Latest Market Headlines

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

Putting Business Intelligence to Work

May 5 2003 // Business transpires in the Information Age. Although these times offer the most networked, data enriched progression ever in history, many smaller to midsize insurance companies are still using mainframe processing to...

The Challenging Future Requires Your Attention

May 5 2003 // While the hard market continues to support current rate levels, there is increasing turmoil within our industry. Is there any doubt that major changes are on the horizon? After all, who can predict the timing of the hard...

Giles Looks at MGAs As He Prepares to Step Down

May 5 2003 // Outgoing AAMGA president Rob Giles sat down with Insurance Journal recently to discuss the association, managing general agents and his term as president, among other things. Giles, president of Wisconsin-based Midwest...

Treasury Issues Final Rules Under Sec. 326 of the USA Patriot Act – No Change for P/C Industry

May 2 2003 // Under section 326 of the USA Patriot Act, the property/casualty industry remained unaffected in the latest round of proposed rules. This week, Treasury, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and the seven federal...

Willis Reports on Global Reinsurance Market; Announces Secondary Share Sales

May 1 2003 // Global insurance broker Willis Group Holdings has released its analysis of the current state of the reinsurance marketplace. It also issued a revised announcement concerning secondary share sales by investors. The 31 page...

IICF Celebrates 10 Years of Service to Calif. Non-Profits

May 1 2003 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Fund (IICF) will celebrate a decade of community service resulting in more than $5.5 million in grants to nonprofit groups across California on Friday, May 2, at San Francisco City...

Facts and Findings about Windshields

May 1 2003 // Windshields are the number one insurance claim in the United States. Thirty percent of auto insurance claims are windshields. Edge cracks account for approximately 70-80% of these windshield replacement claims. Edge cracks...

Relationships Between Program Carriers, Administrators Crucial to Success

Apr 21 2003 // The relationship between program carriers and program administrators or managers is fundamental in determining the success of particular program. With the hard market still going strong, the programs marketplace has not...

Swiss Re CEO Says Reinsurance Prospects Favorable

Apr 21 2003 // Swiss Re’s CEO said recently that with combined ratios steadily improving and growth opportunities continuing to emerge, prospects look positive for the Property/ Casualty reinsurance market. John Coomber joined...

It’s Coming, Eventually, But This Time We’re Ready for It

Apr 21 2003 // I hate to be the one to bring it up, but…you know it’s coming. It’s lurking, ready to pounce. Not as bad as the 1970s or 1980s, or to the depths of the late 1990s or 2000, perhaps. But it will come again. It...

Relationships Between Program Carriers, Administrators Crucial to Success

Apr 21 2003 // The relationship between program carriers and program administrators or managers is fundamental in determining the success of a particular program. With the hard market still going strong, the programs marketplace has not...

South Carolina Kicks Off Pro-State Regulation Campaign

Apr 18 2003 // “Regulation of the insurance industry in South Carolina is best handled by the Department of Insurance in Columbia, not a federal department of insurance in the District of Columbia,” said Gov. Mark Sanford (R)...

Institute President Reacts to Full Year 2002 Results

Apr 18 2003 // The property/casualty industry reported a statutory rate of return of 1.0 percent in 2002, up from the worst-ever negative 2.4 percent recorded in 2001. The results were released by the Insurance Services Office, Inc....

P/C Industry’s Surplus Falls Despite Improvement in Net Income After Taxes

Apr 17 2003 // The property/casualty insurance industry’s statutory surplus dropped $4.4 billion to $285.2 billion at year-end 2002 from $289.6 billion at year-end 2001. Surplus declined despite improvement in the industry’s...

Taking a look at 2002 Results

Apr 17 2003 // The property/casualty insurance industry reported a statutory rate of return of 1.0 percent in 2002, up from the worst-ever negative 2.4 percent recorded in 2001. The results were released by the Insurance Services Office,...

Swiss Re CEO Says Reinsurance Prospects Favorable Despite Current Capital Market Weakness

Apr 10 2003 // Swiss Re’s CEO said Wednesday that with combined ratios steadily improving and growth opportunities continuing to emerge, prospects look positive for the property & casualty reinsurance market. John Coomber...

PIANY Long Island RAP 2003 Is a Success Despite the Weather

Apr 9 2003 // The early spring chill wasn’t enough to keep nearly 400 agents, company representatives and industry colleagues from showing up at The Professional Insurance Agents of New York State Inc.’s Long Island Regional...

Supreme Court Sides With State Farm, Insurance Industry

Apr 7 2003 // A jury award that would have forced State Farm Insurance Cos. to pay a Utah man $145 million in punitive damages has been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Insurance trade groups said the 6-3 decision was a win not...

INSURANCE BUREAU OF CANADA SAYS INDUSTRY REACHED A ‘NEW LOW’ IN 2002

Apr 7 2003 // Borrowing a phrase from Britain’s Queen Elizabeth the Insurance Bureau of Canada labeled the year 2002 an “Anni horribiles” as it reported that the financial results for the country’s P/C insurers...

Hard Market Hits California Homeowners

Apr 7 2003 // Credit scoring, CLUE reports become targets of Commissioner Garamendi’s Ire The hard market has hit California homeowners hard. State Farm, which had nearly 23 percent market share in the state in 2001 according to...