Articles by Natasha Rausch

Beach Town Developers Now Believe in Stronger Building Codes, Construction

Developer Jeff Lamkin knew the risks when he paid $250 million for 63 acres of an island off the Texas coast. But he saw only upside in the quaint little beach town of Port Aransas. Over the next 10 years …

Auto Insurance Broker Confie Battles JC Flowers Over Failed Acquisition

It took just 78 days for a deal involving billionaire J. Christopher Flowers to blow up. Confie Seguros Holding II Co., an owner of auto-insurance brokerages that cater to Hispanic drivers with spotty credit, paid $100 million for another brokerage …

Group Led by Yunfeng Financial to Buy MassMutual’s Asia Unit for $1.7B

A group led by Yunfeng Financial Group Ltd., the company backed by billionaire Jack Ma, agreed to buy an Asian unit from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. to add insurance products to the array of financial services it offers to …

National General Says It Acted Properly in Wells Fargo Insurance Business

National General Holdings Corp., the auto insurer that picked up business from Wells Fargo & Co. customers who didn’t realize they were buying the coverage, said it acted appropriately. “We believe that our practices in this highly regulated industry are …

AIG Discloses It Could Face Claims from London’s Grenfell Tower Fire

American International Group Inc., the provider of commercial insurance, told regulators it could face claims costs from the Grenfell Tower fire that killed dozens of people in June in London. “Our net exposure to loss on this event is currently …

AIG Joins Other Insurers in Moving Away from Financial Forecasts

Brian Duperreault, the new chief executive officer of American International Group Inc., said the company will scale back the projections it provides to Wall Street after his predecessors were burned by goals that proved unattainable. “Going forward, we will no …

Teen Drivers Become More Daring After Few Years Behind Wheel

U.S. teenagers are more reckless after their first few years of driving, often becoming overconfident in their abilities and putting themselves at higher risk for accidents, a new study shows. More than half of high school seniors have car accidents …

Opioids, Distracted Driving Cited in Rise of Preventable Accidents

More than 130,000 Americans are killed annually by preventable causes, and the number has been climbing at a faster rate recently because of opioid abuse and car crashes involving drivers distracted by mobile devices. The death count jumped more than …