Top 3 Quotes from the 2009 Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum

Unsurprisingly, risk management, regulation and the economic crisis were the most discussed topics at the 2009 Property/Casualty Insurance Joint Industry Forum, held yesterday afternoon at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. However, if there was one prevailing theme from the afternoon, it was the relative health of P&C industry compared to its financial services brethren and the strength of the battle-tested P&C business model. The companies within the industry that have weathered the current economic storm best, many forum panelists agreed, were those that stuck to their core business.Here are our three favorite quotes from the afternoon's most interesting discussion, "CEO Panel: View From the Inside Looking Out," moderated by Robert P. Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute:

3.) Michael S. McGavick, CEO, XL Capital: "I spent all my time in the property and casualty industry being told that we were inferior in our enterprise risk management solutions to those in the deeper financial services industry, and [currently] we stand looking at their wreckage and our [relative] success. I just hope that reminds us every day that we are the survivor or the beneficiary of this because we spent every moment focusing on the worse that can happen. If we don't start from there, we put ourselves at risk to the alternative outcome."

2.) Pierre L. Ozendo, CEO, Americas Division, Swiss Re: "We're seeing countries' regulators and heads of state start to coordinate, in my opinion, more than they ever have before. I think that's a sea change in the way things will be done in the future. We are not the only country that has investments in our businesses, and as that takes place, it changes the name of the game. If you're a regulator...and you want to make changes in your country, you have to think about the [global] impact because the companies that are working in your country are working in other countries. There's a global sharing of that problem, which may be a good thing."

1.) Charles Kavitsky, chairman, president and CEO, Allianz of America: "For 25 or 30 years, I've had many occasions where people have spoken about the 'death of the agent.' It's amazing how resilient that's been. The Internet is a wonderful place if you want something that will give you information, but it's a provider as opposed to what I would call a recommender. What an agent brings to the table is this capacity to be able to make a recommendation, to be able ask the kind of questions that can make all the difference in the world [with regards] to the selection of [an insurer]. As long as that is something that the agent takes the time to do, as long as that is part of how an agent is brought in and how they are trained, that's going to be very hard to replace. That give and take, that emotional connection, I think, is something that isn't going to go away. It's often discounted by many people in the business who never actually grew up on the agent side. Having been part of [the agent community], I have enormous respect for [the agent]. Otherwise, my parents would kill me." (Kavitsky's grandfather, father and son are all insurance agents and he has worked as one as well.)If there was one prevailing theme, it was the relative health of P&C industry compared to its financial services brethren and the strength of the battle-tested P&C business model. The companies within the industry that have weathered the current economic storm best, many forum panelists agreed, were those that stuck to their core business.