Crucial Trip Abroad

To ensure proper coverage for some of our highest profile properties, Vincent Sultana, Supervisory Services Vice President, made a special trip to London with Wien & Malkin's longtime risk services consulting and brokerage team from Aon Risk Services.

Armed with carefully prepared maximum loss scenarios supported by computer models, Mr. Sultana and his team personally visited the London markets and met with dozens of insurance underwriters to provide an accurate picture of the portfolio's risks and requirements.

"The problem we spotted early on is that a shortage of reinsurance capacity, together with uncertainty surrounding the potential expiration of the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) on December 31, 2005, has caused insurers to allocate their capacity for 'all risk' coverage in New York."

Frank Discussions Help

Mr. Sultana adds: "We held open and frank discussions, and the underwriting community came away with confidence that they had acquired a solid understanding of how to properly price the protection we need. As a result, we will have sufficient coverage, with or without TRIA, and at a lower cost."

Mr. Sultana notes that Wien & Malkin supports an extension of TRIA and is working closely with the Real Estate Board of New York's Washington lobbying program to encourage the continuation of the legislation beyond 2005. Investors interested in voicing their support for the extension of TRIA should write to their Senators and Representatives in Washington, D.C. (for addresses visit www.congress.org).