Buberl calls for focus on public-private partnership for systemic risk

AXA CEO Thomas Buberl used the closing CEO debate at the Pan Asia Risk & Insurance Management Association (Parima) Resilience Week to call again for the creation of public-private partnerships at national and possibly regional levels to cope with future systemic risks such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. A number of schemes to help cope with future crises have been mooted since the spring, notably in France, the UK, Germany and the US. All of these are supported by national risk management associations. The Federation of European Risk Management Associations (Ferma) has pushed the concept of such national schemes to be backed up by a pan-European solution, and the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) has consulted on the idea. But the initiatives appear to have stumbled to a halt as national governments deal with the ongoing economic crisis and second national lockdowns. Frederic Durot, technical director of property and casualty at French broker Siaci Corporate & Specialty, has been involved with the interprofessional working group developing the scheme in France. He told Commercial Risk Europe recently that he does not expect there to be any further real progress on the initiative until the current crisis is over, partly to avoid confusion among businesses about what is currently covered and what is not. News from Germany and the UK appears to suggest a similar situation. But Mr Buberl clearly thinks these projects need to be accelerated rather than put on hold. During the Parima debate hosted by the association’s chairman Franck Baron, Mr Buberl also suggested that such public-private partnerships need to be extended to other difficult-to-insure systemic risks, such as a “digital pandemic” that he believes is inevitable. “New risks are emerging at the same time across the globe and these are risks that we have never seen. The question is: are these insurable, via public-private partnerships? This needs to be worked on at a nation-state level and also at a regional level. This needs the hardest work because we need to find solutions on a public-private partnership basis for customers today, not in the future,” Mr Buberl said. Mr Baron asked Mr Buberl and his co-speaker Dan Glaser, CEO of Marsh & McLennan, what advice they could give Parima members looking forward to 2021.. Mr Buberl returned to the theme of public-private partnerships to help deal with the new risk environment. “Mindset is key. A lot of people are starting to become very anxious about the pandemic but we have to also look beyond this to broader coverage for systemic risks. There are new opportunities to think how solutions can be created, perhaps through public-private partnerships,” he said. “I personally find this a very exciting time, a chance to rethink what we do and how we do it. The key will be to work out the new public-private partnerships but also to get closer together to manage the risks well and anticipate the next risk. A digital pandemic could be the next such risk and this is a question not of if it hits us, but when,” added Mr Buberl. Mr Baron would also like to see a strategic approach from governments to help properly identify, measure and manage risk. He suggested that associations such as Parima need to engage with governments and offer their help. Other risk management leaders such as John Ludlow, CEO of UK risk management association Airmic, have also made this logical call since the pandemic arrived. “The way the world has reacted and evolved highlights the lack of risk management planning at government level, and this is a key thing to address. I would like to see governments in the Asia-Pacific region reach out to Parima, asking how to build up risk management capabilities. This is the main challenge for companies and governments: how to manage these long-term challenges. We have to invest in resilience and managing long-term risks to protect the population and communities. I think there is a lot to be done,” said Mr Baron.

Buberl calls for focus on public-private partnership for systemic risk

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