The impact of the death of Osama bin Laden, the state of the property/ casualty insurance industry and the outlook for merger and acquisition in the brokerage sector all received an airing during a wide- ranging panel discussion involving senior industry executives Tuesday.

The discussion, which took place at the Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc’s annual conference in Vancouver, also touched on such subjects as the industry’s ability to recruit talent and the role of social media. The discussion featured two panels, with one made up of insurer executives and the other, brokerage leaders. Rather than present formal addresses, members of both panels responded to questions from the audience,

The death of Osama bin Laden means that everyone should be concerned about retaliatory attacks, said John Q. Doyle, CEO-global commercial insurance at the Chartis Inc. unit of American International Group Inc.. Michael Kerner, CEO of Zurich Global Corporate in North America, agreed, saying the al-Qaeda leader’s death will lead to heightened security and possible retaliatory attacks, perhaps overseas.

He said that supporters of the federal government’s terrorism insurance backstop, which was created by the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, need to start working soon on getting Congress to extend the backstop, which is slated to expire in 2014.

Another area addressed by the insurer panel was the impact of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Shivan Subramaniam, chairman and CEO of Johnston, R.I.-based Factory Mutual Insurance Co., which does business as FM Global, said he did not think the act would impact the insurer/risk manager relationship.

But both Mr. Kerner and Seraina Maag, chief executive, North America, at XL Insurance America Inc., expressed concern over how insurers would be affected by the act’s requirement that systemically risky enterprises be subject to greater regulation. Ms. Maag noted the definition of a systemic risk has not been determined, and Mr. Kerner cautioned that risk managers would not view an insurer being deemed systemically risky as a “good thing.”

David Bradford, executive vp of New York-based Advisen Ltd., began the discussion by describing the current state of the insurance industry. He said it continues to feel the impact of the recession, which has meant fewer exposure units to insure, lowered written premiums but higher policyholder surplus, and insurers competing for a piece of a shrinking pie. The current recovery is beginning to fuel demand, but the recovery is still “pretty anemic,” he said.

“It appears we have reached the trough of the cycle,” but considerable capacity remains, he said.

In the brokerage sector, the health care reform act will spur more merger and acquisition activity because the law will make it more difficult for small brokers to compete, said J. Patrick Gallagher Jr., chairman, president and CEO of Itasca, Ill.-based Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Neal J. Aton, president and CEO of Chicago-based Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA Inc., also predicted more consolidation as smaller brokers find it difficult to grapple with customers’ concerns about the new law.

Stephen McGill, chairman and CEO of Aon Risk Solutions, noted that Aon has made more than 400 acquisitions in a little more than 20 years, and plans to continue doing so.

Both brokers and insurers stressed the importance of recruiting new talent to the industry.

Alan Garner, president and CEO of Toronto-based Marsh Canada Ltd., stressed the importance of internships in developing talent, as did several other speakers. Mr. Gallagher said the industry must get the word out to younger people that “this is the business you want to be in.”

The insurer panel also discussed the possibility that new technology, such as social media, would lead to diminished face-to-face interaction, particularly among younger people.

Ms. Maag said that XL is trying to foster a much more open and collaborative environment and is making a considerable investment in technology to attract young people.

Mr. Subramaniam added that he thought the new technologies actually facilitate face-to-face interaction.