Latest Trends Headlines

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

Report Shows California Workers’ Comp Written Premium up in 2016

May 1 2017 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has completed its report on statewide workers’ comp insurer loss and premium experience through Dec. 31, 2016. The major findings of the WCIRB...

MetLife CEO Says Businesses Must Give Up Tax Breaks for Lower Tax Rate

Apr 28 2017 // MetLife Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Kandarian said industries must be willing to forfeit some of their advantages in the tax code in order for the U.S. to seize a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to...

Hackers’ Ransom Demands Rise as Victims Keep Paying: Symantec

Apr 27 2017 // Hackers are demanding increasingly hefty ransoms to free computers paralyzed with viruses, as cyber criminals seek to maximize profits from large numbers of victims willing to pay up, according to cyber security firm...

Political Risk Tops List of Worries for Insurers Across Globe: GS Survey

Apr 27 2017 // Political risk is the biggest concern this year for insurers globally, following several shock outcomes in 2016, a survey of insurers managing $10 trillion in assets showed on Thursday. Political events have overtaken...

Crashes at North Carolina Rail Crossings Down 42% in 2016

Apr 26 2017 // A North Carolina rail safety group says collisions at highway crossings dropped by 42 percent in 2016. The report from North Carolina Operation Lifesaver says there were 39 collisions last year, compared with 67 in...

ILS Market Continues Growth Trend in Q1 2017: Willis Towers Watson

Apr 26 2017 // Non-life insurance-linked securities (ILS) capital grew again in Q1 2017, continuing the trend from 2016, according to the latest ILS Market Update from Willis Towers Watson Securities, the investment banking business of...

Global Protectionism Risks Economic Growth: Zurich, Atlantic Council

Apr 26 2017 // A rise in global protectionism stemming from a backlash against free trade and globalization could have significant impact on economic growth, poverty levels and the potential for military conflict, according to a new...

Realities of Today’s Commercial Insurance Market: Willis Towers Watson

Apr 26 2017 // Fluid capital and ample capacity has kept the commercial insurance sector stable overall and also a buyers’ market. That reality holds despite potential regulatory and monetary policies pending in Washington, D.C....

Demand Rises for Political Risk Cover as Buyers Think the Unthinkable

Apr 25 2017 // Rocked by a shakeup in the Western political order, companies are buying more insurance to protect themselves against the threat of rising protectionism and upheaval to their operations in emerging markets. Insurers say...

AIG Study Shows How, Why M&A Insurance Claims Frequency Is Rising

Apr 24 2017 // The frequency of insurance claims surrounding mergers and acquisitions (M&As) is rising as large deals prove risky and the average payout on the most severe category of claims tops $20 million, according to an American...

Wyoming Flood Preparations Follow Flood Predictions

Apr 21 2017 // Fremont County, Wyo. residents and disaster response officials are making preparations for spring flooding. Predictions are that the county could see its biggest runoff from the mountain snowpack in decades. National...

Global Insurance Industry Set to Grow by 4.5% in 2017-2018: Munich Re

Apr 21 2017 // The global insurance industry is set to grow more strongly at 4.5 percent per annum on average (3.0 percent in real terms, or adjusted for inflation) during 2017 and 2018, according to Munich Re. While premium income is...

Number of Indiana Deer-Vehicle Collisions Down in 2016

Apr 20 2017 // The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says the number of deer struck by motor vehicles in the state fell last year. The number of deer harvested in 2016 fell as well. The agency says deer-vehicle collisions across...

Slow Computers & Internet, Outdated Systems Demoralize EU Workers: Survey

Apr 20 2017 // It was the third hour of doing nothing that broke James Scott. The 25-year-old researcher was sitting at his desk at an insurance firm in northern England when the internet went down. And with it went access to all of his...

Future Tech to Create Lower Claims Frequency, New Threats: Allianz Report

Apr 20 2017 // Technology is expected to be a major driver of liability claims in the years ahead – cutting frequency and increasing new threats such as cyber, product liability and recall risk, according a report published by Allianz...

Insurers Increasingly Embrace Robots over Humans for Customer Service

Apr 19 2017 // Frustrated with automated answering machines before you finally get to speak with a customer service representative? When it comes to insurance, you’ll just as likely end up dealing with a robot as a human within...

Swiss Re Gears Up to Launch Subsidiary in Singapore in 2018

Apr 18 2017 // Swiss Re plans to launch in 2018 a subsidiary in Singapore, which will become the company’s regional headquarters for its reinsurance operations in Asia. The company, Swiss Re Asia, will be wholly owned by its...

Report Shows California Workers’ Comp Written Premium up in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has completed its report on statewide workers’ comp insurer loss and premium experience through Dec. 31, 2016. The major findings of the WCIRB...

Insurance Rates for Architects, Engineers Stabilize or Decline in 2016: Survey

Apr 17 2017 // Although a slim majority of insurance companies providing architects and engineers professional liability insurance saw their rates stabilize in 2016, nearly one in three experienced modest rate decreases, according to a...

Top 25: P/C Direct Premium Written Up 4 Percent in 2016

Apr 17 2017 // Direct premium written (DPW) for property/casualty insurance companies continues to increase, albeit gradually. At year-end 2015, more than $582 billion of DPW was reported. For 2016, total DPW for all P/C insurers...