Insurability as a basis for resilience and stability

With a keynote on “Shaping insurability: for a strong economy and resilient society,” representatives from business, politics and academia discussed the prerequisites for long-term risk hedging at the Tonhalle St. Gallen. Insurers create security, predictability and financial stability – and thus the basis for people and companies to look to the future again after difficult events. “Insurability does not happen by itself,” said Stefan Mäder, Chairman of the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA), at the beginning of the event: “It must be maintained, adapted and sometimes reclaimed.”

Using the example of the Blatten rockfall, Mäder illustrated the importance of effective insurance solutions in an emergency: “Where risks are insured, those affected can be supported quickly and reconstruction and economic recovery can be planned.” This perspective was echoed by a contribution from Matthias Bellwald, Mayor of Blatten. In St. Gallen, he highlighted the importance of reliable insurance solutions for the affected population and the long-term development of the municipality. With his Vision Blatten 2030, he also outlined the path towards reconstruction and made it clear that resilience requires not only financial resources, but also confidence, planning security and the interaction of different stakeholders.

Insurability starts with prevention

The annual Swiss insurance industry event noted that while insurability starts with risk awareness, it in turn also depends on prevention and, in particular, reliable legal and regulatory framework conditions. At the crux of this is always the question of how to tie personal responsibility, market-based solutions and collective cover together in a meaningful way.

These challenges can be viewed from different perspectives: FINMA Director Stefan Walter talked about the role of supervision, while philosopher Barbara Bleisch spoke about the relationship between hedging and uncertainty. Sandra Känzig, CISO of Helvetia, and Sandro Nafzger, CEO of Bug Bounty Switzerland, used “ethical hacking” to show how cyber risks can be made visible and thus more manageable. Barbara Bleisch, Patric Deflorin, the CEO of AXA Switzerland, Axel Ladner, specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychotherapy, and Serena Stellavato, a commercial apprentice at Pax, discussed psychological stress between personal responsibility and collective cover.

Strengthening functioning private insurance solutions

One clear message emerged: insurability can only be assured when approached as a shared task across business, politics and society. Where private insurance solutions work, they should be strengthened. Where risks become more complex, however, appropriate governmental framework conditions are needed to ensure that insurance markets can emerge and function in the long term. Switzerland is well positioned when it comes to protecting against natural hazards, for example. The natural hazards pool enables comprehensive and fully private-sector coverage of natural risks and has repeatedly proven its effectiveness even in major damage events.

By contrast, the CEO of the SIA, Urs Arbter, was concerned about regulatory developments: “Not only does the trend towards increasingly complex regulation create bureaucracy, it also compromises insurability. We need a return to ensuring the balance between government requirements and personal responsibility.”
 

New and re-elected members of the Board of Directors

At the 96th Annual General Meeting of the SIA on the same day, Mirjam Bamberger, CEO of CSS, Patric Deflorin, CEO of AXA Schweiz, and Peter Giger, Group Chief Risk Officer of Zurich Insurance Group, were newly elected to the Association’s Board of Directors.

Stefan Mäder was re-elected as Chairman and the Board members Thomas Boyer, CEO of Groupe Mutuel, and Jean-Daniel Laffely, CEO of Vaudoise, were re-elected for a further three-year term of office.

The departing Board members Juan Beer, Philomena Colatrella, Clemens Markstein and Fabrizio Petrillo were thanked for their great commitment to the SIA and the Swiss insurance industry.