Dan Glaser, chairman and CEO of Marsh, in remarks delivered to a group of insurance industry leaders today, encouraged them to view today's challenging environment as an opportunity for differentiation, innovation and the creation of long-term value.

In a speech delivered at InsiderScope 2010 New York, sponsored by The Insurance Insider, Mr. Glaser described the multiple challenges facing the risk management and insurance communities today. This includes "an age of relentless acceleration," characterized by a level of interconnectedness, shifting centers of power and influence, and volatility in which a single event can have an indelible impact on the macro environment.

In this environment, Mr. Glaser noted a focus today among insurers on intense price competition, and an opportunity for insurers to better serve their clients by engaging in "broader based competition." Such an approach would mean more enhanced product innovation, service performance, quality of capital, policy breadth and clarity, and depth and quality of personnel. Further, it would entail the application of meaningful technologies enabling superior data-driven business decisions, Mr. Glaser said.

"It's not easy to execute," said Mr. Glaser, "but strategies based upon innovative products and differentiated, high quality service, combined with competitive pricing, may offer better value for clients and more value in the long run for the insurance industry as a whole."

This would further the industry's "superb track record of innovation," which, Mr. Glaser noted, includes development of numerous products in response to changing regulatory and business needs, such as directors & officers liability, environmental liability, cyber risks, and terrorism insurance.

Mr. Glaser also commented on the rewards of risk-taking, noting that "reward and risk are bound together." For individual enterprises, these rewards can include revenue growth, increased market share, territorial expansion, and diversification; for the global economy, Mr. Glaser said, risk and the insurance industry are "integral and essential to the flow of commerce and the regeneration of the world's productive prowess."