International co-operation is critical if terrorism pools are to develop effective coverage and mitigation strategies, according to Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation CEO Chris Wallace.

He told the inaugural International Forum for Terrorism Risk (Re)insurance Pools conference in Paris that terrorism is a global issue and constantly evolving.

“We must remain at the forefront of global efforts to meet the challenges, including appropriate coverage and mitigation strategies,” Dr Wallace said.

“Maintaining excellent working relationships with our global terrorism pools, so we can share knowledge, insights and best practice, is a key part of this.”

Forum Chairman Francois Vilnet agreed, saying the need for international co-operation “has never been more acute” to prevent, mitigate and cover “horrific incidents”.

The conference, attended by 14 terrorism pools, was hosted by French pool GAREAT, the Federation Francaise de l’Assurance and the French Government-owned reinsurer CCR.

Julian Enoizi, CEO of the UK’s Pool Re, says uniting reinsurance pools’ collective expertise would drive innovation in terrorism coverage.

Topics discussed at the conference included non-conventional terrorism – referred to as “hyper-terrorism” – gaps in terrorism coverage, the role of public-private partnerships in risk management and terrorism (re)insurance, innovation in modelling and alternative methods of transferring terrorism risk, and the status of various pool models.