I'm at the 19th Annual World Captive Forum in Bonita Springs, Fla., where Zurich Global Corporate CEO Mario Vitale offered some interesting thoughts in his keynote presentation this morning.

Among the perspectives Mr. Vitale presented was the notion that many global businesses are too large to be served adequately by insurers that might be forced to reduce their scale by efforts to address problems posed in the financial crisis by companies deemed “too big to fail.”

“We simply can't expect small insurers to meet the needs of large customers operating in all corners of the world,” Mr. Vitale said. Like it or not, he said, large financial institutions are necessary, and the “too big to fail” issue must be solved without limiting the size of financial institutions.

As for captives, Mr. Vitale said the alternative risk transfer mechanisms play “a very important role in the utilization of capital” in insurance. And, he said, the captive insurance industry also plays a vital part in driving innovation in the traditional insurance market.

“I think the captive insurance industry is pushing us all and should push us to develop new products and services,” he said.