Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Execs See Significant Sub-Prime Impact on 2009 Results
Sep 11 2008 // Insurance executives expect sub-prime and other credit issues to continue to have a significantly negative impact on the industry’s financial performance in 2009, and they see credit and pricing risks as posing the...
Reinsurers Seeking Sidecars to Ride Out Next Big Storm
Sep 10 2008 // As Hurricane Ike takes aim at the Gulf of Mexico, triggering memories of 2005’s devastating storms, reinsurers see temporary underwriting vehicles as the solution to their capital needs in the event of “the Big...
Swiss Re Describes Reinsurers’ ‘Challenging Business Environment’
Sep 9 2008 // Swiss Re’s bulletin from Monte Carlo stresses that the “(re)insurance industry is facing a more challenging business environment, characterized by continued soft (re)insurance markets, stock market turbulence...
Best’s Reinsurance Report Sees Strong Capitalization in a ‘Soft Market’
Sep 9 2008 // A special report on the reinsurance industry from A.M. Best indicates that “the global reinsurance sector should remain profitable in 2008.” However, Best added that it “believes results will reflect more...
Rendezvous Roundup: Guy Carpenter; Aon Global Re; Munich Re
Sep 8 2008 // The Annual Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo convened this weekend amid concerns over the ongoing credit crisis, the softening of the market and the onslaught of storms in the Caribbean. The current climate for the...
Report: Credit, Housing Market Woes Slam Mortgage Insurance Industry
Sep 8 2008 // The mortgage guaranty insurance industry experienced extremely high losses and negative operating returns in 2007 as mortgage defaults and foreclosures climbed rapidly. This was a sharp contrast to the record years of...
Innovating Insurance
Sep 1 2008 // Women Play Important Role as Insurance Industry Change Agents The lack of organic growth and the soft market cycle has made operating in the insurance industry difficult in recent years. Yet the key to surviving in the...
People
Sep 1 2008 // Community Financial Insurance Center, Monroe, La., hired Jeanette F. Credo as senior vice president for its new Financial Institutions Division for the states of Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi. Credo will establish and...
People
Sep 1 2008 // General Star Management Co. appointed Gregory J. Diorio chief operating officer and Joseph L. Majsak chief marketing officer. Diorio will oversee all underwriting divisions while Majsak will oversee the new marketing...
Innovating Insurance
Sep 1 2008 // Women Play Important Role as Insurance Industry Change Agents The lack of organic growth and the soft market cycle has made operating in the insurance industry difficult in recent years. Yet the key to surviving in the...
U.S. Insurers’ Exposure to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Deemed Manageable
Sep 1 2008 // The U.S. insurance industry’s exposure to securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), is substantial for a handful of companies. Nevertheless, A.M. Best Co. does not...
What’s All the Fuss About?
Sep 1 2008 // With the Soft Market Here Again, the E&S Market Must Get Back to Its Roots as the Product Innovator Over my 30-year career, the insurance industry has weathered three hard market and soft market shifts. Yet amazingly,...
A Winning Culture
Sep 1 2008 // Lots of companies claim to have a great working environment, but when a company backs up its claim with awards, who can deny it? Insurance Journal Top 100 Agency Profile The IMA Financial Group Inc. RANKING: No....
Surplus Lines Results Remain Strong, Despite Heightened Competition
Sep 1 2008 // Brokerage M&As Expected to Continue for the Near Term; Time’s Almost Up for Congress to Pass Reform Bill Surplus lines insurers continued to outperform the property/casualty industry in underwriting and...
Business Planning in a Snap!
Sep 1 2008 // How to Create a Fast, Effective One-Page Agency Plan The fall is a good time to plan for the New Year by reflecting on how the agency has been operating over the past year. Operations may need to be restructured to the way...
Wholesaler Value is a Story That Needs to Be Told
Sep 1 2008 // Soft Market or Not, Stay Focused on Providing Superior Service, Value to Agents There is an old saying in the insurance industry that goes something like this: “Please, God, give me one more hard market and I...
Coloradans Spent $26 Billion in Insurance Premiums in 2007
Aug 29 2008 // Where do Coloradans spend their insurance dollars? During 2007, Colorado citizens paid over 26 billion dollars in premium to approximately 1,306 companies, with 27 companies accounting for more than 50 percent of that...
No Absolutes in Agency Training and Recruitment
Aug 29 2008 // Recruiting and staffing in the insurance industry has never been as “hot” as it is right now, said Susan Henry, senior vice president, The Jacobson Group, an executive search, professional recruiting and...
Soft Market Exposes Value of Risk Control for Golf Insurers
Aug 28 2008 // For the golf industry, 2008 business is at best a bogey — probably worse. And for the agents, carriers and program managers who cater to the golf and country club world, that’s made for a rough market,...
S&P Report Says Oman Insurance Market Still Strong After 2007 Losses
Aug 27 2008 // In its latest report on the insurance market in the Sultanate of Oman, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says that despite the heavy losses from Cyclone Gonu in 2007, the sector has much to commend...
