Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Why Customer Satisfaction Is Falling for Large Auto Insurers, Rising for Small: J.D. Power
Jun 21 2016 // After climbing in each of the past two years, customer satisfaction is falling among the nation’s largest auto insurers, while satisfaction is actually up a tad for small insurers. This rising dissatisfaction with...
Environmentalists Warn of Spill Risk from Increasing Oil Shipments on Hudson River
Jun 21 2016 // The Hudson River may still become a major corridor for the shipment of thick, tar sands oil from Canada despite moves last year by New York officials that many thought stopped those efforts. At issue is a key air permit...
AXA Plans $2.4B in Cost Cuts by 2020; Acquisitions Eyed for Growth
Jun 21 2016 // AXA SA, France’s largest insurer, plans to increase profitability through 2020 by seeking 2.1 billion euros ($2.4 billion) of cost cuts and growing digital investments to tap rising demand for policies protecting...
Construction Market Keeps Building: Brokers’ Outlook on Current & Future Opportunities
Jun 20 2016 // Amid ups and downs, the construction market has seen steady growth over the past four years, and now construction insurance specialists believe the market is set to finally start to heat up. The intense competition has...
Commercial Insurance Pricing Inched Up in Q1: Willis Towers Watson
Jun 20 2016 // Commercial insurance prices increased only a bit in aggregate (less than 1 percent) during the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS). While price changes in the...
How Autonomous Car Sales Will Accelerate in Next Two Decades
Jun 20 2016 // Global sales of autonomous vehicles will reach nearly 21 million vehicles by 2035, a substantial increase from previous estimates, according to a forecast from auto industry information firm IHS Automotive. Roughly 600,000...
How to Avoid D&O Policy Pitfalls – and Declined Claims: Marsh Report
Jun 20 2016 // When a directors and officers (D&O) claim is declined, it can be catastrophic for an insured, forcing the company to deal with “the financial costs of a claim or loss entirely on its own,” according to a...
As On-Demand Economy Grows, Professor Sees New Kind of Capitalism Emerging
Jun 16 2016 // It goes by many names: the “sharing economy,” the “gig economy,” the “on-demand economy.” Arun Sundararajan, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business who has...
Outlook for Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Revised to Negative
Jun 14 2016 // A.M. Best has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of C++ (Marginal) and the issuer credit rating of “b” of Farmers Alliance Mutual Insurance Co. (Farmers...
Storm Model Forecasts Beach Changes and How Far Ocean Will Overrun
Jun 14 2016 // When John Couch is certain a storm will hit Hatteras Island, he goes into action, moving merchandise in his auto parts store from bottom shelves to top ones and hauling away the most valuable items. But at 64 years old,...
Ongoing Soft Market Tops Reinsurers’ Concerns: Xuber Survey
Jun 14 2016 // Soft market conditions continue to be the biggest concern for the industry, followed by regulation, competition from third party capital, low investment returns, cyber crime and maintaining underwriting discipline,...
Commercial Insurance Pricing Inched Up in Q1: Willis Towers Watson
Jun 13 2016 // Commercial insurance prices increased only a bit in aggregate (less than 1 percent) during the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS). While price changes in the...
Women Are 30 Years From Attaining 30% of Seats on Boards: Report
Jun 13 2016 // It will take 30 years at the current pace of change for women to attain just 30 percent of the seats on executive committees in the financial services industry globally, an Oliver Wyman report said on Monday. Globally...
California State Fund Files for Workers’ Comp Rate Decrease
Jun 9 2016 // The State Compensation Insurance Fund is seeking to cut its workers’ compensation rates, per a recent filing with the California Department of Insurance. The rate filing also includes an overall 9.5 percent rate...
Missouri Regulator: Risk Increases as Earthquake Insurance Market Shrinks
Jun 9 2016 // More than a half million Missourians are at risk because of the contracting earthquake insurance market, Missouri Department of Insurance Director John M. Huff said during the recent Heartland Insurance Symposium in Kansas...
Outlooks Revised to Stable for Hallmark Financial Services, Subsidiaries
Jun 9 2016 // Ratings agency, A.M. Best, has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A- (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a-” of the members of...
Traffic Deaths Down in Hawaii Since 2012 DUI Towing Law Enacted
Jun 9 2016 // Hawaii Island has seen a decrease in traffic fatalities since the implementation of a county ordinance that permits the towing of vehicles driven by those driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Hawaii...
Miller Begins Succession Plans with New CEO Lined Up for 2017
Jun 9 2016 // Commencing its board succession plans, London-based Miller Insurance Services LLP announced that Greg Collins will be appointed deputy chief executive officer, with an aim to name him CEO next year. Miller also has...
Here’s How Autonomous Car Sales Will Accelerate in Next Two Decades
Jun 9 2016 // Global sales of autonomous vehicles will reach nearly 21 million vehicles by 2035, a substantial increase from previous estimates, according to a forecast from the automobile industry information firm IHS Automotive. By...
Doak Deems Oklahoma Earthquake Insurance Market ‘Noncompetive’
Jun 8 2016 // Oklahoma’s top insurance regulator has determined that there’s a definite lack of competition in the earthquake insurance market in Oklahoma and ordered insurers to change the way they file rates for the...
