Latest Market Headlines

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

Guy Carp’s Vice Chairman Explains Multiple Tasks of a Modern Reinsurance Broker

Sep 24 2014 // Following a presentation from Guy Carpenter, moderated by the CEO Alex Moczarski, we caught up with the company’s Vice Chairman David Priebe, who explained just what’s involved in operating one of the...

Duperreault, Reardon and Deutsch Lead Hamilton Re into the ‘Data Analytics’ Future

Sep 22 2014 // If you’re going to successfully operate a relatively new reinsurance company in these troubled times, you better know what you’re doing. Fortunately Bermuda-based Hamilton Re would seem to pass muster. Firstly,...

Swiss Re’s Chief Economist Analyzes a Difficult Reinsurance Market

Sep 22 2014 // Over the past 13 years Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl has been through a succession of reinsurance market ups and downs, but the current situation is somewhat new, and, as he told the IJ at the Reinsurance...

Insuring Products of the Mind

Sep 22 2014 // The rapid growth in patent infringement litigation in 2013 – almost 6,500 cases, or an increase of 25 percent over 2012, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers – might appear to be a strong motivator for at-risk...

Top 5 Insurance Industry Misconceptions About Copyright

Sep 22 2014 // Few industries understand the concept of risk better than the insurance sector. But what about infringement risk? Sharing published information is essential to a company’s ability to thrive. Whether developing new...

The Problem with Domestic Excess and Surplus Lines Insurers

Sep 22 2014 // It has been more than five years since states, beginning with Illinois, began to enact laws permitting the formation and licensing of domestic excess and surplus lines insurers. To date, these initiatives have gotten very...

Litmus Analysis’ Shipperlee Explains Current Re/Insurance Ratings

Sep 19 2014 // As the former head of A.M. Best in London, and a senior executive with Standard & Poor’s, Litmus Analysis Senior Partner Stuart Shipperlee has a very complete knowledge of what re/insurance company ratings are,...

Encode Disaster Resilience in the Global Financial System: Willis Re Chairman

Sep 16 2014 // “Disaster resilience should be encoded into the global financial system,” said James Vickers, Chairman of Willis Re International, in an interview at the Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo. “It’s...

The Problem with Domestic Excess & Surplus Lines Insurers

Sep 16 2014 // It has been more than five years since states, beginning with Illinois, began to enact laws permitting the formation and licensing of domestic excess and surplus lines insurers. To date, these initiatives have gotten very...

Storm Clouds on the Reinsurance Horizon despite Record Capital

Sep 9 2014 // As the reinsurance industry prepares for its annual get together in Monte Carlo next week, a number of analytical reports have appeared, which show that, despite some significantly good numbers for the first six months of...

State of the Market: Surplus Lines Bounces Back

Sep 8 2014 // The surplus lines industry showed its subpar showing in 2012 was uncharacteristic as it outperformed the overall property/casualty industry once again in 2013. While 2013 was a good year all-round for the P/C industry, it...

Near National P/C Carriers Identified for 2014

Sep 8 2014 // The original criteria and objective definition for the Near Nationals was established in the Feb. 12, 2007, issue of Insurance Journal. The Demotech Company Classification System categorizes insurers into one of 11...

Everyone Likes a Hard Insurance Market, Right?

Sep 8 2014 // What’s the big deal with a hard property/casualty insurance market? Everyone likes one, said Art Davis, president of Colony Specialty, a member of the Argo Group. “You make a lot of money, have good...

Louisiana’s Homeowners Market Stronger 9 Years after Katrina

Sep 8 2014 // Louisiana’s property insurance market is vastly improved nine years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the state on Aug. 29, 2005, largely due to the implementation of statewide building codes and strategies that...

MAPFRE Enters Mass. Life Insurance Market

Sep 8 2014 // MAPFRE U.S.A. has begun selling a term life insurance product in Massachusetts, where MAPFRE’s subsidiary, Commerce Insurance, is the largest auto and home insurance carrier. MAPFRE said it is seeking to leverage its...

Nationwide Eyes Growth in New Jersey Auto Insurance Market

Aug 29 2014 // Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company has begun selling its Nationwide-branded auto insurance in New Jersey this month for the first time since 1981. “So we’ve been writing business now for about two weeks and so...

Louisiana’s Homeowners Market Stronger 9 Years after Katrina

Aug 29 2014 // Louisiana’s property insurance market is vastly improved nine years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the state on Aug. 29, 2005, largely due to the implementation of statewide building codes and strategies that...

MAPFRE Enters Life Insurance Market in Massachusetts

Aug 27 2014 // MAPFRE U.S.A. said it has begun selling a term life insurance product in Massachusetts, where MAPFRE’s affiliate Commerce Insurance Company is the largest auto and home insurance carrier. MAPFRE said it is seeking to...

Willis Energy Market Review: Still Soft Market; OIL ups Occurence Limits

Aug 22 2014 // Willis Group Holdings August Energy Market Review (EMR) highlights the decision by Oil Insurance Limited (OIL) to increase its per occurrence limit from $300 million to $400 million and the event aggregation limit from...

Florida Opens, Closes Surplus Lines Opportunities

Aug 20 2014 // The recent legislative session in Tallahassee was relatively quiet, a matter some attribute to this being an election year. But even in quiet years, Florida lawmakers tend to make some noise about the insurance industry...