Features

A North/South Approach

Renting or buying a boat and keeping it in a storage facility in states like Florida is pricey, adding up to a few thousand dollars in monthly rent, sometimes equaling the cost of a high-end boat itself. For those boat …

Compensation Trends Reshaping Client Service Salaries Within Insurance Agencies

After numerous requests for insurance industry compensation information, our team at Capstone started to track and analyze compensation data derived from our recruiting activities. Our most recent report came out in February 2024 with a seven-year look back on compensation …

The Future of Insurance Agencies

There is a traditional proclamation made following the accession of a new monarch in various countries that simultaneously announces the death of the previous monarch and asserts continuity by saluting the new monarch. “The king is dead; long live the …

What Is Insurance?

Based on the last 126 insurance commercials I’ve watched, I wouldn’t have a clue. I saw one insurance commercial the other night that did not even include the word “insurance” in the script other than the carrier’s name. Most people …

Supreme Court Opinion on Maritime Law Solidifies Insurer’s Choice-of-Law Clause

A dispute between an insurer and a yacht owner that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in a decision — the first of its kind on marine insurance in about 70 years — to clarify federal …

How to Sell Yacht Insurance Amidst a Rising Tide

The market for yacht insurance has hardened in recent years, due to the frequency and severity of catastrophic (CAT) claims. Widespread losses incurred along the West Coast of Florida and the Atlantic Coast from Hurricane Ian in 2022, for example, …

Spike in Recent Ratings Downgrades Shows Challenges for US Insurers

Negative ratings actions and financial challenges are forcing carriers to explore reinsurance options offering needed capital, according to a report released in February by Gallagher Re’s Strategic and Financial Analytics team. Downgrades of U.S. property/casualty (re)insurers jumped significantly in the …

Family Dollar to Pay $41M Over Rodent-Infested Distribution Center

Family Dollar agreed to pay $41.7 million for holding food, drugs, medical devices, and cosmetics under insanitary conditions at company’s West Memphis, Arkansas, distribution center. A criminal information unveiled Feb. 26 in federal court in Little Rock, Arkansas, charged Family …

Skeptical AM Best Tags US D&O Segment With Negative Outlook

Rating agency AM Best has assigned a negative outlook to the U.S. directors and officers liability insurance segment as more market entrants increase capacity and drive down pricing in the face of some troubling potential risk exposures. “The current pricing …

AccuWeather Warns of ‘Super-Charged’ 2024 Hurricane Season

AccuWeather experts warn that the return La Nina and historically warm water across the Atlantic Ocean could contribute to a “super-charged” hurricane season in 2024. AccuWeather long-range forecasters say that the current El Nino pattern is expected to transition to …

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