Les Hayward, managing director in the Boston office of insurance brokerage giant Marsh Inc., says a terrorist plot to blow up US-bound airplanes using liquid explosives has not set off a widespread buying spree by firms concerned over becoming a target of terrorists.

"We've not seen a knee-jerk reaction either on the market's part or on the client's part," Hayward says. "I think this latest incident shows how good our global anti-terrorism network actually is. If I were an underwriter, I'd take some solace in knowing that we beat them this time."

Ironically, Boston, which has had no terrorist incidents, leads the nation when it comes to terrorism insurance. According to a study prepared by Marsh, Boston businesses took out more terrorism insurance than their counterparts in either New York or Washington, DC, both targets of a terrorist attack on Sept. 11. The study found that 80% of Marsh's large and mid-sized clients in Greater Boston took out terrorism coverage in 2005. That was a 10% increase over the prior year and the highest of 10 US cities surveyed by Marsh. In contrast, only 71% of Marsh's clients in New York and 70% of its Washington clients took out the coverage last year.