Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Last Year Was Among Earth’s 3 Hottest Years on Record, Climate Report Shows
Aug 13 2020 // Last year will be remembered as among the world’s hottest, while greenhouse gases reached their highest levels on record, according to the 30th annual State of the Climate report. The international annual review of...
COVID-19 a Growing Share of Shrinking Work Comp Claims in 2 States
Aug 11 2020 // COVID-19 has become a large chunk of a dwindling number of workers’ compensation claims in Florida and California, limited data shows. The number of COVID-19 workers’ compensation claims reported in California...
Global Commercial Insurance Rates Up 19% on COVID-19, Other Large Losses: Marsh
Aug 10 2020 // Global average commercial insurance prices increased 19% in the second quarter of 2020, according to the latest Global Insurance Market Index released by broker and risk adviser Marsh. The increase, the largest since the...
Half of Insurance Agencies Lack a Digital Strategy, Applied Systems Survey Finds
Aug 10 2020 // A little more than half (51%) of independent insurance agencies and brokerages say they have some sort of digital strategy in place, with larger firms more likely than smaller to have one. That’s according to...
World’s Three Hottest Julys on Record Occurred During Last Five Years
Aug 7 2020 // Last month was the world’s third-hottest July on record, new data show — the latest milestone in a global warming trend that has seen the three hottest Julys within the last five years. With the heat has come a...
Australia to Spend $1.2B to Beef Up Private Sector’s Cyber Defenses After Rise in Attacks
Aug 7 2020 // Australia will spend A$1.66 billion ($1.19 billion) over the next 10 years to strengthen the cyber defenses of companies and households after a rise in cyber attacks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Thursday. Cyber...
The Future of Insurance Industry Will Not Be Decided by Insurtechs Alone: Viewpoint
Aug 6 2020 // Insurtech was once the Wild West of the insurance industry. Many of insurtech’s early players came from outside insurance after observing the industry struggle to deliver what was, in their view, a competitive...
Increasingly Popular Industrial Robots Are Vulnerable to Cyber Attacks, Report Warns
Aug 6 2020 // Industrial robots are now being used to assemble everything from airplanes to smartphones, using human-like arms to mechanically repeat the same processes over and over, thousands of times a day with nanometric...
Insurer AXA, With H1 Net Income Down 40%, Warns of Future COVID-19 Shocks
Aug 6 2020 // AXA SA’s profit sank in the first half as it booked a 1.5 billion-euro ($1.8 billion) charge for claims related to COVID-19 and warned of further shocks from the pandemic. The French insurer saw net income fall 39%...
UK Insurer Direct Line’s H1 Profits Beat Forecasts as Auto Claims Drop During Lockdown
Aug 4 2020 // Insurer Direct Line gave a double bonus to shareholders on Tuesday as first-half profits beat expectations due to a slump in motor claims as Britons drove less during the coronavirus lockdown. Britain’s biggest car...
AstraZeneca Gets Protection from Future Product Liability Claims for COVID Vaccine
Aug 3 2020 // AstraZeneca has been granted protection from future product liability claims related to its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful by most of the countries with which it has struck supply agreements, a senior executive told...
Marsh & McLennan Profit Up in Q2; CEO Sees Aon-Willis Merger ‘Good’ for MMC
Jul 30 2020 // The pending acquisition by insurance broker Aon of rival Willis Towers Watson is “not good for the market or for clients but is good for Marsh & McLennan,” commented Daniel Glaser, president and chief...
The Importance of Forensic Accounting to Future Hurricane BI Claims
Jul 30 2020 // As a licensed general contractor and a certified public accountant in South Florida who has been advising clients in accounting- and construction-related issues for the past 15 years, I have seen hurricane seasons come and...
Rising Virus Cases Spark Concern for Florida Nursing Homes
Jul 29 2020 // The coronavirus transformed Florida’s nursing homes into closely guarded fortresses beginning in March, with the state banning family visits, isolating infected residents in separate wings and now requiring staff be...
Workers Compensation Rates Could Start Rising in 2021, Says W.R. Berkley CEO
Jul 28 2020 // For W.R. Berkley Corp. and most other workers’ compensation carriers, rates have declined for some time. That trend could start reversing itself starting in 2021, CEO W. Robert Berkley Jr. predicted...
Plastic Pollution in Oceans Expected to Triple by 2040
Jul 24 2020 // The annual flow of plastics into our oceans is on a trajectory to triple over the next 20 years, which could add up to 110 pounds of plastic trash for every meter of coastline worldwide, a new report finds. That path is...
New Lloyd’s Syndicate-in-a-Box Created to Insure Transport of Future COVID-19 Vaccine
Jul 23 2020 // Lloyd’s, the specialist insurance and reinsurance market, announced the creation and in principle approval of its newest “syndicate-in-a-box,” Syndicate 1796,* set up to insure the storage and...
Half of Insurance Agencies Lack a Digital Strategy, Applied Systems Survey Finds
Jul 23 2020 // A little more than half (51%) of independent insurance agencies and brokerages say they have some sort of digital strategy in place, with larger firms more likely than smaller to have one. That’s according to...
France Weighs Insurance Options to Protect Companies, Jobs from Future Pandemics
Jul 21 2020 // The French government is looking at ways to shield companies from the impact of future pandemics. The goal is to protect companies and jobs from the damage that major events such as pandemics can cause, Finance Minister...
Americans Ignore Work-From-Home Cyber Attack Risks: Chubb Survey
Jul 16 2020 // A large number of Americans working from home due to the coronavirus pandemic aren’t worried about cyber attacks even though they’re at greater risk compared to working in the office, Chubb found in a new...