Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
How Much U.S. P/C Insurance Bottom Line Grew in 2019: A.M. Best
Mar 10 2020 // Net underwriting income for the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry in 2019 grew by $4.9 million from 2018, A.M. Best said in a new report. Underwriting income hit $4.1 billion in 2019, from a loss of $800 million in...
What Small Business Wants
Mar 9 2020 // Small business doesn’t mean small-in-size when it comes to the commercial insurance market. Direct written premiums ranged between $99 billion and $103 billion in 2013, up from $91 billion in 2011, according to...
Agency M&As: Private Equity Still in Driver’s Seat; Digital Agencies Attract Attention
Mar 2 2020 // The private equity bandwagon continued to roll through the insurance agency and brokerage mergers and acquisitions territory in 2019. As many as two-thirds of all deals involved private equity, according to experts. Most...
Nicolopoulos Confirmed as New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner
Feb 27 2020 // The New Hampshire Insurance Department has announced that Chris Nicolopoulos was confirmed by the New Hampshire Executive Council as insurance commissioner succeeding John Elias, who resigned in December less than two...
Florida Carriers Seek Staggering Rate Increases Amid Market Turmoil
Feb 25 2020 // It’s no surprise that Florida carriers are raising homeowners’ insurance rates given several years of catastrophes and losses from litigation related to assignment of benefits and water damage claims. What may...
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 24 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a nuisance. They were frequent but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for them in the...
Specialty Broker Shares Thoughts on Today’s Marina Market
Feb 24 2020 // Barbara Galgiani has spent her entire career specializing in both recreational and commercial marine industry – marinas, boat yards, hospitality, excursion boats and marine contractors. Roughly 90% of her revenue...
Coronavirus Raises Insurance Questions But Catastrophe-Tested Insurers Are Prepared
Feb 20 2020 // As the coronavirus outbreak continues to cause concern around the globe, the insurance industry is facing a potentially far-reaching impact but has the experience to handle what might come its way. Based on what the...
Viewpoint: 4 Things Insurance Firms Can Do to Improve Efficiency, Data Use
Feb 20 2020 // Digital transformation is making it possible for the insurance industry to engage customers with personalized interactions that lead to products and services tailored to their individual insurance needs. Unfortunately, the...
Employment Liability Insurers See Plenty to Worry About, From Biometrics to Harassment
Feb 19 2020 // After Back to the Future 2 was released in 1989, moviegoers could observe Marty McFly as he traveled to his version of 2015 where fingerprints were used to identify a person, to unlock the front door of a house and to pay...
B3i’s Blockchain Platform Places 30 Reinsurance Contracts, Including Cat XoL Treaties
Feb 14 2020 // B3i Services AG, a two-year-old company owned by members of the insurance industry, announced that 30 contracts of reinsurance have been concluded on its platform, including some of the most complex catastrophe excess of...
Private Equity Still Driving Agency M&As
Feb 10 2020 // Digital Buys Getting Some Attention; Buyers Getting Bigger; Prices Going Higher; Eyes on Digital The private equity bandwagon continued to roll through the insurance agency and brokerage mergers and acquisitions territory...
20 Things to Know About Surplus Lines Insurance in 2020
Feb 10 2020 // As we embark upon a new decade, the surplus lines insurance market has never been stronger. Growth in specialty products and demand for insurance protection in an increasingly dynamic, technological climate necessitates a...
A Tale of Two Californias: Managing Wildfire Risk in the Year 2030
Feb 6 2020 // For most of the 20th century, the insurance industry considered wildfires to be little more than a benign nuisance. They occurred frequently but rarely resulted in more than a handful of claims, and underwriters priced for...
Global Insurance Industry M&A Total Reached $12.92B in December
Feb 5 2020 // Total insurance industry merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in December 2019 worth $12.92 billion were announced globally, according to GlobalData’s deals database. The value marked an increase of 470.5% over the...
Best’s See Limited Non-Life Insurance Losses in China From Coronavirus Epidemic
Feb 4 2020 // Rating firm AM Best said it expects that China’s non-life insurance market will experience limited losses from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. The analysts based their outlook on factors including the central...
Selective Insurance Launches Agency Management Collegiate Competition
Feb 3 2020 // Teams of students from seven universities throughout the U.S. today begin a month-long collegiate competition in which they will run virtual insurance agencies in a computer-simulated environment. The competition, called...
Pro Global and VIPR Form Partnership to Deliver End-to-End Solution for MGAs
Jan 30 2020 // Pro Global Holding Ltd., global re/insurance outsourcing and consulting specialists have formed a partnership with VIPR, a software provider that focuses on delegated authorities. This move will see the two combine their...
How should insurance commissioners get the job?
Jan 29 2020 // WARNING: This is a long one. Buckle in. Insurance Journal recently published an article detailing what action the Florida legislature is planning to take this year related to insurance. One item in particular caught my...
Is the Re/Insurance Industry Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Jan 29 2020 // Industry transformations occur when the pain of staying the same is suddenly greater than the pain of changing, according to Karen White, CEO of RMS. “The second thing that has got to be present for those...
