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Aon Benfield launches its 13th Hazards Conference in Australia next week
350+ delegates expected on 22-24 September in the Gold Coast, Australia

GOLD COAST, 16 September 2013 – Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon plc (NYSE:AON), is hosting its 13th Biennial Hazards Conference in Australia next week from 22 to 24 September with the theme of ‘Think Outside the Risk’.

The Hazards Conference aims to stimulate thinking among delegates about big picture trends - beyond the traditional types of risk the industry is familiar with like cyclones or earthquakes. The conference also considers the measurement and mitigation of these increasingly complex sources of risk facing insurers in today's rapidly changing world.

Conference topics include:

-The impact of low probability, high consequence events including geomagnetic storms, pandemics and or a major disruption in food supply – Aon Benfield

-Characteristics and Consequences of a 1000-Year Volcanic Eruption – Earth Observatory, Singapore

-Enterprise Risk Management for Extreme Events – Coca-Cola Amatil, Australia

-Cyber Risks – Implications for the Insurance Industry – SwissRe, China

The sessions are delivered by leading experts from academia, the insurance industry, government and the corporate world. One of the keynote speakers is Professor Warwick J. McKibbin, who has a Vice Chancellors Chair in Public Policy at the Australian National University with over 200 published academic papers. His presentation will explore insights from a global economic model that is used for scenario analysis by major corporations and governments. In particular he will focus on the crisis in Europe, Japanese policy reform and the global implications of the US recovery.

Robert De Souza, President APAC/CEO Australia & New Zealand and conference host, commented: “In recent years a number of events have surprised risk managers. Some of these exposed limitations in modeling capabilities, such as the Thailand Floods, while others have been driven by rapidly changing technology, such as cybercrime. Many new types of risk are arising from the combination of traditional perils like earthquake with our increasingly technological and interdependent society. The 2011 Japan earthquake is an example, which triggered a series of secondary effects that generated losses in ways few imagined before the event. This rapidly evolving risk landscape has led us to develop this year’s theme: Think Outside the Risk.”

Malcolm Steingold, Chief Executive Officer, Asia Pacific for Aon Benfield, added:  “The conference is also a catalyst for discussion on the nature of risks facing the insurance industry in our region of Asia Pacific. Understanding the change in demographics and economic drivers is critical when considering new insurance and reinsurance opportunities and planning how to manage that risk to enable profitable growth. Moving forward, effective risk management will entail a combination of advanced modelling tools and qualitative processes to identify risks not properly reflected in quantitative analysis.”

The Hazards Conference has been held every two years since 1989 and the interaction between practice and research has been its hallmark for over two decades.

 

Ends

About Aon Benfield

Aon Benfield, a division of Aon plc, is the world’s leading reinsurance intermediary and full-service capital advisor. We empower our clients to better understand, manage and transfer risk through innovative solutions and personalized access to all forms of global reinsurance capital across treaty, facultative and capital markets. As a trusted advocate, we deliver local reach to the world’s markets, an unparalleled investment in innovative analytics, including catastrophe management, actuarial and rating agency advisory. Through our professionals’ expertise and experience, we advise clients in making optimal capital choices that will empower results and improve operational effectiveness for their business. With more than 80 offices in 50 countries, our worldwide client base has access to the broadest portfolio of integrated capital solutions and services. To learn how Aon Benfield helps empower results, please visit aonbenfield.com.

About Aon

Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage, and human resources solutions and outsourcing services. Through its more than 65,000 colleagues worldwide, Aon unites to empower results for clients in over 120 countries via innovative and effective risk and people solutions and through industry-leading global resources and technical expertise. Aon has been named repeatedly as the world’s best broker, best insurance intermediary, reinsurance intermediary, captives manager and best employee benefits consulting firm by multiple industry sources. Visit www.aon.com for more information on Aon and www.aon.com/manchesterunited to learn about Aon’s global partnership and shirt sponsorship with Manchester United.

 

Media Contacts:

David Bogg
Aon Benfield
+44 (0)20 7522 401
david.bogg@aonbenfield.com

Andrew Wragg
Aon Benfield
+44 (0)20 7522 8183
andrew.wragg@aonbenfield.com

Alexandra Lewis
Aon Benfield
+44 (0)20 7882 0541
alexandra.lewis@aonbenfield.com

 

          

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