“A truly global insurance and reinsurance group must have a presence in all markets”, said Catlin Group CEO Stephen Catlin at today's PWC breakfast briefing in Monte Carlo.
Referring to rivalry between the major markets – the US, Bermuda, London and Lloyd's – he said it was “not a time for petty rivalries”, that each market had its own unique set of challenges and that there was “plenty of catastrophe risk to go around”.
Drawing attention to the very high concentrations of economic value in the US, Catlin said this was one of the reasons why “we as an industry got Katrina wrong”. In his view, by underestimating the economic values, insured values were wrong as were the probable maximum loss curves.
He said the industry had to work together to cover these very high exposures and that “individuals who live in catastrophe-exposed coastal regions should pay for that lifestyle decision...however high the cost may be”. He said it was not the responsibility of the government or state to offer subsidies, or for the cost to be passed on to other policyholders. “Why should we charge the rest of the world premium to pay for California and Florida?” he asked.
