'Black swans' are highly unlikely and relatively unforeseeable events with potentially extreme adverse consequences. There's a benefit to brainstorming these scenarios along with possible risk mitigation and response tactics. (ALM Media archives) 'Black swans' are highly unlikely and relatively unforeseeable events with potentially extreme adverse consequences. There's a benefit to brainstorming these scenarios along with possible risk mitigation and response tactics. (ALM Media archives)

Imagine if only a couple months ago you had told colleagues that life as we know it was about to be ransacked by a pandemic. It probably would have elicited little more than the same "I suppose it's possible" response, as any earlier prognostications of airplanes crashing into buildings, earthquakes causing a tsunami leading to a nuclear catastrophe, or a near-collapse of the global financial system.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Agency Technology
Loss Control