And one man in his time plays many part.
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
Edward Liddy is a player who made made his exit as CEO of Allstate in December 2006 and his entrance as CEO of AIG this past September.
One of the many parts he will play in his time is the role of advocate for a federal backstop to the property/casualty insurance insurance industry – a role he played at a December 2005 industry conference.
… catastrophic storms can impact geographies beyond traditional coastal areas, is precisely why the industry needs a federal backstop.
Liddy said the approach is two-pronged: states should have a pool funded with a portion of premiums paid by policyholders — modeled after the reinsurance-like Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund as well as a federal backstop that would be broadly funded and would grow on a tax-free basis…
In December 2005, I was too busy finding coats for families that had lost theirs and more to Katrina to give insurance much thought. However, the idea of a federal backstop is about as appealing to me as spending another night in a travel trailer with no heat.
Having given insurance a great deal of thought since joining Sop on Slabbed, I see a clear connection between a federal backstop and the world stage that is the place where the men and women of the insurance industry will increasingly make their exits and entrances. In that regard, I found Liddy’s comments recorded in a transcipt of the PBS program, CEO Exchange, particularly interesting. Continue reading “All the world’s a stage – a perspective on the global implications of proposed federal backstop”