Cyber product creation continues ‘at rapid pace’ amid carrier confidence – Gallagher Re

The cyber reinsurance market “is maturing at a rapid pace”, with cedents showcasing greater confidence in understanding this risk and subsequently looking to create new products for the personal lines, SMEs or large corporate markets, according to Lara Mowery, chief commercial officer at Gallagher Re.

Addressing attendees at a media briefing in London on 2 September 2025, Mowery commented that the “situation has shifted” in the cyber market.

She cited greater carrier confidence around what cyber risks entail, meaning that brokers such as Gallagher Re are needing to reinvent the support they provide to client insurers in a bid to keep up with this fast moving market.

Mowery said: “In cyber, we are continuing to see a market that is maturing at a rapid pace.

“Up to a few years ago, our primary focus as a broker was around education and collaboration, [ensuring] our clients had sufficient capacity to meet their growing needs. This situation has shifted.

“With the market growth rate temporarily slowing down, coupled with an excess of capital in the market, the need to cede as much exposure to third parties continues to decrease. This is further helped by an increase in confidence around the cyber peril.

“This means the primary focus today is on how we can help our clients generate growth and develop product to create more efficient reinsurance solutions for current needs.”

Mowery added that regional carriers were increasingly looking to establish new cyber products off the back of greater confidence in understanding cyber risks.

She explained: “The size of the cyber reinsurance market now exceeds $15bn in gross written premiums, with two-thirds of that accounted for by the US.

“However, growth rates are now arguably faster in the international market, with at least half of new business coming from regional carriers looking to set up a new cyber product for one or more of personal lines, SMEs or large corporates.”

Margin worries

Against this positive backdrop of insurer appetite, a number of cyber attacks in 2025’s first half “have highlighted the growing risks in the cyber insurance market”.

Data breaches and phishing attacks have hit UK retailers such as Marks & Spencer, Co-Op, Harrods and Hertz between April and May, as well as Jaguar Land Rover seeing its systems go down in September as a result of cyber criminals.

For Mowery, this rampant cyber activity “has not yet shifted the underlying market dynamics, putting increased concern around margins across the insurance chain”.

Cyber scepticism

Other market commentators have voiced concerns about the direction of travel when it comes to cyber insurance protections and risk awareness.

Nick Pomeroy, head of reinsurance and broking at Lloyd’s broker QRG Specialty, recently told Global Reinsurance that there was a market-wide lack of knowledge.

He continued: “Cyber business is growing exponentially because as the perpetrators of cyber crimes get more sophisticated, what you tend to find is the insurance and reinsurance markets are closing the door after the horse has bolted. ‘Oh, there’s been another big loss. We’ll exclude that’ or approach it [in] a different way. Everywhere you turn there’s another loss you haven’t seen before.

“It is not necessarily an accident waiting to happen, but [firms are] rolling the dice [on] a very immature market. The insurers are quite a long way behind the perpetrators. Things are inherently much more volatile, yet it ticks all the boxes commercially.”

Salman Siddiqui, associate managing director at Moody’s, also shared a differing view.

He added: “Cyber is an interesting one because it has similar characteristics to property, but that market really hasn’t taken off.”