Latest Market Headlines

All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Industry Fights Back Against Charges of Bad Faith

Mar 10 2008 // The University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business’ latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) shows that property and casualty insurers continue to rank above average in customer service compared to...

Skin In the Game

Mar 10 2008 // Since this issue of Insurance Journal puts the spotlight on agency salaries, it’s only fair that the compensation of corporate CEOs come in for some scrutiny as well. No, we’re not going on a paycheck hunt,...

As the Soft Market Continues, Calif. Wholesalers Seek Specialty Niches

Mar 10 2008 // Relationships with agents, brokers and regulators critical to CIWA members The members of the California Insurance Wholesalers Association (CIWA) play a vital role in the state’s insurance market. To find out how...

People

Mar 10 2008 // Denver-based Van Gilder added three persons to its staff. Tony Dodd joined the firm as an account executive specializing in homeowner association risk management programs. Kyle Krisman assumed the role of business...

Who’s Worth What?

Mar 10 2008 // Agency Salary Survey: Survey reveals fewer pay raises in 2007 but most agencies’ salaries hold firm Fewer independent agencies gave salary increases to managers, sales producers and support personnel in 2007 compared...

Nanotechnology: A Big Risk in a Small Package?

Mar 10 2008 // Nanotechnology presents great opportunity, but the impact on insurance is still unknown Insurance professionals gathered in the oak-paneled Old Library of Lloyd’s of London this past December to learn more about a...

Aon Study Finds Aerospace Premiums Down by 11%

Mar 7 2008 // Aon’s recently published “Aerospace Insurance Market Review 2007” highlights the year’s “soft market driven by high capacity and historically low claims.” Aon determined that the...

Fitch Conference Call Today Analyzes Bermuda (Re)Insurance Market

Mar 5 2008 // Fitch Ratings will host a teleconference today, Wednesday, March 5, to discuss the Bermuda insurance and (Re)insurance markets and trends expected to affect this industry in 2008. Fitch’s analysts will also delve...

Fitch Reports on Bermuda Insurance, Reinsurance Market

Mar 4 2008 // Fitch Ratings has released a new “Special Report” examining the state of Bermuda’s insurance and reinsurance industry, which concludes that it “continues to develop as a thriving domicile for...

Willis Exec Lists Industry ‘Megatrends’

Feb 28 2008 // Speaking to over 400 insurance industry executives at A.M. Best’s 15th Annual Review and Preview Conference in Naples, Fla., Tom Ealy, most recently COO of the Willis North America unit of Willis Group Holdings,...

Best Holds Stable Reinsurance Outlook

Feb 28 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has issued an analysis of the global reinsurance sector, indicating that it will maintain an overall “stable outlook” for 2008 for the second consecutive year. “The affirmation of the...

Survey: Fla. Voters Agree Property Insurance Market Still in Crisis

Feb 28 2008 // More than 40 percent of “likely” Florida voters polled in a recent survey describe the current property insurance market as a crisis, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. Neil...

Aon Review Sees Harder Aviation Market

Feb 27 2008 // Aon’s “Airline Insurance Market Review of 2007” cites the “high level of hull and liability claims, at US$1.7 billion, coupled with the lowest amount of lead hull and liability premium since 2000...

Fla. Insurers See Hurricane Insurance Market on the Mend

Feb 25 2008 // The insurance market in Florida is adjusting to changing conditions – some man-made, others resulting from forces of nature – all of which make property insurance for Florida homeowners more available and more...

People

Feb 24 2008 // San Diego-based Barney & Barney LLC named Jim O’Connell principal. He also will serve as director of development for programs, specialty insurance solutions. In that role, he is responsible for both regional and...

Things to Consider When Estimating Subprime D&O Losses

Feb 24 2008 // There are likely to be more securities class action lawsuits in 2008 than any year since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995. In addition, the subprime-related litigation wave is likely to...

Medical Costs for Auto Injury Claims Outpacing Inflation

Feb 24 2008 // A new study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) has found that medical expenses reported by auto injury claimants continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation. Average claimed economic losses (which include...

IRS Tax Code Change Called Threat to Captive Insurance States

Feb 20 2008 // U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is asking the U.S. Treasury to block a pending tax code change seen by some as a threat to Vermont’s captive insurance industry. Welch and three Democratic colleagues from states that...

Medical Costs for Auto Injury Claims Outpacing Inflation

Feb 13 2008 // A new study by the Insurance Research Council (IRC) has found that medical expenses reported by auto injury claimants continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation. Average claimed economic losses (which include...

Accenture Solvency II Survey: Europe’s Insurers Expect Manageable Costs

Feb 12 2008 // According to findings from a recently released survey conducted by Accenture, “more than three-quarters of large European insurers expect to spend less than €25 million [$36.27 million] through 2012 on Solvency II...