Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Greenhouse Gas Levels Hit Record in 2021 as World Fails to Cap Rising Temperatures
Oct 25 2021 // GENEVA/GLASGOW – Greenhouse gas concentrations hit a record last year and the world is “way off track” on capping rising temperatures, the United Nations said on Monday, showing the task facing climate talks...
AM Best Drops Florida Farm Bureau Outlook to Negative After Surplus Declines
Oct 21 2021 // Credit-rating agency AM Best has downgraded its outlook for Florida Farm Bureau Casualty Co., from stable to negative, due to the company’s declining surplus in a disaster-prone state. “The revised outlooks...
Asset Managers, Including Allianz, to Cut Portfolio Emissions by at Least 25% by 2025
Oct 21 2021 // By 2025, 29 of the world’s biggest pension funds and investment firms, including Allianz SE and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, intend to have cut the emissions of their portfolio holdings...
Great Shakeout Highlights Dwindling Missouri Earthquake Insurance Market
Oct 20 2021 // Millions of Americans will participate in the Great Shakeout on Oct. 21, a day designated to earthquake education and awareness. Annually held on the third Thursday of October, the Great Shakeout encourages schools and...
Treasury Report Offers Insight Into Surge in Ransomware Activity in 2021
Oct 19 2021 // There was $590 million in suspicious activity related to ransomware in the first six months of 2021, exceeding the entire amount in 2020, when $416 million was reported, according to a report released Friday by the U.S....
Insurance Agency M&As Up 13% Thus Far in 2021: Optis
Oct 19 2021 // There were 553 announced insurance agency mergers and acquisitions during the first three quarters of 2021, up from 490 in 2020, According to an OPTIS Partners’ M&A report, that was the highest recorded total for...
Mobility Sector Will Need New Insurance Products to Continue to Grow: Marsh
Oct 18 2021 // For the sharing economy and mobility sectors to continue to grow, they will need new forms of insurance, including programs to support gig-workers at scale, advises a report from insurance broker Marsh. According to the...
Munich Re, Hannover Re Expect Rising Prices After Floods in Germany
Oct 18 2021 // German reinsurance companies Munich Re and Hannover Rueck said on Monday they expect rising prices for their business in Europe next year, citing mid-July floods in central Europe, inflation and the coronavirus...
‘Lost’ Rolex Watch Turns Up at Washington Jeweler, Owner Faces Fraud Charge
Oct 18 2021 // Christopher Michalke, of Seattle, Wash., was charged in King County Superior Court with one felony count of filing a false insurance claim for a $14,753 Rolex watch after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike...
The Future of Insurance
Oct 18 2021 // Amidst all the acquisitions and insurtech startups and disintermediation discussions, a bigger issue is being missed. The result is that all these firms are fighting over a dying industry. The reason the insurance industry...
How Agents Can Help Clients with the State of the Insurance Market
Oct 18 2021 // One of Oak & Associates’ key clients in Oregon, Blake Schellenberg of RPIS wrote a newsletter to their clients outlining all of the rate increases they were seeing by line of business. RPIS’ management sent...
Adapting and Evolving to Meet Future Demands
Oct 18 2021 // Automation, artificial intelligence, IoT and other advancements are disrupting the insurance industry, creating a wealth of possibilities for digital transformation and evolution. Savvy insurers are embracing these new...
Agencies Made Progress With Technology During Pandemic but Data Issues Remain Obstacle to Digital Future
Oct 18 2021 // It’s difficult enough keeping up with the latest trends in agency technology let alone trying to do it during a global pandemic. But industry technology experts say independent agencies made progress, with many...
Aon Projects Health Costs for Large Companies to Rise 5% in 2022
Oct 14 2021 // Costs for large U.S. employers that pay for their employees’ medical care will increase on average five percent to more than $13,000 per employee in 2022, predicts insurance broker Aon. This increase would be...
Life Insurance Sector at Risk if Bond Yields Rise Sharply: IMF
Oct 14 2021 // The life insurance industry is at risk if there is a sharp rise in bond yields, with an extreme situation potentially causing insurers to liquidate investments reaching $1 trillion in the United States and Europe, the...
Idaho’s Workers’ Comp Rates Decreasing 7% for 2022
Oct 13 2021 // The National Council on Compensation Insurance recently submitted its annual rate recommendation. NCCI’s recommendation is based on claims volume, claims utilization, workforce, and wages, as well as any changes in...
Top 10 P/C Insurance Market Conduct Issues
Oct 13 2021 // The U.S. insurance industry’s top compliance shortcomings relate to claims handling noncompliance, including timeliness, required disclosures, payments and grievance and appeal processes—as well as underwriting,...
Following Last Year’s Rate Hike, Alabama DOI to Hold Hearing on Comp Decrease
Oct 12 2021 // The Alabama Department of Insurance will hold a hearing Nov. 16 on a proposed, significant decrease in workers’ compensation loss costs and rating values. A filing by the National Council on Compensation Insurance...
Looking to 1918 Pandemic for Clues on Emerging From COVID-19
Oct 12 2021 // Karen Baldridge rolled up her sleeve to get her covid-19 booster vaccine. “I’m trying to baby myself and (am) doing everything that I can to keep healthy,” she said this past week while at Excela Square...
J.D. Power Agents’ Survey Reveals Top-Ranked P/C Carriers (Story in Charts)
Oct 8 2021 // Neglected no more. Independent agents are feeling the love from property/casualty insurance carriers—and the scores they are giving carriers are moving higher, J.D. Power reports. According to results of the J.D. Power...
