JLT Says Worst Rate Slump Since 2001 Led to`Naive’ Risk

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group Plc’s Dominic Burke said the worst slump in prices for insurance policies since Sept. 11, 2001 has led some insurers to take on too much risk to win business.

Burke, the chief executive officer of the U.K.’s biggest publicly traded insurance broker, said that some companies were accepting a return on capital of as low as 5 percent to 6 percent to increase growth. That compares with a normal average of 12 percent to 13 percent.