AIG Exec Defends Company Amid Soft Market Discussion

An executive with an American International Group subsidiary denied suggestions today that the company is holding onto business by engaging in aggressive price cutting that is prolonging the property-casualty soft market

John Q. Doyle, president and CEO, AIG Commercial Insurance, made his remarks during a panel discussion at the 20th Annual Executive Conference for the Property-Casualty Industry presented by National Underwriter Company and sponsored by Ernst & Young and Dewey & LeBoef.

Mr. Doyle said he was curious that AIG is being singled out when his company’s top line was down seven percent during the third quarter. Some companies criticizing AIG, he said, had increased their top line during the quarter.

Panel moderator Sam Friedman, editor-in-chief of National Underwriter, said the industry has sent mixed signals regarding the soft market.

Some participants, he said, indicate that pricing is beginning to harden, while others have singled out AIG for driving prices down as it attempts to hold on to business and combat damage to its reputation by pricing aggressively.

Mr. Friedman noted that it is odd to hear some in the industry single out one competitor, rather than speaking broadly about the market.

Mr. Doyle remarked that there seems to be “no shortage of experts” in the industry regarding what is going on at AIG. He added that while challenges at the parent company have inflicted some brand damage, the strengths of AIG Commercial remains the same.

Regarding the state of the market, the experts on the panel did not share a consensus on whether the soft market has come to an end.

Mr. Doyle said pricing is still down, but there has been modest improvement since early July. He explained that there is still no shortage of capacity in many lines, adding that as capacity leaves, or as consolidation occurs, prices will move.

George Fay, executive vice president, Worldwide Property-Casualty for CNA, said he has met with producers, and they indicated that prices are already stabilizing, and cited some lines where prices are rising. He said producers are already telling customers to expect increases, and they also said the market will likely harden over the next six months.

Stanley A. Galanski, president and chief executive officer, The Navigators Group, Inc., said he was not as optimistic that the end of the soft market is here, but he added the industry is getting closer.

The executives mentioned access to capital as one area of potential concern going forward. Mr. Friedman noted that AIG, The Hartford and CNA are among insurers that have gotten a capital infusion of some sort, and he questioned where the industry will get capital from in the future.

Mr. Doyle noted that AIG’s p-c outlets have not needed to access the capital that the parent company received, but he said inability to raise capital could change the market very quickly if a catastrophe event were to take place.

Determining how much capital insurers have is difficult, Mr. Galanski noted, given the state of the debt markets.

Mr. Galanski also shared some lessons learned during the recent financial struggles. He said companies should:

• Understand that underwriting matters.

• Not underwrite what they do not understand.

• Understand the downside of risks.

• Understand that a handful of people can destroy a major company that took years to build.

• Understand that size does not necessarily equal strength.

At a separate discussion at the conference, Pierre L. Ozendo, member of the executive board, chairman, and chief executive officer of Swiss Re American Corporation said the industry will emerge from the current financial problems, but it may be at the cost of some companies failing.

He stressed that companies need to manage capital for preservation, that solvency and security matter, and that risk management and risk modeling need to become competencies for all financial firms. He added that the economics of the industry remain sound, but challenged, and said the underlying strength of the industry would prevail.

All panelists agreed that sound underwriting is a must for the industry to weather the current environment.