Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Three Strikes to Lower Agency Value
Nov 11 2002 // In the past year or so there have been some notable acquisitions of agencies that were pushing the agency value envelope. For some cases, banks were making their platform acquisition and thus willing to pay top dollar to...
Federal Terrorism Backstop a Good Public/Private Fit
Nov 11 2002 // Benjamin Franklin wore many hats: statesman, inventor, publisher—even firefighter. In fact, it was his experience fighting fires that made him realize the need to pool financial resources to protect properties and found...
Managing the Cycle
Nov 11 2002 // Much has been written in the insurance press lately about the cyclical nature of the insurance industry. Now the market is hard, or hardening. For most of the 1990s stock markets boomed, the insurance market softened and...
New Reports Prescribe Remedies for Ailing Insurance Markets
Nov 11 2002 // Three recently published reports provide a sizeable assortment of diagnoses, prognoses and remedies for increasingly volatile commercial insurance markets. 3Q Commercial Market Index The Council of Insurance Agents &...
Federal Terrorism Backstop a Good Public/Private Fit
Nov 11 2002 // Benjamin Franklin wore many hats: statesman, inventor, publisher—even firefighter. In fact, it was his experience fighting fires that made him realize the need to pool financial resources to protect properties and found...
SCA Appraisal Company Adds Three New States
Nov 8 2002 // SCA Appraisal Company, a division of SCA Enterprises Inc., announced that the 12th, 13th and 14th state (Washington, Utah and South Carolina) has been opened. The addition of these new states brings SCA closer to providing...
Asbestos Expert to Address ISOTech Conference Nov. 12
Nov 7 2002 // David Austern, president of Claims Resolution Management Corporation (CRMC), a pioneer in asbestos claims resolution, will discuss issues affecting the insurance industry regarding asbestos litigation Nov. 12 at the...
AAI Defends Federal Terror Bill in Letter to Editor
Oct 29 2002 // David Farmer, senior vice president of federal affairs for the Alliance of American Insurers, issued the following letter to the editor published in the Oct. 27 edition of the Washington (DC) Times newspaper. In it, he...
Lloyd’s Leads the Way to Profitable Industry
Oct 29 2002 // “Too many of us believe that the insurance market is dictated to by the insurance cycle.” Those were the words of Julian James, director of Worldwide Markets at Lloyd’s of London. James spoke before a...
Commercial Insurance Market Index Released
Oct 28 2002 // Top commercial insurance brokers, noting insurers have been buffeted by terrorist attacks, stock market woes and increasing environmental hazard claims, have cast their eyes ahead to the coming year and voiced concern that...
AON STUDY REPORTS HOMEOWNERS MARKETPLACE STILL NOT EARNING ITS COST OF CAPITAL
Oct 28 2002 // Aon Corporation announced the results of Aon Re Worldwide’s comprehensive study of the U.S. homeowners marketplace. The results of the study reveal that the homeowners insurance industry, despite recent rate and...
A.M. BEST E&S REVIEW REPORTS 35 PERCENT INCREASE IN DIRECT PREMIUM VOLUME
Oct 28 2002 // The U.S. excess and surplus lines market reported a 35 percent increase in direct premium volume in 2001, according to the “Annual Review of the Excess & Surplus Lines Industry-September 2002,” released by...
DESPITE BETTER PRICING, A.M. BEST REPORTS P/C RATING DOWNGRADES OUTPACE UPGRADES
Oct 28 2002 // The property/casualty industry saw a gain in the number of rating downgrades issued by A.M. Best Co. for the second consecutive year, according to the special report, “Rating Downgrades Outpace Upgrades Despite...
RPNI HOSTS NOV. CONF. ON NAVIGATING THE HARD MARKET
Oct 28 2002 // RiskProNet Intl. (RPNI), is holding a conference on “Navigating the Hard Market” at the Scottsdale Conference Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., Nov. 10-12. According to RPNI executive director Gary Normington,...
Reinsurance Market Tries to Reel In Profits
Oct 28 2002 // A year ago the reinsurance industry faced the biggest loss event in its history – the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. Nevertheless, commentators were almost unanimous in predicting that the market would harden,...
Calif. Workers’ Comp: The Road to Rehabilitation
Oct 28 2002 // We all know what the problems are in the California workers’ compensation market, and now it’s time for the solutions. With the upcoming election well underway, California will soon see a new Insurance...
ART Solutions on the Rise in Hard Markets
Oct 28 2002 // At a recent seminar on the use of alternative risk transfers (ART) in hard markets, “ART Solutions in a Time of Capacity Shortage,” global reinsurer Swiss Re, which hosted the event, noted that more and more of...
Reinsurance and the Reaction to September 11
Oct 28 2002 // As I am writing this, President Bush is pushing Congress to consider the insurance terrorism bill that has been floating around Congress for months. When asked recently to describe what measures should be taken in order to...
Reinsurance Market Tries to Reel In Profits
Oct 28 2002 // A year ago the reinsurance industry faced the biggest loss event in its history – the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. Nevertheless commentators were almost unanimous in predicting that the market would harden,...
Federal Government, Insurers Tout Importance of Cyber Coverage
Oct 28 2002 // Recently, the White House unveiled the National Plan to Secure Cyberspace, an initiative urging insurers and companies to assess and manage exposures to cyber risk. Among other things, the plan calls for developing new...