Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Volatile Underwriting Cycle is Back with a Vengeance, Advises Economist
Apr 18 2005 // The property/casualty insurance industry’s frequently volatile underwriting cycle is back with a vengeance and will have no mercy this time around, advises a top industry economist. The property/casualty financial...
Entrepreneurial Spirit and Trust: Marks of Today’s Successful MGA
Apr 18 2005 // An Interview with Francis Johnson, AAMGA President-Elect Francis Johnson, president of Johnson and Johnson Inc., of Charleston, South Carolina, becomes president of the American Association of Managing General Agents in...
Calif.’s AB 925 Could Mandate Insurers to Invest in Under-served Communities
Apr 18 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Assembly member Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB 925, a new piece of legislation that would require insurers to make investments in low- and...
Insurers Tell Senate Panel of Possible Long-Term Terrorism Insurance Solution; Urge Swift Action
Apr 14 2005 // In testimony today before the Senate Banking Committee, Ernie Csiszar, president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, outlined possible components of a long-term terrorism...
Garamendi Proposes New Regulations for Homeowners Insurance Market
Apr 14 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi on April 14 announced new regulations to protect homeowners from unfair “use it and lose it” practices in the homeowners insurance market. “We all pay...
P/C Industry Says Treasury Study Inadequate Gauge of Terrorism Insurance Market
Apr 11 2005 // Two months before the study is expected to be done, the property casualty insurance industry is getting nervous about a study on terrorism insurance being conducted by the Treasury Department, a study some in Congress are...
Lloyd’s CEO Outlines ‘Strategic Challenges’ Facing General Insurance Industry
Apr 8 2005 // Lloyd’s CEO Nick Prettejohn, speaking at the FSA insurance conference on Thursday, April, 7, outlined six “strategic challenges” facing the general insurance industry, which he also indicated was by no...
Hartwig Tells CASRS Seminar Volatile Underwriting Cycle is Back
Apr 7 2005 // The property/casualty industry’s frequently volatile underwriting cycle is back with a vengeance and will have no mercy this time around, Robert Hartwig, senior vice president and chief economist for the Insurance...
Insurers Warn in Study: Unprofitable Del. Auto Insurance Market Could Face Reduced Competition
Apr 6 2005 // Even after investment income is considered, underwriting private passenger automobile insurance in Delaware has been unprofitable for the past five years, according to a study done by the Property Casualty Insurers...
Report Suggests Texans Overpaying for Insurance
Apr 5 2005 // Insurance companies in Texas overcharged homeowners and drivers by $4 billion last year despite recent legislation designed to limit rising rates, according to a report released recently by two state consumer groups. The...
How to Float to the Top and Other Words of Wisdom
Apr 4 2005 // Berkshire Hathaway’s Buffett on Insurance Economics, 2004 Results By Chairman Warren Buffett’s own admission, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. did not have one of its best years in 2004. Last year, Berkshire’s...
Driving Up Agency Valuation
Apr 4 2005 // Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? There is a general perception that agency value has been increasing the past few years. This belief is partially true and is the result of a self-fulfilling prophecy. In the past...
Michigan DOI Study Finds Competition Doesn’t Equal Affordability
Apr 4 2005 // Michigan’s Office of Financial and Insurance Services last month released the results of its long-awaited study of competitiveness in the state’s insurance market. While the report found competition under the...
FIGHT OVER CREDIT BAN MOVES TO COLO. SENATE:
Apr 4 2005 // Legislation that would prohibit insurers’ use of credit information narrowly advanced out of the Colorado Senate State Affairs Committee on a 4-3 vote and will be opposed by the insurance industry on the Senate...
What Should be Industry Response to Ethical Lapses?
Apr 4 2005 // CPCU Society Looking at IMSA The property casualty industry’s leading educational society is weighing what role to play in helping the industry restore its image after months of charges about bid rigging and...
Court Upholds Industry Lawsuit: CDI’s Homeowners Regulations Illegal
Apr 4 2005 // Charges by the California Department of Insurance that the California homeowners insurance industry arbitrarily nonrenews or raises rates on homeowners who file one claim or make an inquiry about their coverage is little...
New GAO Study: U.S. Needs Government Help to Insure for Catastrophes and Terrorism
Mar 31 2005 // A new U.S. government report indicates that the private U.S. insurance industry would be placed under enormous strain without government intervention if there were a major terrorist or catastrophic event or series of...
Q4 Rescues Hannover Re 2004 Profits from Hurricanes
Mar 30 2005 // Germany’s Hannover Re Group reported 309.1 million euros ($400 million) net after tax income for 2004, down 12.9 percent from 2003’s 354.8 million euros ($459.8 million). The company’s earnings report,...
Fla. Senate Committee Postpones Insurance Bill Until Next Week; Industry Hopes for ‘More Balanced’ Approach
Mar 30 2005 // Insurance industry representatives hope the announcement of the postponement until next week of an insurance bill now before the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee signals that a “more balanced” bill will...
Judge Rules W.V. Insurance Commission Must Reveal Sources in Third-Party Bad-Faith Lawsuit Study
Mar 25 2005 // A West Virginia Circuit judge has ruled in Charleston that the West Virginia Insurance Commission must reveal the names of companies and organizations it consulted to complete a study that recommended eliminating...
