Warren Buffett asks: Does anyone truly know how to write Cyber policies?

Buffett said he’s fine with writing some cyber policies, but doesn’t want to be among the top three in the industry.

Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., center, tours the shopping floor ahead of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday, May 5, 2018. The rules, which require Berkshire to report unrealized gains or losses in equity investments in net income, helped fuel a $1.14 billion loss at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in the first quarter. (Photo: David Williams/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) – Warren Buffett said he doesn’t want Berkshire Hathaway Inc. being a leader on cyber insurance because neither he nor others in the industry really know the risk.

“I don’t think we or anybody else really knows what they’re doing when writing cyber” insurance, Buffett said Saturday at his firm’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. “We don’t want to be a pioneer on this.”

Chance of super catastrophe

Buffett said that cyber risk is part of his estimate that every year carries about a 2% chance of a super catastrophe that would cause $400 billion or more of insured losses. While that kind of disaster will wipe out many companies, Berkshire will aim to keep its exposure low enough to remain profitable in such a year, the 87-year-old chairman said.

Buffett said he’s fine with writing some cyber policies to remain competitive, but doesn’t want to be among the top three in the industry. Anyone who claims to know the base case or worst case for losses is “kidding themselves,” he said.

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