400, sure, first things first, are we comparing apples with apples? Without needing to divest sensitive information I would hazard an educated guess with respect to what you were told.
1. The CP was a bull**** artist (They do seem to gravitate to management positions)
2. The CP was told this by someone further up the food chain.
3. You are merely ignorant of the way the insurance industry operates, and choose to believe what you want.
There are numerous examples relating to experience levels and operating environments where airline operators have been compelled to employ persons with experience levels that insurance companies have stipulated so that these operators can continue to operate various services, lower down in the risk matrix overall operational experience is most certainly assessed and categorised, how do I know you ask? I worked on contract in one such place and had detailed dealings with both the contract agency and the insurance auditors. I maintain this contact to this day with the insurance industry to the point that, shortly, I will be operating a machine owned by one of the larger global players. So no, I'm not speculating