Latest Market Headlines

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

D&O Liability Premiums Jump 33 Percent; Tillinghast Study Reports Hard Market is Stabilizing Despite Record Premiums

Jan 27 2004 // Directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance premiums grew approximately 33 percent on average from 2002 to 2003, according to the Tillinghast business of Towers Perrin’s 2003 Directors & Officers...

Ohio’s First Woman Insurance Director Tackles Med-Mal Crisis

Jan 26 2004 // Ohio Insurance Director Ann Womer Benjamin’s first year in office since her appointment by Republican Gov. Robert Taft has been marked principally by her efforts to get a handle on the state’s medical liability...

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Jan 26 2004 // Education benefits the next generation of insurance consumers. During my 34-year tenure in the insurance industry, I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard, “Don’t they understand?” It’s...

Natural Disasters More Severe and More Costly

Jan 26 2004 // According to a recently released report from Munich Re, fatalities caused by natural catastrophes were up 450 percent in 2003, while insured losses reached $15 billion. More ominous was the reinsurer’s conclusion...

Earlybird Forecast for 2004: Street Sees Premium Growth in Store

Jan 26 2004 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals that the...

Tillinghast Says More Consolidation in 2004

Jan 26 2004 // The insurance industry is at a critical juncture, with issues surrounding consolidation, pricing, legislative reforms and capital concerns shaping the market for 2004, according to year-end industry predictions from...

You Can’t Keep a Good State Down

Jan 26 2004 // Louisiana, Louisiana. They’re tryin’ to wash us away, They’re tryin’ to wash us away Louisiana, Louisiana They’re tryin’ to wash us away, They’re tryin’ to wash us away...

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Jan 26 2004 // Education benefits the next generation of insurance consumers. During my 34-year tenure in the insurance industry, I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard, “Don’t they understand?” It’s...

I.I.I. Survey Reports Industry Leaders Expect Improved Profits in 2004

Jan 26 2004 // Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry expect an improvement in profitability for 2004 compared with last year, according to a survey conducted by the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) at its eighth...

Natural Disasters More Severe and More Costly

Jan 26 2004 // According to a recently released report from Munich Re, fatalities caused by natural catastrophes were up 450 percent in 2003, while insured losses reached $15 billion. More ominous was the reinsurer’s conclusion...

E&S Foresight and Good Management Ease Hard Market Pains

Jan 26 2004 // As you have no doubt heard by now, this hard market is not just longer; it is fundamentally different. It is by all reports the most moderate in memory, characterized by fewer and less dramatic disruptions of normal market...

Leaving a Lasting Legacy

Jan 26 2004 // Education benefits the next generation of insurance consumers. During my 34-year tenure in the insurance industry, I cannot count the number of times I’ve heard, “Don’t they understand?” It’s...

Benfield Study Finds Reinsurance Rates Holding Firm

Jan 19 2004 // Benfield, an independent insurance intermediary, has released a new report, which concludes that despite “ample capacity and signs of resurgent competition, the reinsurance market generally maintained underwriting...

NYSSA to Hold Conference on Insurance Industry

Jan 13 2004 // The New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) will present its 8th Annual Insurance Industry Conference on Jan. 26-27, 2004 at the Harvard Club, 27 West 44th Street in New York City. The NYSSA’s announcement...

The Right Man for the Right Job

Jan 12 2004 // An Exclusive Interview with Gregory Serio Gregory V. Serio, the superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department, is a busy man—moving between Albany, Manhattan, Washington D.C. and elsewhere about the country....

Earlybird Forecast for 2004

Jan 12 2004 // Each year the Insurance Information Institute invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to review the prospects for the industry in the current and coming year. The survey reveals that the...

Tillinghast Says More Consolidation in 2004

Jan 12 2004 // The insurance industry is at a critical juncture, with issues surrounding consolidation, pricing, legislative reforms and capital concerns shaping the market for 2004, according to year-end industry predictions from...

Ebix.com Inc. Switches Name to Ebix, Inc.

Jan 2 2004 // Atlanta-based Ebix, an international supplier of software and e-commerce solutions to the insurance industry, has changed its name to Ebix, Inc. from ebix.com, Inc. effective immediately. To mark the event, the company...

Munich Re 2003 Catastrophe Study – Fatalities up 450 Percent; $15 Billion Insured Losses

Dec 30 2003 // Munich Re has released its analysis of natural catastrophes in 2003 and concluded that economic and insured losses continue to increase at a high level. Preliminary portions of the study had been presented at the recent...

NAII Letter to Mass. Editor Again Stresses Need for Auto Insurance Reform

Dec 24 2003 // Gerald L. Zimmerman, Senior Counsel for the National Association of Independent Insurers, followed up yesterday’s letter to a Wall Street Journal editor (See IJ Website Dec.23), with a letter to Steve Smith,...