Aon Risk Services CEO Steve Nevett wants the industry to improve its response to fire, flood and pestilence. And he says companies must ensure their risk management strategies are up to scratch as the recession spreads.

“The thing that saved us from the global financial crisis tsunami was the collapse of HIH,” he told the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) annual Victorian luncheon on Friday. “Managing risk is so important. Just ask the guys at AIG Financial Products.”

Mr Nevett says there is no doubt climate change is having its impact now. And with more cyclones, drought, floods, rising sea levels and rising claims, it’s important for the industry to learn from catastrophe events.

“The industry should be celebrated for its response to Black Saturday,” he said. “But there were still a lot of problems around temporary accommodation and the ‘stay and defend or go early’ policy.

“While we have learnt our lessons in past events we didn’t carry them forward. Very few of these things are new.”

ANZIIF CEO Joan Fitzpatrick used the charity-raising event to congratulate the industry for the way it helped the victims of the Victorian bushfires.

“I am immensely proud of the companies in the industry and their immediate response to the needs of victims,” she said. “They worked very hard for people to deliver a great service.”