Latest Market Headlines

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

Nolan Study Says Executives Counting on Technology But Wary of Results

Jun 12 2003 // Insurance executives reportedly believe that technology is critical to compete successfully, but their current systems are not helping enough. This is one of several findings uncovered by a new study conducted by the...

Gov. Perry Signs Reform Legislation

Jun 11 2003 // Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 14, the recently passed insurance reform legislation, during a signing ceremony at a construction site in Temple. According to a statement released by the governor’s office,...

FITCH SEES P/C INSURERS’ UNDERWRITING RESULTS IMPROVING IN ’03:

Jun 9 2003 // Fitch Ratings’ current estimate is that the domestic P/C industry will experience an improvement in the combined ratio to 103.9 percent in 2003 from 107.2 percent in 2002, with an increase in premium volume of...

REPORT SAYS U.S. INSURANCE INDUSTRY LOSES $13.7B ANNUALLY DUE TO AUTO PREMIUM RATING ERROR:

Jun 9 2003 // Quality Planning Corporation (QPC), the Rating Integrity Solutions Company, released its annual Premium Rating Error report, detailing just how much often-overlooked premium rating errors diminish the overall profits of...

The Ratings Game

Jun 9 2003 // Every day, agents and brokers use financial strength ratings of insurers in their business. A carrier’s ratings may affect an agent’s ability to place risks with that insurer, or the client’s willingness...

Burns & Wilcox Chairman Reflects on Decades of Business

Jun 9 2003 // Recently, Insurance Journal sat down with Alan Kaufman, chairman, president, and CEO of the H.W. Kaufman Financial Group and its subsidiary, Burns & Wilcox Ltd. As chairman, Kaufman has played an active role through a...

Execs Talk Future of Industry at 9th Annual ITC Forum

Jun 9 2003 // “Amateur hour is over.” Those were the words of the Sullivan Group president Gerald J. Sullivan, addressing a roomful of industry executives recently at the 9th Annual Insuring the Children Forum....

Steven Reichman to Receive PIANJ’s Distinguished Insurance Service Award

May 30 2003 // The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Inc. announced that Steven Reichman, CIC, executive VP of NIA Group LLC in Somerset, will receive the association’s “Distinguished Insurance Service” award...

NAII Says Mass. Budget Proposal Targets Insurance Industry

May 29 2003 // The National Association of Independent Insurers issued a bulletin indicating that the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee’s version of the state’s budget includes several provisions that will cause...

Palisades Group Acquires Prudential’s NJ P/C Company

May 23 2003 // The Palisades Group, based in Berkeley Heights New Jersey, announced that it has agreed to acquire The Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance Company of New Jersey (PRUPAC-NJ), the New Jersey property and casualty unit...

Cochran, Caronia & Co. Convenes Insurance Investor Conference May 21

May 20 2003 // Cochran, Caronia & Co., investment bankers to the insurance industry, will convene a conference to address critical issues facing the property and casualty insurance industry. The day- ong conference will feature...

It’s Coming, Eventually, But This Time We’re Ready for It

May 19 2003 // I hate to be the one to bring it up, but …you know it’s coming. It’s lurking, ready to pounce. Not as bad as the 1970s or 1980s, or to the depths of the late 1990s or 2000, perhaps. But it will come...

Web Services, J2EE, .NET’ – Should an Agent Care’ Absolutely!

May 19 2003 // Revolutionary technology supporting agent-carrier collaboration is in widespread deployment. Known as Web Services, these technologies will play a critical role in determining the agent and carrier winners in...

The Ratings Game

May 19 2003 // Every day, agents and brokers use financial strength ratings of insurers in their business. A carrier’s ratings may affect an agent’s ability to place risks with that insurer, or the client’s willingness...

NAII, Alliance and AIA Comment on NJ Auto Reform Bill’s Passage

May 19 2003 // The National Association of Independent Insurers, the Alliance of American Insurers and the American Insurance Association all had favorable comments on the passage of New Jersey’s Auto Insurance Reform Act. (See...

NAII Says Quickest Cure for MA Auto Insurance Market is Increased Competition

May 19 2003 // Representatives of the National Association of Independent Insurers told the Massachusetts Division of Insurance at a recent hearing that one of the most effective ways to enhance the insurance market for consumers in the...

Insurance Journal Increases Audio Broadcasts From Web Site

May 19 2003 // In an effort to deliver more insurance news to the industry, Insurance Journal is going on the road to interview industry figures and report from various conferences. Mitch Dunford, executive vice president, noted,...

InsBridge, Systems Consulting Services Form Partnership

May 15 2003 // Plano, Texas-based InsBridge Inc. and Systems Consulting Services Inc. (SCSI), of Ellicott City, Md., providers of software solutions to the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry, announced they are forming a...

A.M. Best: Asbestos Settlement Won’t Aid Ratings

May 15 2003 // Recent reports of a national, privately financed trust to pay asbestos claimants have raised questions about the insurance industry’s ability to fund its participation in a trust while maintaining individual...

U.S. Marine Insurers Continue Profitability in Highly Competitive Global Marketplace

May 15 2003 // U.S. ocean marine insurers reportedly continued to outperform the property/casualty business as a whole in 2002, but the market should not begin celebrating just yet, according to David French, chairman, American Institute...