Latest Property Casualty Headlines

Liberty Mutual Blames Market for IPO Delay; Analysts Cite High Valuation

Sep 29 2010 // Liberty Mutual Agency Corp. postponed indefinitely its planned initial public offering, quashing hopes that the planned $1.2 billion flotation could give a needed jolt to the U.S. IPO market. The property and casualty...

Surplus Lines Premiums Fall, Again, But Brokers Remain Optimistic

Sep 28 2010 // The surplus lines industry continues to experience a decline in direct premiums written (DPW). For a third consecutive year in 2009, the surplus lines industry’s DPW fell 4.1 percent, an improvement over 2008 where...

America’s Best Independent Agencies to Work For

Sep 20 2010 // Salaries and Benefits Lead but Quality of People and Relationships Win Votes, Too The results are in from the 2010 Best Independent Insurance Agency to Work For survey by Insurance Journal. The owners of the Best Agencies...

People

Sep 20 2010 // Philadelphia Insurance Cos. promoted Christopher J. Maguire and Sean S. Sweeney to co-presidents. Maguire joined Philadelphia Insurance Companies in 1987 and has managed underwriting operations and production. In his most...

Fitch Revises U.S. P/C Industry Outlook to Stable

Sep 20 2010 // Fitch has revised its sector outlook on the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry to stable from negative for both the commercial lines and personal lines sectors. The ratings agency says that a stable outlook for the...

Sep 20 2010 // U.S. P/C Reinsurers’ Premiums Decrease $12.8B in First Half of 2010 A group of 19 U.S.-based property/casualty reinsurers wrote $12.3 billion of net premiums during the six-months ended June 30, 2010, a decrease from...

University Study of P/C Insurers Finds Bad CEOs Can Wreck Companies

Sep 20 2010 // When companies go out of business, their leaders often blame something other than their own performance for the failure. Lehman Bros.’s CEO Richard Fuld said his compensation package had nothing to do with his...

P/C Insurers Post First Half Profit Despite Underwriting Losses

Sep 16 2010 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $16.5 billion in first-half 2010 from $6 billion in first-half 2009, with insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their annualized...

Fitch Revises U.S. P/C Industry Outlook to Stable

Sep 8 2010 // Fitch has revised its sector outlook on the U.S. property/casualty insurance industry to stable from negative for both the commercial lines and personal lines sectors. The ratings agency says that a stable outlook for the...

P/C Industry Shows Slight Premium Growth in Q2, But No Gain in Profits

Sep 6 2010 // The U.S. property/casualty industry experienced modest growth in premiums written but overall the industry saw deterioration in underwriting profitability in second-quarter 2010, fueled by trends among personal lines...

P/C Insurance Brokers Profitable Despite Tough Economy, Soft Pricing

Sep 6 2010 // It takes more than a bad economy and declining prices to weaken property/casualty insurance brokers. Moody’s Investors Service says in its new Industry Scorecard report that the insurance brokerage sector remains...

U.S. P/C Reinsurers’ Premiums Decrease $12.8B in First Half of 2010

Sep 1 2010 // A group of 19 U.S.-based property/casualty reinsurers wrote $12.3 billion of net premiums during the six-months ended June 30, 2010, a decrease from the $12.8 billion net premiums written in the first six months of...

University Study of P/C Insurers Finds Bad CEOs Can Wreck Companies

Aug 31 2010 // When companies go out of business, their leaders often blame something other than their own performance for the failure. Lehman Bros.’s CEO Richard Fuld said his immense compensation package had nothing to do with...

Fitch: Profits Decline for Most U.S. P/C Insurers in First-Half of 2010

Aug 26 2010 // First-half 2010 operating profits declined for most publicly traded property/casualty insurance companies that Fitch Rating follows, according to a new report. However, the $16.2 billion of aggregate net earnings reported...

P/C Insurance Brokers Profitable Despite Tough Economy, Soft Pricing

Aug 25 2010 // It takes more than a bad economy and declining prices to weaken property/casualty insurance brokers. Moody’s Investors Service says in its new Industry Scorecard report that the insurance brokerage sector remains...

M&A Wrap Up: Year-over-Year, M&A Activity Sustains a Moderate Pace

Aug 24 2010 // Insurance brokerage deals in the second quarter of 2010 barely bested the number of deals during the second quarter of 2009 bringing year-over-year activity slightly ahead of last. Forty-six transactions were announced...

P/C Industry Shows Slight Premium Growth in Q2, But No Gain in Profits

Aug 19 2010 // The U.S. property and casualty industry experienced modest growth in premiums written but overall the industry saw deterioration in underwriting profitability in second-quarter 2010, fueled by trends among personal lines...

RSA Confirms Offer to Buy Aviva’s P/C Operations for $7.83 Billion

Aug 16 2010 // UK insurer RSA has confirmed that it has “put forward a proposal to Aviva to acquire its UK, Canadian and Irish general insurance businesses, excluding RAC and Health (the Target Businesses), for £5 billion...

M&A Wrap Up: Year-over-Year, M&A Activity Sustains a Moderate Pace

Aug 16 2010 // Insurance brokerage deals in the second quarter of 2010 barely bested the number of deals during the second quarter of 2009 bringing year-over-year activity slightly ahead of last. Forty-six transactions were announced...

2010 Education & Training Directory

Aug 16 2010 // Insurance Journal is pleased to publish the 2010 Education and Training Directory. This exclusive resource directory has been designed to help independent agents and brokers find educational and training opportunities to...