Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Is Insurance Industry Falling in Love With Technology Again?
Jun 1 2015 // Back in the 2000s, shortly after the dot-com bubble, I remember being part of discussions where the role of technology within the insurance industry was being debated. At the time, there was a strong drive to outsource in...
Insurers Get Ready to Comply With New Mississippi Property Insurance Clarity Act
May 27 2015 // Property insurers in Mississippi have until October 1, 2015 to respond to the Mississippi Insurance Department’s (MID) first call for homeowners’ insurance policy data that will be used to satisfy the...
For P/C Insurers, 2014 Was Better Than Average Year
May 26 2015 // Analysts who predicted the U.S. property/casualty industry would have a tough time topping its 2013 results in 2014 were largely correct as there was some slippage. However, while property/casualty insurers were not as...
‘Outside Forces’ are Changing the Industry: Markel’s Kumana Has Solutions
May 21 2015 // Darius Kumana leads a new team with a new mission that aims to bring the re/insurance industry into the 21st century. He recently joined Markel International in London as head of IT and Digital Strategy – specialties...
European Insurance Forum Examines a Changing World
May 18 2015 // With the long journey towards a unified regulatory system for insurance in the European Union – Solvency II – finally appearing to be near its end, the re/insurance industry has realized that even greater...
A.M. Best: Middle Eastern Insurance Market Primed for M&As, Stakebuilding
May 18 2015 // Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity and stakebuilding is gaining momentum in the Middle East as financially strong and profitable insurers seek to deploy surplus capital to broaden their profiles and satisfy...
N.Y. Enacts New Rules to Rein In Title Insurance Industry
May 18 2015 // New York announced new regulations on title insurers on April 29 that officials say will prevent homebuyers from being charged for inappropriate fees. The proposed rules come after a state investigation found that some...
Insurers Get Ready to Comply With New Mississippi Property Insurance Clarity Act
May 18 2015 // Property insurers in Mississippi have until October 1, 2015 to respond to the Mississippi Insurance Department’s (MID) first call for homeowners’ insurance policy data that will be used to satisfy the...
Cyber, Talent, Data Among Game Changers for Insurers
May 18 2015 // Protecting clients against growing and poorly understood risks associated with information technology system failures is a leading concern of the insurance industry today, according to a group of prominent underwriters and...
Fitch Upgrades Citizens to ‘AA-‘, Outlook Stable
May 14 2015 // Fitch Ratings has upgraded the rating on the following senior secured bonds of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp., FL, PLA/CLA to ‘AA-‘ from ‘A+’: –$1.1 billion series 2012A-1; –$200...
China’s Fosun Plans to Raise $1 Billion to Fund Insurance Industry Acquisitions
May 11 2015 // Fosun International Ltd., the Chinese conglomerate that’s been buying insurers and property overseas, plans to raise $1 billion partly to fund acquisitions in the insurance industry. The company will sell the shares...
UK Elects the Conservatives, but Question of EU Status Remains
May 8 2015 // “Heavy Fog In Channel. Continent Cut Off.” That often quoted newspaper headline, which dates from at least the 1930’s, captures the ambivalent feelings the British have about their European neighbors....
Nepal Quake Impact ‘Minimal on Global Reinsurers;’ Locally Severe: A.M. Best
May 8 2015 // A.M. Best’s analysis of the damages caused by the earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015, describes the “significant property damages and fatalities in the Himalayan country.” However, no accurate...
Insurers See Impact from Wearable Devices Within 2 Years
May 6 2015 // Nearly two-thirds of insurers expect wearable technologies to have a significant impact on the industry, according to a survey in Accenture’s annual Technology Vision report. The survey of more than 200 insurance...
How Wearable Devices Could Disrupt the Insurance Industry
May 6 2015 // Nearly 50 years after Captain Kirk began using his wrist communicator on the television show, Star Trek, wearable technology is taking hold. From Fitbit and Nike Fuelbands to Google Glass and Golden-I, the technology is...
India’s Raise of Foreign Insurers’ Investment Cap a ‘Positive Step’: AIA
May 6 2015 // Stephen Simchak, director of international affairs for the American Insurance Association (AIA) In his testimony before the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on trade and investment policies in India. Has welcomed...
Florida Commissioner McCarty Touts State Regulation Before Congress
May 6 2015 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty championed flexible state insurance regulation and warned against “one-size-fits-all” bank-like regulation for insurers in recent testimony before the U.S. Senate...
Southeast Schools Hoping to Fill Need for Insurance Cybersecurity Experts
May 5 2015 // The insurance industry, like other businesses, has come to realize it needs to do more to protect its companies, customers, employees and portfolios from cyber threats. Cyber-savvy professionals are in high-demand and are...
Fitch Upgrades Citizens’ Coastal Account, Outlook Stable
May 5 2015 // Fitch Ratings has assigned an ‘AA-‘ rating to the following senior secured bonds of the Citizens Property Insurance Corp., Coastal Account (formerly known as the High Risk Account): –$750 million series...
‘Hungry’ Insurers Continued to Cut Commercial Prices in Q1: CIAB
May 4 2015 // Insurance brokers report that the commercial property/casualty market continued to soften in the first quarter of 2015, with large accounts seeing the biggest price declines. On average, small, medium and large accounts...
