Latest Market Headlines
All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Hartwig Turns Back King Hammurabi’s Playbook on Resilience
Jul 24 2014 // The U.S. government today may be starting to embrace concepts that date back to Babylonian King Hammurabi’s reign some 3,800 years ago. When President Barack Obama on July 16 issued a set of climate change...
Q1 P/C Direct Premium Written Up 3.5 Percent
Jul 21 2014 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2013, nearly $545 billion of DPW was reported, a record high for the industry. For 2013, total DPW...
McCafferty to Become CEO of UK’s Flood Re: ABI
Jul 18 2014 // A bulletin from the Association of British Insurers announces that “Brendan McCafferty has been appointed CEO of Flood Re, after a selection process run by the Flood Re directors and senior representatives from the...
Senate Passes TRIA Renewal with Broker Licensing Provision
Jul 17 2014 // In a 93-4 vote, the Senate today passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014 (S. 2244 ) that extends the federal reinsurance program for seven years. In addition to extending the Terrorism Risk...
Fitch Forecasts Shrinking P/C Insurer Profits
Jul 17 2014 // Fitch Ratings is forecasting that 2014 will end up as the second consecutive year of underwriting profits for the property/casualty industry with modest increase in the combined ratio. But the results for 2014 won’t...
Construction P&C Premiums Slump 10-30% Due to Overcapacity: Willis Report
Jul 15 2014 // “Overcapacity in the international construction, property & casualty markets in the first half of 2014 has resulted in rate reductions of up to 30 percent for commercial insurance buyers,” according to a...
Insurers in Dash for Expertise to Master Cyber Risk Insurance
Jul 14 2014 // Insurers are eagerly eyeing exponential growth in the tiny cyber coverage market but their lack of experience and skills handling hackers and data breaches may keep their ambitions in check. High profile cases of hackers...
Hidden Perils of California’s Proposed Health Insurance Price Controls
Jul 7 2014 // In November, California voters will decide whether to implement state government price controls on health insurance. Insurance agents and brokers are certain to be asked by their clients whether this ballot measure merits...
MAPFRE Insurance Enters Pennsylvania Auto, Home Insurance Market
Jul 3 2014 // MAPFRE Insurance has entered the Pennsylvania insurance market. MAPFRE’s operations in Pennsylvania will be headquartered in King of Prussia and the company will offer private passenger automobile and homeowners...
CGSC Expands Wholesale Brokerage Business in Latin America
Jul 3 2014 // Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford (CGSC), the independent global wholesale and reinsurance broker, announced plans to expand its Swett & Crawford wholesale brokerage business into the Latin American market. The growth...
UN, IIS, Willis Urge ‘Convergence of Communities’ to Face Climate Change
Jul 2 2014 // The third day of the International Insurance Society’s Annual Seminar was an all-day session devoted entirely to the threat posed by climate change, the studies of its risks and the solutions available to face...
Uber, Lyft, Sidecar Toe-to-Toe With Insurers State-by-State
Jun 27 2014 // The share-and-share-alike attitude considered a virtue by some has the potential to create a rift between between ridesharing companies and insurance companies. “We try not to make it a battle,” said Robert...
50th International Insurance Society Seminar Convenes in London
Jun 23 2014 // The International Insurance Society (IIS) has come a long way since its first meeting in a conference room in Austin, Texas. The 50th edition of its annual conclave opened this morning in London at the Park Plaza...
Texas Property/Casualty Symposium to Focus on Insurance Industry Changes
Jun 19 2014 // The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) will host its 22nd Annual Mid-Year Property & Casualty Symposium in Austin on July 17. Speakers include industry leaders from the Insurance Information Institute (III), the...
House Panel Unveils TRIA Extension Bill
Jun 17 2014 // Property/casualty insurers are welcoming the unveiling of a House terrorism insurance bill as a sign of progress even though there are provisions in it they oppose. Introduced by Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, chairman of...
How New Capital is Changing P/C Industry and What To Do About It
Jun 17 2014 // As waves of capital reshape reinsurer’s business model, the property/casualty insurance industry needs to change although exactly how remains a matter of debate. Reinsurers face a growing threat from the capital...
Progress Report on Women, Diversity in the P/C Industry with IICF
Jun 16 2014 // Three property/casualty insurance industry women executives discuss the value of diversity in the industry, progress they see being made in increasing diversity at their own companies and across the industry, and what...
Nationwide to Re-Enter N.J. Auto Insurance Market
Jun 16 2014 // New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski said on June 6 that Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company has been approved to write auto insurance in New Jersey, and the company will begin...
U.K. Insurers Should Cap Replacement-Car Costs, Watchdog Says
Jun 12 2014 // U.K. insurers should have a cap placed on the cost of replacement cars for drivers at fault for accidents to help reduce insurance premiums, the country’s Competition and Markets Authority said in a draft opinion...
California Regulators Want Insurers to Speed Up Ridesharing Policies
Jun 11 2014 // The California Public Utilities Commission wants the insurance industry to get off its duff and start creating some products to offer to ridesharing drivers. A proposal issued by CPUC on Tuesday further defines ridesharing...
