AS HURRICANE season gets into full swing, all segments of the insurance business are speculating about what may lie ahead and how the industry will respond. At the American Association of Managing General Agents' annual convention, which was held in May on Maui, in the Hawaiian Islands, the issue dominated a press conference attended by the association's executives. Those taking part were Francis Johnson, president of Johnson & Johnson Inc. in Charleston, S.C., who wrapped up his term at the meeting; Scott M. Anderson, CIW, CIC, CPCU, executive vice president of Concorde General Agency in Fargo, N.D., AAMGA's new president; and Thomas K. Albrecht, president of The Barclay Agency in Montgomery, Ala., and the association's president-elect. Also on hand was Bernd G. (“Bernie”) Heinze, Esq., AAMGA's executive director. Following are their edited comments concerning hurricanes and other matters.

oOn the state of the market for property coverage in coastal areas, as a new hurricane season progresses.

Johnson: I agree we have a crisis. The first reaction to last year's hurricanes from a lot of carriers has been to withdraw. But historically following such catastrophes, insurers have come back over time–and generally that's because of our prodding and trying to convince them that they can come back and find a way to do so profitably. We can't do that overnight, because the past hurricane season was pretty severe.