The market for micro-insurance in 10 years is projected to be up to $50 billion, he added, which can make a “huge difference. A small amount of money at the right time.”

Five additional risks that bear watching, Mr. Karl said, are:

• Cyber security—issues ranging from the growing trend of cyber theft to the little-understood possibility of cyber warfare.
• Demographic challenges—high population growth is a general issue, he said, noting that the insurance industry has products such as life insurance and other products to help an aging population.
• Resource security issues, which cause extreme volatility and sustained increases over the long term in energy and commodity prices if supply is no longer able to keep up with demand.
• Retrenchment from globalization—trying to avoid, politically, companies setting up barriers to trade. This is coming, he said, not only from emerging markets but more and more from developed economies faced with rising unemployment.
• Weapons of mass destruction—especially the possibility of renewed proliferation between countries.

A large and important aspect of what happens during the World Economic Forum, he said, is raising awareness and making connections.

“For many of these risks, one of the areas of real value is private/public partnerships,” he said. “You can't develop a micro-insurance line if you don't have the cooperation of the government and the regulatory authority.”