their needs across the whole enterprise. It will be important that our engagement is based on a common and well-supported view of the relationship so that we can identify new ways to support their ambitions and add value over the long term.”
Turning to US casualty, Butera is cautious and suggested that not all casualty is created equal: the multiple lines of business within a casualty or liability portfolio produce varied results.
“Regardless, in most casualty lines, we see a continued frequency and severity of losses. We see social inflation fuelled by litigation funding still roaring.
“We see nuclear verdicts still coming through. Even as loss size and scope vary by geography and cause of loss, we don’t really have a reason to relax pricing in the casualty space. Particularly for commercial auto and large corporate risks within excess casualty portfolios, the market is experiencing consistent loss severity,” she continued.
She said that emerging risks present a different challenge: the potential for systemic exposure and accumulation across multiple clients and lines of business, often without a credible loss history on which to rely.
“With emerging exposures such as data centres, AI, and PFAS, there is still so much we do not know. We need to think more prospectively about future loss scenarios, rather than price the business solely by looking back at historical results. We need to assess with a combination of both – and in many cases with new types of risk, there is more uncertainty without a historical perspective,” she explained.
Data centres are one example, Butera noted, because the exposure extends well beyond construction.
“We need to understand where liability or financial risk may sit across the broader supply chain. AI is similarly wide-ranging, from D&O coverage questions about a company’s fiduciary responsibility for how the technology is used to run the business to general liability exposures,” Butera said.
She suggested that PFAS and microplastics may present an even broader accumulation risk across industries, potentially comparable to the industry’s historical exposure to asbestos or to the opioid crisis.
“That uncertainty sits against the backdrop of an aggressive plaintiffs’ bar and a very active U.S. litigation environment. When multiple insureds, cedents, and lines of business are exposed to the same underlying risk or event, the potential of accumulation is concerning,” she added.
Asked what distinguishes MS Re as a long-term partner, Butera pointed first to financial strength.
“It starts with financial strength. We have a very strong balance sheet and the long-term reliability and security of a top-tier reinsurer, which gives clients confidence that we will be there to support them and pay claims when it matters,” she said.
“But our value goes well beyond capacity. We are large enough to bring meaningful expertise and resources to the table, yet nimble and agile enough to be responsive and develop bespoke solutions around a client’s specific needs without the administrative burden of a large reinsurer. We think beyond the transaction rather than simply responding to the submissions that come in. We want to understand how our clients run their portfolios, what their strategic ambitions are, and how they use reinsurance as a capital tool—then proactively help them solve problems.”
Looking ahead, Butera said she is approaching ILF with relationships in mind.
“Coming one month after Monte Carlo, ILF gives us the opportunity to build on those discussions and perhaps to get into the details of specific deals and identify new opportunities for growth together,” she said.
“My hope is that we plant the seeds for productive January 1 renewal discussions, to share expectations for outcomes and to move into renewal season with as little surprise as possible. Likewise, I want us to be transparent and have positive exchanges about growth opportunities.”
“At Monte Carlo, we heard rumblings of some expanded terms and conditions, and we heard the theme of restructuring programs to optimise capital use. But in all discussions, we heard that long-term, consistent relationships with reinsurers matter. So, the sooner we understand our clients’ and brokers’ objectives and expectations, the better positioned we are to be a relevant and reliable partner and to achieve results that benefit everyone.”
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