Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Michigan Denies Auto Insurance Rate Hikes Because of Credit Scoring
Mar 11 2009 // Michigan’s regulator has reignited a debate over credit scoring by denying auto insurance companies requested rate increases because their proposed rate schemes include discounts for good credit scores. Commissioner...
Captive Insurance Industry Honors Westover of ICS
Mar 10 2009 // Kate Westover, vice president of Alternative Risk Financing at Innovative Captive Strategies, has received the 2009 Distinguished Service Award from the Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA). Based in Colchester,...
Montana Legislators To Evaluate Auto Repair, Bad Faith Bills
Mar 10 2009 // The Montana legislature will hear bills this week related to auto body repair and what the insurance industry is calling bad faith legislation that could drastically affect the state’s insurance market and insurance...
States Gear Up for Stimulus Package
Mar 9 2009 // Impact on Insurance Industry May be Minimal, Experts Say The $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress looms as the largest mountain on the country’s newly changed economic landscape. But despite hope that the...
People
Mar 9 2009 // Russell R. Oliver, president of Texas Mutual Insurance Co. since 1995, is retiring from the company at the end of August 2009. Oliver notified the Board of Directors in January of his decision to retire this summer. Two...
People
Mar 9 2009 // San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. announced its management team for the combined insurance businesses of Wells Fargo and Wachovia Corp. Reporting to Dave Zuercher, group head of International and Insurance...
Finding a Niche
Mar 9 2009 // A Young Company With a Nontraditional Management Style, Heffernan Insurance Brokers Has Shown How an Agency Can Be Young and Successful at the Same Time Top 100 Agency Profile RANKING: No. 11 Agency Name: Heffernan...
A Look at the Transportation Insurance Industry
Mar 9 2009 // Industry Still Stalled in a Soft Market But Some Rate Increases on the Horizon Observers of the property and casualty insurance industry, who consider themselves gurus when it comes to predicting cyclical changes, find...
Willis: Increase in Capacity, Downturn in Energy Sector Tempers Hardening Market
Mar 3 2009 // With capacity levels up at the start of 2009, the energy insurance market remains relatively stable — says a new industry report — despite insurers seeking rate increases and the energy industry trying to...
U. Houston-Downtown to Offer Insurance, Risk Management Degree
Feb 25 2009 // The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved a proposal by the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) to offer a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Insurance and Risk Management. The new degree...
Insurance Industry Advises Small Businesses Not to Skimp on Coverage
Feb 23 2009 // Insurance coverage is an expense that many small business owners might be tempted to cut back on or even forgo as they try to cut costs during the recession. They’re making a bet that they won’t need the...
Declarations
Feb 22 2009 // Siren Song “The fire department is going to be mad at me.” —A sang phrase recorded by Amanda Gessner, 19, in a Drexel Hill, Pa. convenience store surveillance camera – which led to her arrest for arson...
Insurance Industry Starts to Pay Attention to Muslim American Market
Feb 22 2009 // 24% of All Muslims in U.S. Have College Degrees; 16% Are High Income Earners While there are an estimated 130 entities selling takaful — cooperative insurance that is true to Shariah tenets of Islamic religious law...
FSLA Leader Sees Soft Market Opportunities in State Farm Exit, Med Mal, EPLI
Feb 22 2009 // The Florida surplus lines industry may be challenged right now by regulatory uncertainty stemming from the Essex and CNL Hotels rulings but it is not letting that blind it to opportunities. One opportunity is the pending...
People
Feb 22 2009 // American International Group (AIG) named Peter Eastwood president and CEO of Lexington Insurance Co., a unit of AIG Commercial Insurance. Eastwood assumes management responsibility for Lexington from Kevin H. Kelley, who...
Who’s Worth What?
Feb 22 2009 // Agency Salary Survey: Agencies Trim Payrolls and Raises Independent insurance agencies remain reliable employers even in these rocky economic times, but even they have to cut back occasionally. Whether due to efficiencies...
U.S. Regulator Sees Future Role for Mortgage Insurance Industry
Feb 20 2009 // The main regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday said he sees a future for mortgage insurance companies that underwrite many loans for the two mortgage finance giants. “They’re very important,”...
Fitch Report ‘Remains Negative’ on Bermuda Insurance Market
Feb 13 2009 // Fitch Ratings stated in a Special Report today that its Rating Outlook for the Bermuda (re)insurance market remains negative, “reflecting uncertainty tied to the continued highly volatile investment markets and a...
Systematic Sales Strategy Should Be Priority No. 2 for Agency Managers
Feb 8 2009 // In this hard economy coupled with the soft market, most agencies expect sales and revenues to go down. Even the best performers feel the downward trend in premiums. According to Juan Andrade, executive vice-president for...
Start-Up Stories: How New Agencies Are Competing
Feb 8 2009 // A Crop of Newly-Formed Agencies Is Defying the Hard Economy and Soft Market The independent insurance agency system is enjoying a resurgence. For years, the number of agencies in the country had been declining but that...
