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Leading international insurance think tank, The Geneva Association, has published the results of a survey of its membership of more than 80 of the world’s top insurance CEOs on long-term insurance issues.
Covering the current international regulatory efforts to contain systemic risk, national government responses to climate change and the prospects for the world economy, the survey is the industry’s top-level annual survey of leading insurance Chief Executives on long-term insurance issues.
Chairman of The Geneva Association and Chairman of the Board of Management of Munich Re, Dr Nikolaus von Bomhard, said: “Insurers support the need for the enhancement of financial stability and agree that systemic risk must be addressed. The financial crisis has already imposed costs on the insurance industry in the form of low interest rates and depressed growth, which directly affect customers”.
However, the Geneva Association stresses that there is now additionally a real risk that in an effort to deliver within the G20’s tight deadline, inappropriate and unfit regulation will be imposed on the insurance sector. They claim that core insurance activities are not a source of systemic risk to the financial and economic system and no core insurance activity has ever triggered a systemic financial crisis.
They point out that instead, the insurance sector acts as a stabiliser in the world economy with its long-term investment and risk horizons.