Monte Carlo’s not bust

So the 62nd annual pilgrimage is over and we’re back at the same desks we sat at in the weeks and months beforehand.  Weeks of planning, listening, writing, pleading, arranging and rearranging have come and gone in what seems like a heartbeat. Monte Carlo brings a strange mix of emotions for us PRs whose job it is to advise, strategise, arrange and oversee.  Anticipation, worry, tension and excitement all rolled into a few days of madness in one square mile of tax-free hedonism.

 Every year I find myself warning clients that what we’ve planned for can easily get blown off course, often literally. Pre-prepared by-lined articles suddenly lose their place in one of the sought after dailies because of an Irma or a Florence. The journalist we’ve prepped for may be substituted for a colleague, or a rapid change of venue needed.  One of the healthy tribe of insurance publications we covert might have a scoop which dominates early conversation (hats off to Re-Insurance for their John Neal story).

Other distractions you can almost certainly predict. M&A rumours; Covéa circling the generous hosts at Scor and whispers of a mega broker deal which have since seen the light.  

The answer as to why the global (re)insurance industry relocates to the Principality at no inconsiderable expense was perhaps a little sharper in focus this year with the clamour for cost control in this era of low (or no) underwriting profitability. But when you can meet a healthy proportion of your contact book in one place within the space of a few hours, the Rendez-Vous de Septembre’s place in our calendar remains as assured and important as ever.