'Shakeouts' Bring Efficiency To Industry

The head of a global insurance group declared today that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were, from one standpoint, a plus for the insurance business. The attacks were one of those events that from time to time occur and create "shakeouts, which the industry kind of needs to make it efficient," declared Rolf Huppi, chairman and chief executive officer of Zurich Financial Services Group. "I believe the industry will be resilient," Mr. Huppi said. "It will adapt and adapt quite well." The boss of the Swiss insurance operation made his comments today at the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Conference in New York on managing change and competing amidst global consolidation. He noted that every 10 years the industry is faced with an event that creates a major loss.