Jérôme Haegeli, Group Chief Economist at Swiss Re and Head of the Swiss Re Institute, has said the “physical economy is back” as the rapid expansion of data centre investment fuels a new global capital expenditure (capex) super-cycle.
Speaking during the 68th edition of the Rendez-Vous de Septembre (RVS) in Monte Carlo, alongside colleague Gianfranco Lot, Haegeli observed that while data centres are digital, they are also very real and physical, requiring vast amounts of infrastructure, energy and capital.
Swiss Re has said that this investment boom, spanning data centres, energy systems and other strategic infrastructure, could create one of the largest commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurance opportunities in decades.
AI data centres and renewable energy infrastructure alone could generate around $200 billion in insurance premiums between 2026 and 2030, according to the report.
The scale of investment underpinning the opportunity is substantial. Global energy investment is expected to reach $3.4 trillion in 2026, with around $2.2 trillion directed towards renewables, nuclear, grids, storage, low-emissions fuels, efficiency and electrification.
Meanwhile, the five largest US hyperscalers are expected to invest nearly $800 billion in AI-related capex in 2026, while global data centre capex estimates exceed $1 trillion.
Swiss Re said these investments are transforming data centres from traditional information technology assets into strategic infrastructure, with power requirements measured in gigawatts and asset values running into billions of dollars.
Their operations depend on increasingly interconnected electricity, telecommunications, cooling and cloud infrastructure.
That growing complexity will reportedly translate into significant insurance demand across property, business interruption and liability, but will also create new concentrations of risk.
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