Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Wortman Retiring as CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Jul 6 2010 // John Wortman, CEO of Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corp. (Citizens), the state’s property insurance of last resort, has announced plans to retire. “John Wortman has been a tremendous asset to Louisiana...
Price Scare
Jul 5 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a recent industry study. Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell...
Rough Road for Trucking in the New Economy
Jul 5 2010 // Rising Taxes, Inflation Will Force Insurance Market to a ‘Déjà vu All Over Again’ The insurance industry has a long history for cyclical price adjusting, featuring long periods of marginal to inadequate...
Near National P/C Carriers Identified for 2010
Jul 5 2010 // The Demotech Company Classification System Shows 62 Carriers Meet Critieria The original criteria and objective definition for the Near Nationals was established in the Feb. 12, 2007 issue of Insurance Journal. The...
Hit a Home Run with Wholesalers
Jul 5 2010 // How to Make Wholesale-Agent Partnerships Work It’s no secret. Insurance is a relationship business. And the agent-wholesale broker relationship is no exception. The continued soft market hasn’t stifled...
Willis Re Finds Chile Quake, Storm Losses ‘Little Impact’ on Re Pricing
Jul 1 2010 // A new report from Willis Re, the reinsurance broking arm of Willis Group Holdings, has concluded that “losses from the Chile earthquake and storms in Australia in the first quarter of 2010 have had little impact on...
Neal Bill, HR 3424, Proponents and Opponents Trade Salvoes
Jun 29 2010 // When U.S. Representative Richard Neal (D-MA) introduced, or more properly reintroduced, HR 3424, a bill aimed at closing what its proponents describe as a “loophole” in the U.S. tax code, he ignited, or more...
MGAs Key to Florida’s Property Market, Say Officials, Execs
Jun 21 2010 // Several of Florida’s insurers with affiliated managing general agencies (MGAs) have come in for criticism recently but there is no widespread problem with the MGA model, regulators and insurance executives agree. In...
The Age of Relentless Acceleration
Jun 21 2010 // Views from the Brokering Landscape Today we live in an Age of Relentless Acceleration – of interconnectedness, emerging risks, uncertainty and shifting centers of power and influence. It is an age where catalytic...
Specialized Independence
Jun 21 2010 // Top 100 Agency Profile Agency Name: The Horton Group Inc. Headquarters: Orland Park, Ill. Year Founded: 1971 Locations: 15 2009 Total P/C Premiums: $258.3 million Commercial Lines: $221.4 million Personal Lines: $36.8...
FSA Chairman Comments on UK Gov’ts Plans for Regulatory Reform
Jun 17 2010 // A bulletin from the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) indicates that its Chairman, Lord Turner, has “welcomed the changes to financial regulation outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Mansion...
Oregon Insurance Industry To Recognize Customer Service Reps
Jun 10 2010 // The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Oregon (IIABO) is now accepting nominations for the 2010 Accredited Customer Service Representative of the Year award, which recognizes an employee for his or her...
People
Jun 7 2010 // Wholesaler Crump Insurance promoted Kevin Hahn to executive vice president. As head of New York brokerage operations, Hahn will oversee Crump’s offices in Long Island and New York, and its environmental practice. XL...
People
Jun 7 2010 // Craig A. Payan has been elected to serve as chairman of the board of directors for Itasca, Ill.-based Associated Risk Managers International Inc. Payan is president of PA&T Insurance and Financial Services, an...
People
Jun 7 2010 // Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC) President and CEO Kristin W. Wall has been elected to the board of directors of NCCI Holdings Inc., a provider of workers’ compensation and employee injury data and...
Price Scare
Jun 7 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a new industry study. Average premiums in every line tracked by the Risk and Insurance Management...
California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Market More Lucrative
Jun 7 2010 // Prices are improving in the California workers’ compensation insurance market – at least according to one specialty workers’ compensation carrier in the Golden State. According to PacificComp President...
What Agencies Should Do When Key Employees Leave
Jun 7 2010 // Protecting Trade Secrets, Confidential Agency Information Critical, Attorney Hirshfeld Says The insurance industry is a highly competitive market, even when it comes to its work force. There’s a shortage of highly...
P/C Trade Groups Join GNAIE in Opposing Unitary Accounting Standard
Jun 4 2010 // The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE), an association representing the Chief Financial Officers of major life insurance companies in Bermuda, Canada, and the United States, has joined with four other...
Report: Insurance Industry Spent $17 Million to Influence Calif. Election
Jun 2 2010 // Analysis released today by Campaign for Consumer Rights shows that insurers have spent more than $17 million dollars on candidates and initiatives to quietly influence the outcome of California’s June 2010...


