Latest Property Casualty Headlines

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

Nationwide Reports P/C Premium Up 6% in Q1; Weather Lowers P/C Profit

May 12 2014 // Nationwide reported total operating revenue of $6.1 billion for the first three months of 2014, up 5 percent over the same period last year and steady compared to fourth quarter 2013. First quarter operating earnings were...

Bill Would Give Tax Relief to Small, Rural P/C Insurers

May 12 2014 // About 600 small mutual property/casualty insurers serving rural communities would get a tax break under federal legislation filed last week in Congress. Introduced by Reps. Erik Paulsen, R-Minn., Ron Kind, D- Wis., and...

Cone Joins Wholesaler Socius to Build Southeast

May 8 2014 // Socius Insurance Services Inc., a management liability and property/casualty insurance wholesaler, has hired Brian Cone to join its Property & Casualty practice. Cone will be based in Birmingham. Cone’s former...

Swiss Re Posts $1.226 Billion Q1 Net Income

May 7 2014 // Swiss Re reported group net income of $1.226 billion for the first quarter of 2014, compared to $1.38 billion in the first quarter of 2013. The bulletin noted that the 11 percent drop should be seen in light of the...

AIG Profit Falls 27% in Q1; Hurt by Catastrophes, Severe Losses

May 6 2014 // Global insurer American International Group Inc. (AIG) reported net income of $1.6 billion for the first quarter, a 27 percent drop compared to $2.2 billion for the first quarter of 2013. After-tax operating income was...

Berkshire Hathaway 1Q P/C Re/Insurance Results Down from Last Year

May 5 2014 // Berkshire-Hathaway’s primary property/casualty operations recorded double-digit gains in premiums and pre-tax earnings in the first quarter, but P/C reinsurance results contributed to a 6.6 percent drop in operating...

10 Challenges Ahead for Workers’ Compensation

May 5 2014 // Today’s challenges are also tomorrow’s opportunities depending on the viewpoint. Those same opportunities could also remain tomorrow’s challenges. This special report highlights 10 current workers’...

XL Group to Sell Life Re Sub for $570 Million; Best Sees No Rating Change

May 2 2014 // XL Group plc announced that XL Insurance (Bermuda) Ltd has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its wholly-owned subsidiary, XL Life Reinsurance (SAC) Ltd (XLLR), to GreyCastle Holdings Ltd. for $570 million in...

ACE Limited Reports $734 Million Q1 Net Income; $777 Million Operating

Apr 30 2014 // ACE Limited report first quarter, 2014 net income of $734 million, compared to $953 million in Q1, 2013. The decrease came from the capital gain/loss side of the ledger. ACE posted a $207 million capital gain in Q1, 2013,...

Hartford Reports Third Straight Quarterly Profit

Apr 29 2014 // Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. weathered a tough winter to achieve its third straight quarterly profit with first-quarter net income of $495 million, compared to a $241 million loss for the first quarter last...

Mass. Regulator on Boston Bombing Claims, TRIA Reauthorization Effort

Apr 23 2014 // Massachusetts Division of Insurance’s last data call showed that the vast majority of insurance claims stemming from the Boston marathon bombing tragedy have been resolved. The data also revealed that among the 160...

2013 P/C Insurers’ Results Show Net Gain on Underwriting– First Since 2007

Apr 21 2014 // U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes grew to $63.8 billion in 2013 from $35.1 billion in 2012, with insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their rate of return on average...

Best Upgrades Ratings for Most ACE Limited Subsidiaries; Outlooks Stable

Apr 15 2014 // A.M. Best has upgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A++’ (Superior) from ‘A+’ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “aa+” from “aa” of the North...

Chile Quake, Tsunami Losses Unlikely to Affect Local Insurers’ Ratings: Fitch

Apr 11 2014 // A bulletin from Fitch Ratings indicates that, based on preliminary analysis, Chile’s insurance industry solvency “will not be affected by the recent Iquique earthquake and tsunami. Chilean property/casualty...

NAPCO Report: Prices Decreasing, Competition Increasing in P&C Space

Apr 10 2014 // Insurers have become increasingly competitive and are reducing rates for most accounts as a result of low global insured catastrophe losses and added capacity from non-traditional market sources, according to wholesale...

P/C Reinsurance Market Softer Due to Alternative Capital: Execs

Apr 7 2014 // A new survey from Towers Watson confirms that more than half (55 percent) of property/casualty insurance chief financial officers believe the property reinsurance market is softer than the primary market, while about...

Agency M&A in 2013 Reverted to Norm After Busy 2012: OPTIS Partners

Apr 7 2014 // Mergers and acquisitions of insurance agencies fell in 2013, with 248 reported transactions in the United States and Canada, according to a new semi-annual survey by OPTIS Partners, an investment banking and financial...

A.M. Best Revises Hartford Financial, P/C Units’ Outlook to Positive

Apr 4 2014 // Rating agency A.M. Best changed the outlook associated with the “A” financial strength rating of the members of the Hartford Insurance Pool to positive from stable Thursday, citing a reduced risk from variable...

Reinsurance Price Drop Seen Triggering Lower P/C Rates

Apr 2 2014 // A downward slide in reinsurance prices showed clear signs of accelerating in April contract renewals and is likely to feed through to property/casualty insurance prices before long, broker Willis said this week. Reinsurers...

ACE Names Charlton President of P/C and Micro-Business Division

Apr 1 2014 // ACE Group today announced that David Charlton has been appointed president of the Property and Casualty and Micro-business Division for ACE Commercial Risk Services. He will lead ACE’s expansion efforts into the...