Swiss re Sonar 2019

Swiss Re's annual SONAR report identifies new, changing and not-yet envisioned risks that the re/insurance industry needs to have on its radar.

The top five emerging risks in its SONAR 2019 report are:

• digital technology's clash with legacy hardware
• potential threats from the spread of 5G mobile network
• increasingly limited fiscal and monetary flexibility by central banks
• genetic testing's implications on life insurers
• the impact of climate change on the life and health sector. 

SONAR examines new and 'slow-burner' emerging risks and their potential effects on the re/insurance industry. This year's report features 15 emerging risk themes and five trend spotlights as well as an overview of global macro trends.

Among the topics are the rising vaccine hesitancy, hazards of cosmetic surgery tourism, artificial intelligence and healthcare, concussion injuries in sports, the warehouse of the future, and the baby boomers' skills gap.

A special feature examines how societies and healthcare systems will need to adapt to a warming world. 

Swiss re has been monitoring the emerging risks related to climate change since 1989. 

With climate change now a real-life danger, we pinpoint new associated risks such as the greater threat of pandemics due to warming temperatures and air pollution caused by more frequent wildfires.

Read the Whitepaper