LAHAINA, HAWAII–While insurers weathered last year's catastrophe losses and defied pundit warnings of a possible hard market, the chief executive of the Insurance Services Office cautioned that population growth and soaring home values in vulnerable areas are boosting carrier exposures to potentially dangerous levels.

The ability of the industry to withstand record losses from last year's hurricanes was "a testament to their strong capitalization prior to last year's storms and their risk management," along with the industry's sharing of risk globally, said Frank J. Coyne, chairman, president and CEO of the Jersey City-based ISO.

While last year's hurricanes amounted to $58 billion in losses, insurers will ultimately be responsible for between $31 billion and $36 billion after reinsurance recoverables, Mr. Coyne noted here during the 80th annual meeting of the American Association of Managing General Agents.

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