Insurance, Economic Turmoil and Political Upheaval: The Future of Risk Management in the Post-Crisis World

This PowerPoint report, presented by Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, discusses how the global financial crisis and the new world economic order has made insurers’ path to growth both more clear and more challenging. Slides illustrate how the reshuffling of the global economic deck has affected the path to long-term growth and how foreign direct investment has affected insurance exposure and demand. A section looks at insurance in the age of austerity, focusing on fiscal discipline, the end of stimulus programs, the prospects for inflation and their consequences for insurance. Near-term issues with potentially adverse impacts to global growth are the focus of a section that looks at the implications of the recent Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear reactor accident on lost final production, disrupted supply chains, lost Japanese consumption, the potential for modest impact on the GDP and political spillover in Europe. The presentation also highlights the risks associated with the current political unrest in the Middle East, including higher energy prices, military action, elevated political uncertainty and the safety of property and employees abroad. Economic threats facing the global insurance and reinsurance industries are reviewed. The presentation concludes with a discussion of future opportunity, risk and instability for the insurance industry.