Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Travelers Affirmed; Outlook Neg.
Feb 10 2003 // S&P’s affirmed its “A-” counterparty credit and senior debt ratings on Travelers Property Casualty Corp. following an announcement that the company will take an after-tax charge of $1.3 billion in...
Midland’s Fourth-Quarter P/C Premiums Up 8.9%
Feb 7 2003 // The Midland Co., a provider of specialty insurance products and services, reported fourth-quarter 2002 net income before capital gains/losses of $7.7 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with $9.3 million, or 51 cents...
S&P’s Revises Zenith National Insurance Corp Outlook
Feb 6 2003 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that it revised its outlook on Zenith National Insurance Corp. and its subsidiaries to negative from stable after Zenith’s announcement on Jan. 20, 2003, that it has...
PIFC Explains Reasons for Recent Homeowners Insurance Premium Increases
Feb 5 2003 // Diane Colborn, vice president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), told the Assembly Insurance Committee earlier today that the most significant factor in recent homeowners insurance premium increases...
I.I.I. Forecast Presents Mixed Bag
Feb 4 2003 // Each year before Groundhog Day, the Insurance Information Institute invites a panel of Wall Street stock analysts and industry professionals to come out of their holes, look around for their shadow and forecast the outlook...
Moody’s Revises AXA Group’s Debt Rating Outlook from Stable to Negative
Jan 31 2003 // Moody’s Investors Service announced that it has changed its outlook to negative from stable on the A1 senior debt and A2 subordinated and junior subordinated debt ratings of France’s AXA group. Moody’s...
Benfield Report Notes “Capital Shortage” May Mean a Difficult Year for Reinsurers
Jan 30 2003 // A reinsurance market review prepared by the London-based Benfield Group, one of the world’s leading independent reinsurance intermediaries, has concluded that “despite the massive tidal wave of new capital...
P/C Pricing Growth Fastest Since 1986
Jan 28 2003 // The insurance industry is well into a rebound from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, with premiums increasing aggressively for more than a year, according to the Chicago-based Raymond James Financial. Greg Peters,...
RenRe Already Looking to 2003 – Sees CWP Up 15%
Jan 28 2003 // Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. doesn’t seem to have lost its touch. Prior to its appearance at conferences sponsored by the New York Society of Securities Analysts and Salomon Smith Barney this week, the...
Risk Retention Groups Owning Up to Success
Jan 27 2003 // Due to the restricted coverages available in the market today, risk retention groups (RRGs) have experienced a significant amount of rapid growth over the past year. At a time when the industry is facing what is perhaps...
Wash. Workplace Injuries Down in 2001
Jan 27 2003 // Washington’s job sites were safer in 2001, continuing a trend that began nearly a decade ago, according to survey results released by the Department of Labor and Industries. The survey showed that 7.6 out of every...
TX Workers’ Comp Costs Per Claim Keep Rising
Jan 27 2003 // A new study by the Workers Compensation Research Institute shows that workers’ compensation costs per claim in Texas continued to increase at double digit rates during recent years. According to WCRI, workers’...
CIAB Market Survey Reports Premiums Still Gaining
Jan 23 2003 // According to a survey by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers (CIAB), more than two-thirds of the small and medium-sized commercial property/casualty accounts and 59 percent of the large accounts experienced...
Penn-America Posts 2002 Income Gains; Q4 Operating Income up 41.7%
Jan 23 2003 // Penn-America Group, Inc. reported that its fourth quarter operating income increased 41.7 percent to $2.9 million or $0.24 per share (basic and diluted), compared with operating income of $2.1 million or $0.18 per share...
S&P Revises Austrian Insurance Market Outlook to “Stable”
Jan 22 2003 // Standard & Poor’s announced that it has revised its outlook for rated Austrian insurers to stable from negative, indicating that insurer financial strength ratings are more likely to remain the same than to be...
Zenith Announces 4th Q Increase in Loss Reserves
Jan 21 2003 // Zenith National Insurance Corp. reported that its actuaries have completed a review of the loss and loss adjustment expense reserves of our insurance companies at Dec. 31, 2002 and have determined that it is necessary to...
New BCBS Survey Points to Impact of Med-Mal Crisis
Jan 16 2003 // The nation’s medical malpractice insurance crisis is threatening healthcare costs and access to care, according to a new survey of the 42 Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies. Blue Plans believe that because...
Lloyd’s Chairman Notes U.S. Premium Income Rises to New High of $8.2B
Jan 16 2003 // In his inaugural speech as Chairman of Lloyd’s of London, Lord Levene confirmed that the U.S. continues to be Lloyd’s largest single market accounting for approximately 40 percent of its business. He announced...
P/C Insurers Feel $6.6B Decline in Investment Gains in First Half of 2002
Jan 13 2003 // Property and casualty insurers suffered a staggering $6.6 billion decline in investment gains during the first six months of 2002, to $18.1 billion from $24.7 billion during the same period in 2001, according to Weiss...
ERC Faces an Uncertain Future
Jan 13 2003 // Employers Reinsurance Corp. (ERC), the chief operating unit of General Electric’s sprawling reinsurance empire, is facing an uncertain future. It’s been hit by the same problems as Munich Re, Swiss Re, SCOR,...
