THE SPECIFICITIES OF THE TRADITIONAL (RE)INSURANCE BUSINESS MODEL SHOULD BE BETTER
RECOGNIZED
Projected IAIS/FSB methodology for assessing systemic risk in the (re)insurance
sector (IAIS, 2012a) runs the risk of failing, to a certain extent, to fully apprehend the
specificities of the traditional (re)insurance business model. Even though it appears
that fundamental business model differences between banks and (re)insurers will be
recognized, too much emphasis is likely to be placed on the absolute size of
institutions, which is a problem because what actually generates systemic risk is not
size per se but undiversified size. Crude size measures ignore (re)insurance specificities
such as geographically and economically diversified exposures and effective risk
pulverization mechanisms. More consideration should be given to the way in which a
single reinsurer pulverizes its risks through retrocession, securitization and an able
diversification strategy across sectors and countries. Moreover, the IAIS/FSB
methodology should not neglect the timing factor. The speed of propagation is
key in terms of generating systemic risk, which means that the long-term nature of
reinsurance activities is a highly mitigating factor that should be fully taken into
account.