Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
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...
Texas Joins Rest of the U.S. in Profitability Upswing of Last Few Years
Feb 10 2008 // I.I.I.’s Hartwig says the state is still one of the riskiest in which to operate The last few years have been good ones for the property casualty insurance industry in terms of profitability. But it’s been a...
Insurers Must Focus on Opportunities; Avoid Price Wars to Stay Profitable
Feb 10 2008 // Margin compression and continued pricing erosion will put increasing pressure on the insurance industry to achieve top line objectives in 2008, according to industry analysts. “With pricing becoming increasingly...
India’s Insurance Industry Faces Talent Shortage
Feb 8 2008 // It may come as a bit of a shock, but India, the country that’s become synonymous with out-sourcing, is facing a talent shortage. According to the Darwin Rhodes Group, India’s only specialist insurance...
Munich Re to Set up Brazilian Subsidiary
Feb 7 2008 // Munich Re announced that, following the opening of the Brazilian reinsurance market (See IJ web site – https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2007/12/27/85928.htm), it plans to establish a subsidiary in...
I.I.I.’s Hartwig: Texas P/C Market Profitable Along with Rest of U.S.
Feb 5 2008 // The last few years have been good ones for the property casualty insurance industry in terms of profitability. But it’s been a long time coming, according to Robert Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information...
How E&S Brokers Thrive and Survive in Today’s Soft Market
Feb 1 2008 // For excess and surplus lines brokers, identifying available insurance markets not sought by the standard market may be the key to surviving and thriving in the soft market. The answer to growth in a soft market is simple,...
Insurance Industry Run by ‘C’ Students? Don’t Tell CPCUs That
Feb 1 2008 // The insurance industry is a “C” student industry; the “A” and “B” students are working elsewhere, said the insurance company executive. Them’s fighting words, especially in a room...
Continuing Education Serves a Positive Purpose
Jan 27 2008 // Continuing education is a fact of life for all agents and brokers. Because states require CE credits, it translates into the reality of a continuous, and often repetitive, obligation — a career-long commitment of time...
Industry Executives Predict Tort Trends Likely to Remain Stable in 2008
Jan 27 2008 // Tort trends will likely remain stable in the year ahead, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute. Sixty-six percent of the executives polled believe that tort trends in 2008 will be little...
ABCs
Jan 27 2008 // The insurance industry is a “C” student industry; the “A” and “B” students are working elsewhere, said the insurance company executive. Them’s fighting words, especially in a room...
