2010 NATURAL CATASTROPHE YEAR IN REVIEW
Overall picture of natural catastrophes in 2010 – Very severe earthquakes and many severe weather events.
 
January 10, 2011
Running Time: 52 Minutes

Munich Re and the Insurance Information Institute jointly present an overview of natural catastrophe activity for 2010.

Several major catastrophes in 2010 resulted in substantial losses and an exceptionally high number of fatalities. The overall picture last year was dominated by an accumulation of severe earthquakes to an extent seldom experienced in recent decades.

Webinar Topics

• Overview of U.S. natural catastrophe activity including an update on “local” severe-weather events and their impact on insured losses.
• Overview of global catastrophe activity including major global events and statistics that compare 2010 with prior years.
• Economic implications of U.S. natural catastrophes in 2010.

2010 Highlights

• Globally, 950 natural catastrophes were recorded in 2010, the second highest figure for this period since 1980. Overall losses of around US$ 130bn were recorded, of which approximately US$ 37bn were insured. The level of overall losses was slightly above the high average of the past ten years.
• In the U.S., overall losses for the year 2010 totaled US$ 21bn and insured losses totaled US$ 14bn, both results are below the 10-year average. ($46.7bn/$25.8bn).
• Although the U.S. coast was not hit by a single hurricane, 2010 was one of the severest North Atlantic hurricane seasons of the past 100 years, in terms of the number and intensity of the storms. Altogether, there were 19 named tropical cyclones, equaling the number recorded in 1995 and putting 2010 in joint third place after 2005 (28) and 1933 (21).
• Claims paying capacity reached an all-time record high in the U.S. and possibly on a global scale as well.
• Despite four consecutive years of flat/negative growth (2007-2010) and high catastrophe losses on a global scale, the insurance and reinsurance industries remain financially strong and secure.
• Approximately half of the 50 state insurance regulators in the U.S. will be new in 2011, creating some uncertainty in the regulation of certain catastrophe prone coverages, such as homeowners insurance.

Presenters/Agenda

U.S. Catastrophe Update Carl G. Hedde, CPCU Head of Risk Accumulation Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. » Show/Hide Speaker Biography Carl Hedde is a Vice President with Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. and manages the Catastrophe Management Department headquartered in Princeton, NJ. His responsibilities include oversight of corporate accumulation issues at Munich Reinsurance America, Inc.; including the use of Catastrophe Risk Models, Client Cat Risk Consulting Services, and portfolio management and optimization. Additionally, he manages a group of scientists that provide seismological and meteorological expertise and research capabilities to Munich Reinsurance America, Inc. and its’ clients.   Carl received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the State University of New York – Albany, and holds the CPCU Designation. He has 25 years experience at Munich Reinsurance America, Inc., holding various positions within the Company.

Global Catastrophe Update Ernst Rauch Head of Corporate Climate Center Munich Re » Show/Hide Speaker Biography Ernst Rauch joined the staff of Munich Re's Geo Risks Research Department in 1988. His work initially focused on earthquake risk analysis and the development of an earthquake simulation model. Since the early 1990s his area of responsibility shifted increasingly to the analysis and modeling of meteorological risks. After becoming section leader in 2000, he was appointed head of the Meteorological and Climate Risks Department at Munich Re in April 2004. In 2007 Ernst Rauch took on the responsibility of coordinating all climate change-related activities in the Munich Re Group together with the function of department head of natural catastrophes research and development projects. Since April 2008 Ernst Rauch heads the recently-founded Munich Re Corporate Climate Center. Ernst Rauch has a degree in General and Applied Geophysics from the University of Munich. He is a member of the German Geophysical Society, the Wind Engineering Society (WTG, Germany), the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, and the American Association for Wind Engineering.

Economic Implications Robert P. Hartwig, CPCU President Insurance Information Institute » Show/Hide Speaker Biography Since joining the I.I.I. in 1998 as an economist and becoming chief economist in 2000, Dr. Hartwig has focused his work on improving understanding of key insurance issues across all industry stakeholders including media, consumers, insurers, producers, regulators, legislators and investors. Dr. Hartwig previously served as director of economic research and senior economist with the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) in Boca Raton, Florida. He has also worked as senior economist for the Swiss Reinsurance Group in New York and as senior statistician for the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the American Economic Association, the American Risk and Insurance Association, the National Association of Business Economics and the CPCU Society and serves on the board of directors of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers Association of New York. In 2005 and 2006 Dr. Hartwig served on the state of Florida’s Task Force for Long-Term Homeowners Insurance Solutions. Dr. Hartwig received his Ph.D. and Master of Science degrees in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics cum laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has served as an instructor at the University of Illinois and at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Hartwig also holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) credential. Dr. Hartwig has authored and co-authored papers that have appeared in numerous publications, including the Journal of Health Economics, the Proceedings of the Casualty Actuarial Society, the John Liner Review (where he also serves on the editorial board), Dossiers et Etudes (Geneva Association), the Journal of Workers’ Compensation, Global Reinsurance, Risk & Insurance, Insurance Day, Compensation and Benefits Review. He is also a regular contributor to National Underwriter and many other industry trade publications.

In the US, Munich Re provides access to a full range of property-casualty reinsurance and specialty insurance products through Munich Reinsurance America, Inc., American Modern Insurance Group and Hartford Steam Boiler Group. Together, we deal with the issues that affect society and work to devise cutting-edge solutions that render tomorrow’s world insurable. Munich Re. has been successfully addressing the key challenges of the future for over 100 years. Our clients trust us to develop solutions for the whole spectrum of reinsurance – from traditional reinsurance agreements to the management of complex specialty reinsurance risks. Our recipe for success: we anticipate risks early on and deliver solutions tailored to clients’ needs, creating opportunities to achieve sustained profitable growth. The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) is a nonprofit, communications organization supported by the insurance industry. Its mission is to improve public understanding of insurance -- what it does and how it works. For nearly 50 years, the I.I.I. has provided definitive insurance information. Today, the I.I.I. is recognized by the media, governments, regulatory organizations, universities and the public as a primary source of information, analysis and referral concerning insurance.