This quarter’s edition brings together new research on some of the most pressing and complex risk issues shaping today’s insurance landscape – from the fragility of global supply chains and food systems, to the intensification of seasonal climate extremes and the fast-evolving role of AI in underwriting and liability. Each of these themes carries profound implications for how risk is transferred, priced, and managed.
The newly published WTW Global Supply Chain Risk Report 2025 sets out the growing challenges facing interconnected trade and logistics systems — and the downstream implications for insured loss potential, contingent business interruption, and risk accumulation. With insurers under pressure to understand exposure across increasingly globalised value chains, this research provides critical context, identifying actions that can enable organizations to innovate responsibly while reducing carbon emissions and energy use.
We also share the latest WTW Risk and Resilience Review: Feeding the Future, which highlights the mounting pressures on food systems from climate, conflict, and resource volatility. For (re)insurers, this raises new questions about protection gaps in agricultural risk, food-related supply chain disruption, and the scalability of insurance-based solutions to support food resilience at national and sectoral levels.
As the hurricane season approaches, and with ocean temperatures at record highs and model outlooks pointing to heightened activity, our recent Hurricane and Seasonal Forecasting Event outlined what to look out for this year. The next event from our Natural Catastrophe Program, on the 17 July will discuss the sometimes-overlooked threat of earthquake clusters with Salvatore Iacoletti (Catastrophe Research Lead at AXA XL), Tiziana Rossetto (Professor of Earthquake Engineering, Delft University of Technology), and James Dalziel (WTW’s Head of Earth Risk Research). Registration is available here.
Finally, we examine emerging work from the WRN on AI and risk frameworks. Our latest research looks at the potential liability implications of generative AI adoption, and tracks the growing competition — and concentration — within the LLM ecosystem. As insurers consider both the operational efficiencies and exposure risks associated with AI, our work aims to inform the future structure of risk models, regulatory expectations, and underwriting approaches.
01
Discover how companies are using insurance, supply chain risk modeling, and strategic planning to build organizational resilience in today’s increasingly complex and uncertain global supply chains.
02
Disruptions in food and drink supply chains—from climate shocks to cyberattacks—can ripple rapidly across global markets, threatening food security and corporate stability.
03
Combining interdisciplinary research and scenario analysis of the systemic risks around food security, we call for integrating food resilience into cat modelling, investment and insurance strategies.
04
Recent earthquakes such as the devastating 2023 Turkey doublet and the 2010–2011 New Zealand (Canterbury) sequence have proven the significant risk posed by complex, multi-event seismic activity. Join us in our next Natural Catastrophe Program webinar to examine if the models we rely on are keeping pace with the reality of clustered earthquake activity.
05
South America's drought of 2024, driven by El Niño and climate change, affected agriculture, energy, transport and water supplies, highlighting cross-sector challenges for risk managers in a warming world.
06
Meteorological agencies now routinely predict the state of the tropical Pacific months in advance. Pedro DiNezio, one of the world’s leading experts in seasonal forecasting, offers their view on how to gain the greatest advantage from look-ahead forecasts of El Niño and La Niña.
07
The future of insurance coverage for risks associated with AI technology is unclear. Conversations with key figures in the insurance industry shed some light on its future and the role of the legislator.
08
To explore the evolving AI landscape, WTW partnered with Wharton’s Mack Institute on three pieces that examine the LLM competitive landscape, including new disruptions and opportunities. Part 1 looks at GenAI’s impact on risk frameworks, while Part 2 examines DeepSeek’s market entry and how LLMs are assessed and Part 3 focuses on the future of hardware computing.
09
Nearly 70 years since Sputnik, satellites have revolutionized how we observe and understand our planet. With our increased reliance on remote sensing data, its integrity cannot be taken for granted.
10
The science of hail is complex, but together with WTW Research Network partners at CEDIM, a few key patterns can already guide better risk decisions across Europe.
