Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Industry Urged to Explore Alternatives to Credit Scoring
Apr 14 2010 // With the use of credit scoring still under attack, the insurance industry would be wise to consider new ways to assess risk, according to an industry actuary. Roosevelt Mosley, a principal with Pinnacle Actuarial Resources...
Arizona Insurance Industry Contributes $1.2 Trillion in Assets to State
Apr 13 2010 // The more than 940 property/casualty insurers in Arizona that compete for business add more than $1.2 trillion in assets to the state, that enables Arizonans to drive cars, own homes, protect their property and operate...
Insurance Mergers Dropped in 2009, Reports Conning
Apr 8 2010 // The U.S. saw a significant decline in the reported value of insurance industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in 2009, and overall global transaction values also declined further from very low 2008 levels,...
Politics Makes Things Better?
Apr 5 2010 // A Connecticut State Senator thinks things have become too chummy between the state’s insurers and the commissioner of the state’s insurance department. To fix it, he says he would like to make the...
People
Apr 5 2010 // Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, based in Lansing, Mich., appointed Lisa Riddle the new vice president of Claims and Medical Operations. In her new role, Riddle is responsible for the strategic direction of...
Hospitality Risks: A Game for Captives
Apr 5 2010 // Why a Captive Solution Might Grow Your Hospitality Book, and Revenue Too Hospitality owners have concerns with retaining risk that they cannot transfer to the insurance market and owners are looking for legitimate ways to...
Lloyd’s Graduates First Student Group
Apr 2 2010 // Lloyd’s announced that it has graduated the first group of graduate students from its new Program, which features an 18 month rotation, after which the new graduates will continue to work in London’s insurance...
Soft Market, Weak Economy Will Challenge Insurers, Brokers in 2010
Apr 2 2010 // The recession may be over, but recovery is not happening quickly enough for insurers and brokers. From unemployment rates hovering at about 10 percent to still rising business bankruptcies, the lingering effects of the...
Florida’s Crist Opposes, Bush Backs Bill Deregulating Insurance Prices
Mar 31 2010 // Tallahassee politicians must ensure a robust private property insurance market to avoid a financial disaster if a major hurricane or several smaller storms strike the state this summer, former Gov. Jeb Bush said this...
Terrorism Insurance Market in State of Uncertainty
Mar 30 2010 // The threat of terrorism in the U.S. is rising but the future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is in question. At a time when top U.S. officials warn of an imminent attack that might be hard to prevent, the...
Insurers Disagree With Calif. Over Divesture of Iranian Investments
Mar 29 2010 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that 460 insurers have agreed in writing to a moratorium on future investments in 50 companies identified by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to be...
Best Affirms Hartford’s ICR – Outlook Negative; Other Ratings Affirmed
Mar 29 2010 // A.M. Best Co. affirmed the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb+” of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. with a negative outlook. The rating agency also affirmed the FSRs of ‘A’ (Excellent)...
8 New Markets in Response to Current Trends
Mar 22 2010 // Insurance Companies Generate New Programs to Bring in Additional Premium The last few years of the soft market have forced many carriers and agencies to get creative when it comes to bringing in additional premium. This...
People
Mar 22 2010 // Cheryl Celcer has joined wholesale insurance provider Swett & Crawford after a nearly 30-year career with The Hartford, in which she held the position of executive select customer sales representative. Celcer will work...
Florida’s Market and How Surplus Lines Agents Are Faring
Mar 19 2010 // Hurricane Andrew, for all of the grief it delivered, gave wholesale broker Hull & Co. and Bruce Bowers a big opportunity. “Prior to ’92, there wasn’t much of a need for personal lines in the excess...
P/C Executives to Dodd: Don’t Shift Risky Firms’ Costs to Insurers
Mar 19 2010 // Property/casualty insurance companies, which already pay into state guaranty funds to backup claims of their insolvent peers, don’t want to have to also pay into a federal fund to cover failures of larger and riskier...
P/C Industry Operating Profits Up Markedly in 2009: Fitch
Mar 18 2010 // Operating profits improved substantially during 2009 across the U.S. property/ casualty insurance industry, with most market participants reporting double-digit operating returns on capital, according to Fitch Ratings in a...
Big EU Insurers Pass Stress Tests
Mar 17 2010 // Europe’s insurers are able to withstand even a major financial crisis, an EU watchdog said on Tuesday, boosting industry hopes for less onerous regulation. EU insurance watchdog CEIOPS, (the Committee of European...
Report: Calif. Workers’ Comp Insurance Market Still Needs Improvement
Mar 16 2010 // California workers’ compensation claims and disability costs have dropped significantly since the state’s workers’ compensation system was overhauled in 2003 and 2004. Yet “many of the same...
Property/Casualty Insurers Have Issues with Dodd Financial Reform Bill
Mar 16 2010 // Even though they are largely excluded from the federal financial regulatory overhaul proposed in the Senate, property/casualty insurers say there are some elements they fear could negatively affect them and their...
