Are P&C Players Ready To Fight Back?

I came away from our annual P&C Executive Conference impressed by the feistiness of many of the top players speaking, compared to last year's far more introspective and downbeat lot.

Part of that has to do with the times, of course. Last fall's conference took place when the economy was collapsing, and the poster child for reckless investment decisions was American International Group.

Even though AIG's p&c carriers were walled off from the financial guarantee woes forcing their corporate parent to accept massive bailout funds from Uncle Sam, civilians–those in the general public outside the insurance industry–heard those three magic letters, and thanks to very effective branding, thought immediately of insurance.

That lingering misconception haunts the industry to this day, as Congress keeps treating all financial services entities alike, even though it was banks and investment firms, not p&c insurers, that got us into this mess.

But last fall, with everyone licking their wounds and running scared, most of the industry's leaders did not put up too much of a fight. As usual during a crisis, most in the p&c sector retreated into their shells, waiting for the furious public and their panicked political representatives to stop pounding on their shells so they could crawl away once the coast was clear.

But Mike McGavick, CEO of XL Capital, wasn't having any of that humble pie as he led off this year's P&C Executive Conference–put together by The National Underwriter Company, working with sponsors Ernst & Young and Genpact.

Mr. McGavick said not only were p&c carriers not to blame for the financial crisis, but that the sound way this industry was regulated by the states should provide lessons to the federal government as Congress struggles to get a grip on so-called systemic risks.

Mr. McGavick urged his fellow p&c insurer executives not to “hide behind your trade associations,” and step up to testify before Congress to tout the industry's soundness and the fine example it set, while all other financial sectors were going you-know-where in a hand basket! (You can read the full story about his speech at http://bit.ly/3O95VR.)

Bob Hartwig, the Insurance Information Institute president and top-notch economist, warned carriers that if they were complacent about activities in Washington, not only might they be “swept in” to any new federal regulatory schemes designed to police much different breeds of cat in the financial sector, but that long-established tort reforms could be eroded as well.

Last but not least, near the end of a one-on-one interview I did on stage, Chartis CFO Robert Schimek was also taking no guff when I asked for his reaction to gripes from competitors that AIG's rebranded commercial insurers had underpriced them to try to make up for reputational challenges following credit default swap woes at AIG's Financial Products unit.

He pretty much told these critics to stuff it, insisting that such charges were not only baseless, but were sour grapes by those who had hoped and expected AIG's carriers to just fade into the sunset. (You can read the full story about that interview at http://bit.ly/YQod5.)

All in all, I felt a far more positive attitude at this conference than last year's. Even a stubborn soft market, tanking economy and lousy investment environment does not seem to have dampened optimism about the future of this business. It was quite a refreshing change of pace!

The p&c industry has the facts–and history–on its side. They have run the gauntlet in this economic meltdown and lived to tell the tale. They should refuse to take any abuse from anybody who dares to suggest otherwise.