Today We Launch for New World

Today in the U.S. we observe Columbus Day. The day set aside to recognize the landing in the 'New World' by Christopher Columbus in 1492. Today with the launching of this blog, I am hoping to help others discover that far too many businesses in the U.S. have risks beyond the borders, and do nothing to address these exposures.

This is not a new phenomenon. For many years, sellers of insurance products in the U.S. only recognized the obvious, domestic exposures. In fact, in discussions I have had with businesses over the years, they would tell me that only companies like Coca-Cola, UPS, Microsoft and other Fortune 500 companies need to address international insurance. The fact is that in a 2006 survey of businesses conducted by Grant Thornton, 56% of businesses viewed Globalization as an opportunity; 46% admitted to already selling product internationally; and another 3% have plans to sell product internationally. (For complete survey, Click Here) Unfortunately, many businesses, when assessing their exposures to risks, do not even stop and ask themselves the simple questions that would uncover their 'international' exposures.

The main purpose of this blog is to foster a discussion on issues from around the world that may, or may not impact your business. I want this site to evolve into a dynamic conversation on a wide range of risk exposures, including but not limited to, Product Liability, Professional Liability, Property exposures, Insurance Premium Taxes, Kidnap & Extortion, and their possible solutions. Some will be addressed by insurance products available in the marketplace, and other solutions will describe actions businesses can take to avoid or control their risks.

There are many well-informed professionals in the international insurance business working closely with multinational firms. These people are friends and colleagues of mine and share my passion in seeing a tipping point reached where the discussions on the exposures facing a company traveling to Mexico are as commonplace as the discussions about a company's Workers Compensation. It is from that passion this blog was created.