Every day, we get more evidence that 2011 is the worst disaster year the world on record.
Turkey is still digging out from a tragic earthquake that has reportedly killed more than 420 people.
Thailand is awash with floodwaters that have reportedly killed more than 350.
And now Ireland’s capital city has suffered a flash flood that reportedly killed two and stranded many Dubliners.
Today at 10:20 a.m. Pacific time, many Californians participated in the Great California ShakeOut, a state-wide drill that helps people and organizations be better prepared for major earthquakes. Wherever they were at that moment this morning, those who participated practiced the drop, cover and hold on technique as if there were a major earthquake occurring at that moment.
In an article I penned in the October issue of Risk Management, I summed up the history of this gargantuan drill.
Started in 2008, the Great California ShakeOut began as the Great Southern California ShakeOut — an effort by scientists and emergency managers to inform the public about earthquake preparedness. The drill was based on the ShakeOut Scenario, a comprehensive description of the destruction a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on the San Andreas fault would cause in Southern California, which was organized by the United States Geological Survey’s Multi-Hazards Demonstration Project. In 2008, the ShakeOut became the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history with 5.4 million participants spanning eight counties in Southern California. This year, more than eight million are expected to participate in California alone with Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia practicing the “drop, cover and hold on” technique as well.
The drill has since spread to Japan, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Alaska, Turkey and Chile. Below is a video produced by the Great California ShakeOut team showing the exact drill millions followed this morning.
Welcome to the newest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk (CoR), in which we feature relevant and timely blog posts covering topics from small business risk management to fire and flood insurance to medical misadventures. These posts, and their authors, offer up unique and informative posts on all things risk management and insurance. Enjoy.
The next Cavalcade of Risk host is Jaan Sidorov at the always informative and interesting Disease Care Management Blog. Don’t forget to check out the next batch of blog posts on his site.
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It’s not a good time to be a reinsurer. These companies, which essentially offer insurance for insurance, often bear the brunt of natural disasters. And 2011 has been the worst catastrophe year in history by some measures. Just look at the graphic above, courtesy of the Insurance Information Institute, for proof. Add in the fact that investment returns, traditionally a windfall for these heavily capitalized reinsurers, have been sluggish and volatile since the market meltdown in 2008 and things could be better.
Still, plenty of companies are doing A-OK. Just look at the list below.
From AM Best, these are the 50 largest reinsurers in terms of gross premiums written in 2010 (in millions).
1. Munich Reinsurance Company—$31,280
2. Swiss Reinsurance Company Limited—24,756
3. Hannover Rueckversicherung AG—15,147
4. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. —14,374
5. Lloyd’s—12,977
6. SCOR S.E. — 8,872
7. Reinsurance Group of America Inc. — 7,201
8. Allianz S.E. — 5,736
9. PartnerRe Ltd.— 4,881
10. Everest Re Group Ltd. —4,201
11. Transatlantic Holdings Inc. —4,133
12. Korean Reinsurance Company —4,114
13. China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation —3,796
14. London Reinsurance Group Inc. —3,266
15. MAPFRE RE, Compania de Reaseguros, S.A. —3,143
16. General Insurance Corporation of India —2,573
17. Assicurazioni Generali SpA —2,463
18. AEGON N.V. —2,391
19. QBE Insurance Group Limited —2,280
20. XL Group plc—2,255
21. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.—2,206
22. The Toa Reinsurance Company Limited—2,021
23. Axis Capital Holdings Limited—1,834
24. Caisse Centrale de Reassurance—1,814
25. Odyssey Re Holdings Corp.—1,625
26. Tokio Marine Holdings Inc.—1,466
27. Catlin Group Limited—1,290
28. RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd.—1,165
29. Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited—1,162
30. ACE Limited—1,146
31. Validus Holdings Ltd.—1,101
32. Flagstone Reinsurance aHoldings Limited—1,098
33. White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd.—1,079
34. Amlin plc—1,004
35. Manulife Financial Corporation—972
36. American Agricultural Insurance Company—941
37. Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd.—941
38. Alterra Capital Holdings Ltd.—892
39. Arch Capital Group Ltd.—875
40. IRB – Brasil Resseguros S.A.—780
41. Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd.—780
42. ACR Capital Holdings Pte, Ltd.—752
43. Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd.—720
44. NKSJ Holdings Inc.—690
45. Ariel Holdings Ltd.—644
46. Sun Life Financial Inc.—554
47. Maiden Holdings Ltd.—554
48. Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, AG—524
49. Central Reinsurance Corporation—457
50. W. R. Berkley Corporation—425