Nicole Bohannon

Lloyd’s and ASP Risk Forum – The Way Forward: How to Build Resiliency

Posted By Nicole Bohannon on Feb 26, 2016

PANELISTS

Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Executive Director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, Wharton

Sean McGovern, Chief Risk Officer & General Counsel, Lloyd’s

Charles Rath, President and CEO, Resilient Solutions 21

Josh Sawislak, Global Director of Resilience, AECOM

Moderator : BGen. Stephen A. Cheney, USMC (Ret.), CEO, ASP

On February 17, the American Security Project, in partnership with Lloyd’s of London, JLT, and Risk Cooperative, hosted the Risk Forum: Pathways to City Resilience. The event brought together leading policymakers, business leaders, and regulators to discuss the potential uses and benefits of Lloyd’s City Risk Index, as well as share best practices and insights.

The third and final panel, The Way Forward: How to Build Resiliency, which explored long-range ideas for incorporating resilience in public policy and the private sector. The first expert, Erwann Michel-Kerjan, Executive Director of the Risk Management and Decision Processes Center at the Wharton School of Business, spoke on how the current finance institutions are only investing in short low risk investments, but we need exactly the opposite of that to build true resiliency. Chief Risk Officer & General Counsel at Lloyd’s Sean McGovern helped frame the discussion with important statistics to understand how cities bounce back from disasters. For example, Hurricane Katrina caused $135 billion, and $45 billion of that was internationally insured, having a far-reaching effect that is becoming more common nowadays. In fact, McGovern estimated that 60% of catastrophic events are exported to the international insurance sector.

Adding onto that, Josh Sawislak, the Global Director of Resilience for AECOM, lamented that neither private nor public investment happens before the disaster strikes. “[People] should be scared of these events,” he said, “and we have to help them realize that no matter what, they’re going to end up paying for it anyways.” The final speaker, President and CEO Charles Rath of Resilient Solutions 21 said that, even with the staggering statistics, cities are still struggling to answer the question “Who’s going to pay for it?” Cities that are successful in becoming resilient, he said, will be those who can communicate the co-benefits of investing in resiliency.

See the remarks made at the panel: