Swiss Re International's second annual risk management forum brings more than 50 German and Austrian in-house brokers and experts together to discuss major economic trends, as well as risk landscape developments.

Will increased government spending cuts and taxes overshadow the outlook for industry sales in Germany? Will climate change require increased risk management attention? What approaches exist to adequately assess casualty exposure?

These were just three of the many questions central to risk management which triggered a lively discussion at Swiss Re International's FORM 2010, an exclusive forum aimed at German and Austrian in-house brokers and held in Frankfurt and Munich on 30 June and 6 July, respectively. Focusing on the theme "Losses: potentials – scenarios – analysis," this year's discussion panel format encouraged maximum interaction between participants and speakers.

Swiss Re Chief Economist Thomas Hess opened the event with an analysis of the current economic situation from both a European and global perspective. According to him, while a year ago governments were the lender of last resort, today they need to take major action to balance their budgets.

"Drastic spending cuts will have a major impact on economic growth and thus on industry," Mr. Hess said. "Germany, however, is still faring relatively well, with exports benefiting from the lower value of the euro. The economic outlook for the German manufacturing industry is therefore relatively positive."

The impact of climate change, and weather phenomena in particular, on risk management was the topic of Dr. Ulrich Ebel. During his presentation, the Swiss Re Natural Hazards expert explained to the participants the company's approach to assessing climate-related risks and shared his thoughts on where he sees major exposures in the future.

"A sound understanding of the changes in exposure to natural catastrophes is not only a prerequisite for insurance business; it affects any enterprise taking a long-term perspective since the cost of losses and structural measures may be considerable," Dr. Ulrich said.

Exposure was also the focus of another session focusing on how casualty exposure can be meaningfully quantified. Given the seemingly elusive nature of this exposure, sums insured or deductibles are often determined by buying the same as the fellow market. Swiss Re's Daniel Andris and Reto Schneider demonstrated to the participants that, despite the difficulties associated with quantification, experience and a structured approach allow the key exposure parameters to be quantified approximately and thus provide guidance in assessing casualty exposure and programme structures. On both the casualty and property side, Swiss Re International offers its clients the option of continuing the discussion tailored to the situation on their respective risk landscapes.

The two FORM 2010 sessions in Frankfurt and Munich were sealed with a dinner hosted by Wolfgang Gemünd, Senior Client Manager Germany and Austria.

"We have enjoyed the open and interactive exchange we had at 2010 FORM and are looking forward to continuing with this dialogue as it offers us a promising way of elaborating on the current situation we are facing as an industry and – above all -- listening to what's on our clients' minds." Mr. Gemünd said in his closing remarks.