Introduction

The importance of insurance as a global security technology cannot be overstated. In 2007, over $US4 trillion was spent on insurance premiums worldwide.1 That figure corresponded to 9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of industrialized countries and 7.5 per cent of the world’s GDP. It was more than three times the global defence expenditure for the same year.2 In the case of the European Union (EU) the insurance-defence expenditure ratio was 6.7. With $US18.5 trillion of assets under management, or 11 per cent of global financial assets, the insurance industry is the world’s largest economic industry.3