Moody’s, a global provider of financial data, risk analysis and business intelligence, has established the Moody’s Casualty Risk Intelligence Group (MCRIG), an initiative involving six founding organisations from across the insurance industry.
AXA XL, Convex, Marsh, RenaissanceRe, Tokio Marine and Travelers are participating in the group, which aims to contribute research and analytical perspectives to help inform the future development of the global casualty (re)insurance market.
According to Moody’s, MCRIG will provide a platform for industry participants to examine how independent, science-based analysis and forward-looking risk assessment could support underwriting decisions and portfolio management.
The initiative comes as casualty insurers and reinsurers contend with a broad range of exposures, from established legal liabilities and large-scale litigation to emerging challenges associated with artificial intelligence.
Moody’s said the increasing complexity of casualty risks has highlighted the potential value of analytical approaches that look beyond historical claims experience. The company expects the group to facilitate discussions on how improved data and analytical methods could help market participants assess potential exposures, inform pricing and manage their portfolios.
The group’s proposed areas of work include improving consistency in exposure, claims and loss data, strengthening transparency across insurance portfolios and examining new methods of analysing litigation trends. Moody’s said these areas could help participants develop a more informed view of emerging liabilities and the potential direction of future casualty risks.
Joe Melly, Managing Director and Head of Casualty and Financial Lines at Moody’s, commented: “Casualty insurance is the next frontier for risk analytics, and Moody’s is committed to leading that transformation. The casualty industry carries enormous economic weight and growing complexity. It is ready to move toward new data standards, litigation intelligence, and decision-grade analytics to help firms understand and manage their exposure.
“The formation of MCRIG is Moody’s route to achieving this goal. By engaging with a range of participants, MCRIG aims to support the enhancement of independently developed analytical frameworks and insights intended to advance risk understanding. We are proud to launch the MCRIG in New York and to do so with such a strong and diverse group of founding participants.”
Noel Richardson, Chief Risk Officer at AXA XL, added: “Casualty insurance faces significant complexity from emerging risks such as PFAS and AI liability, yet the industry relies largely on backward-looking analysis. Through MCRIG, we have an opportunity to develop the data standards, litigation intelligence, and forward-looking analytics that are currently missing. By working with peers and Moody’s, we can build the tools casualty underwriting genuinely needs—and create real value in how we assess, price, and manage risk.”
Christopher Ross, Global Casualty Leader at Marsh Re, said: “Marsh believes strongly in the benefits of a collaborative approach to exploring emerging risk issues and welcomes the opportunity to work with our fellow MCRIG members to develop data-driven insights that empower our clients with new and cutting-edge views of risk.
“The casualty re/insurance market has undergone significant changes over the past several years in response to the evolving nature of risk. The advent of AI and its downstream implications will only accelerate change, and we will lead the industry in evaluating and creating solutions that enable our clients to succeed in this market.”
Fiona Walden, SVP and Chief Underwriting Officer for Casualty & Specialty at RenaissanceRe, said: “We are proud to be a founding member of the MCRIG and look forward to contributing our expertise and partnering with Moody’s and our fellow members to advance casualty analytics and data standards across the industry. This group reinforces our efforts to bring greater transparency and forward-looking insight around emerging casualty trends, supporting our clients and the long-term health of the casualty market.”
Don Mahoney, Vice President of Enterprise Underwriting, Casualty, at Travelers, noted: “We are pleased to join Moody’s and this exceptional group of partners. This initiative will provide better visibility into casualty exposures in an ever-changing environment and a stronger foundation for risk managers and underwriters across the industry.”
The group’s launch coincides with an expansion of Moody’s investment in casualty data, analytical capabilities and modelling. Moody’s said its Casualty and Financial Lines business, which incorporates its 2024 acquisition of Praedicat, Inc., forms part of a wider effort to strengthen its capabilities through continued investment in specialist expertise, technology and data resources.
The company’s stated objective is to develop casualty risk analysis to a level of analytical detail and rigour comparable with the advances made in property catastrophe modelling over the past 30 years.
Moody’s said its work draws on a broad range of commercial datasets covering company profiles, financial information, credit risk, mergers and acquisitions, directors’ and officers’ data, litigation records, cyber risk assessments and satellite-derived analytics. These resources encompass hundreds of millions of entities worldwide, according to the company, and are intended to support the development of detailed, decision-focused insights for casualty risk assessment.
Through MCRIG and its wider investment in analytical capabilities, Moody’s aims to facilitate industry discussions on data consistency, emerging liabilities and the use of forward-looking intelligence in casualty underwriting and portfolio management.
