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The 2007 Wharton Economic Summit ::
Panels
| Risk Management Strategies for Dealing with Catastrophes |
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Sponsor: Wharton Risk Management Center Moderator: Howard Kunreuther, Cecilia Yen Koo Professor; Professor of Decision Sciences and Business and Public Policy; Co-Director, Risk Management and Decision Processes Center Moderator: Robert Meyer, Gayfryd Steinberg Professor; Professor of Marketing; Chairperson, Marketing Department; Co-Director, Risk Management and Decision Processes Center Panelists: Neil Doherty, John Merkovsky, Price Roe, Richard Thomas |
| Friday, April 13 - 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m :: Full Summit Schedule |
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In the past few years we have observed a radical change in the scale of disasters and their frequency: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Madrid and London, the anthrax crisis, major blackouts in the US and Italy, SRARS and bird flu pandemics, and natural disasters of an unprecedented scale, to name a few. <p> We used to refer to disasters as low-probability, high-consequence events. While the latter is more accurate than ever, "low probability" is becoming more and more questionable. A consequence is that these risks and disasters might very well become the norm rather than the exception in our daily life. To understand the new era we are entering, consider insurance. Three times in the last five years, new records have been set for the most costly disaster ever in the insurance industry (2001, 2004, and 2005), with Hurricane Katrina alone costing the insurance industry between $40 and $50 billion. Will 2007 be even more extreme?</p> <p> Building on more than 20 years of experience of research at the Wharton Risk Center on managing and financing extreme events, this session will bring together leading experts on these issues from Wharton and the public and private sectors.</p> |
| Panelists |
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:: Neil Doherty
Professor of Insurance and Risk ManagementThe Wharton School Neil Doherty is the Frederick H. Ecker professor of insurance and risk management and chair of the Department of Insurance and Risk Management at The Wharton School. A principal area of interest is in corporate risk management focusing on the financial strategies for managing risks that traditionally have been insurable. Such strategies include the use of existing derivatives, the design of new financial products and the use of capital structure. Dr. Doherty has written three books in this area, "Corporate Risk Management: A Financial Exposition," 1985; "The Financial Theory of Insurance Pricing," 1987 (with S. D'Arcy); Integrated Risk Management, 2000; and several recent papers. His other area of interest is the economics of risk and information and has written papers on the adverse selection, the value of information, and the design of insurance contracts with imperfect information and related issues. These papers have appeared in the Journal of Risk and Insurance, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Finance, Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, etc.. He is also the co-author of Managerial Economics, 2003 (with B. Allen and K. Weigelt). In 2005 Doherty coauthored two reports on the insurance industry. The first, The Economics of Insurance Intermediaries provided an economic analysis of some of the issues raised by Elliot Spitzer's investigation into broker compensation and bidding for insurance. The second, TRIA and beyond provided an economic analysis of terrorism insurance and the public policy option facing the government with the expiration of TRIA. Dr. Doherty earned his BA from the University of York in 1968, his BPhil from the University of York in 1969, and his PhD from the Cranfield Institute of Technology in 1979. |
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:: John Merkovsky
Global LeaderRisk Consulting Practice John Merkovsky serves as the global leader for Marsh's Risk Consulting Practice, overseeing and directing the daily operations and continuing growth of its core and specialty practices. He is responsible for Marsh's thought leadership activities around emerging risk issues such as climate change, pandemic, and supply chain, and helps coordinate Marsh's participation in the World Economic Forum's Global Risk Network. Mr. Merkovsky is a member of Marsh's European Executive Committee and Marsh's Operating Committee. He also serves on Kroll's Executive Committee. The Risk Consulting Practice provides a wide range of services related to insured and non-insurable risks in areas such as claims, human capital, forensic accounting, construction, product risk, mass tort, strategic risk analysis, quantitative analysis, and business resiliency. The Risk Consulting Practice works closely with other parts of Marsh and other MMC companies to provide expert advice to clients on their risk issues. Mr. Merkovsky began his risk consulting career in 1984, working for various firms until establishing his own in 1997, which then became part of Marsh in 2001. In these capacities, he participated in the review and measurement of economic damages, and in supply chain risk modeling. John has also testified in various Federal and state courts as an expert on financial damages. Mr. Merkovsky has authored many articles, been quoted in the press, and presented seminars to the insurance industry, business audiences, and in-house personnel on such subjects as the risk life cycle, litigation support, business interruption, property damage, and emerging risk issues. He has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting and is a certified public accountant and certified fraud examiner. Mr. Merkovsky is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. |
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:: Price Roe
Counselor to Secretary ChertoffDepartment of Homeland Security |
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:: Richard Thomas
SVP and Chief Underwriting OfficerAmerican International Group Companies Richard Thomas joined American International Group in 1985 as a senior vice president of the American Home and National Union Insurance Companies. He currently is the senior vice president & chief underwriting officer for the Domestic Brokerage Group of AIG. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Thomas was responsible for Year 2000 Strategic Planning and Implementation for AIG casualty underwriting worldwide. Mr. Thomas is AIG's representative on the Board of the Workers' Compensation Research Institute and to the M-200, a risk management association for global corporations. Mr. Thomas also serves on advisory boards for RAND's Center for Terrorism Risk Management Policy and Wharton's Risk Management and Decision Processes Center. He is currently a member of the Financial Services Roundtable Blue Ribbon Commission on Mega Catastrophes. During his tenure at AIG, Mr. Thomas has had a number of special assignments. He has presented a treatise on the development of Products' Liability in the U.S. to the Ministry of Finance in Japan and met with representatives of the government of Argentina to recommend competitive features for implementation in their workers' compensation system. He has testified before the U.S. Treasury Department on insurance issues related to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and CERCLA, the "Super Fund" act. He has testified before the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Committees on workers' compensation reform and AIG's response to September 11, and before the Commerce Committee of the U.S. Senate on insurance programs for large construction projects. Mr. Thomas graduated from Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio, with a BA degree in 1969. |
