Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Workers’ Compensation Premiums Up 2.2% in First Half of 2019
Oct 7 2019 // In the aggregate, workers’ compensation insurers reported a modest increase in direct written premiums in the U.S. for the first six months of 2019 versus the same period 2018, up 2.2%. However, the 25 carriers with...
How Emerging Risks for Medical Device Manufacturers Create Opportunities for Agents
Oct 7 2019 // The medical device industry is an expanding market with significant growth forecasted over the next decade. According to KPMG data, global predictions reveal the life sciences sector will grow by more than 5% per year,...
Insurers, Tech Firms Scramble to Keep Up With Cyber Risks
Oct 4 2019 // Despite progress, carriers are still falling short in how they approach cyber insurance and also how they cover events when they happen. How can this be? The unique makeup of cyber risks continues to hold them back,...
Texas Surplus Lines Premium Up 16% Over 2018
Oct 3 2019 // Reported Texas surplus lines premium through the first three quarters of 2019 reached $5.35 billion, a 16.15% increase over the same period in 2018, according to the Surplus Line Stamping Office of Texas...
How the Future of Insurtech Innovation Is Tied to the Traditions of Regulation
Oct 3 2019 // It’s no secret: Innovators and regulators often clash. But both are needed to help enable a dynamic, consumer-friendly property/casualty industry in the future, insurance and insurtech experts said...
Survey Suggests Little or No Midwest Economic Growth on Horizon
Oct 2 2019 // The Mid-America Business Conditions index fell further below growth neutral, hitting 49.1 last month compared with 49.3 in August. The figure was 52.0 in July. The decline was the fifth in six months for the overall index,...
Mercury Paying $41M in Decades-Long Court Battle With California Insurance Department
Oct 2 2019 // Mercury Insurance Co. has agreed to pay more than $41 million to end a two-decade long battle with the California Department of Insurance battle over the Los Angeles-based carrier improperly tacking fees onto auto...
Growth Frenzy Around Middle-Market CLOs Expected to Continue
Oct 2 2019 // It’s a marriage between two of Wall Street’s hottest products. Collateralized loan obligations — typically chock-full of broadly-syndicated debt — are increasingly being stuffed with private loans...
Cyber-Attacks Named as Top Business Risk in U.S., Canada and Europe, by WEF Survey
Oct 1 2019 // Cyber-attacks are named as the leading risk for business executives in the United States, Canada and Europe, according to a survey of business leaders published by the World Economic Forum, in partnership with Zurich...
Wildfire Risk in Georgia Increasing Amid Southern Drought
Oct 1 2019 // The ongoing drought has made outdoor burning in Georgia more dangerous than previous years, state officials said. In the past three months, the Georgia Forestry Commission says firefighters have responded to – on average...
North Carolina Homeowners, Mobile Home Rates Going Up
Sep 30 2019 // The North Carolina Department of Insurance and the North Carolina Rate Bureau have settled a legal dispute over a proposed premium increase for homeowners insurance rates, according to a statement from NCDOI. NCDOI has...
London Market’s Early Modernization Program, LM TOM, Is Being Wound Down
Sep 30 2019 // The Board of the London Market Group (LMG) announced that the London Market Target Operating Model (LM TOM) has been wound down in its current form, having delivered the majority of proposed solutions, which are now in...
Strong E&S Premium Growth in Response to Weak Results; Top 15 E&S Writers: Fitch
Sep 30 2019 // Direct written premiums in the U.S. excess and surplus (E&S) lines market during 2018 grew at its greatest rate since 2012, increasing 11% and representing the eighth consecutive year of premium growth, according to...
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Positive for New Hampshire’s Concord Group
Sep 27 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (excellent) and the long-term issuer credit ratings (ICRs) of a+ for New Hampshire-based Concord...
The Hanover Enters Vermont Personal Lines Insurance Market
Sep 25 2019 // The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has expanded its business in Vermont to include personal lines insurance and appointed a group of independent agents in the state to serve its growing customer base. According to The...
Lloyd’s Culture Survey Reveals ‘Ugly’ Levels of Sexual Harassment
Sep 24 2019 // Lloyd’s announced the results of its culture survey, which was commissioned in March in the wake of press reports of rampant sexual harassment in the market. The survey confirms that many women are enduring a toxic...
Michigan Classic Auto Insurer, Hagerty, Driving Into the Future
Sep 23 2019 // Traverse City, Michigan-based Hagerty is evolving to adapt to a changing automotive world. “Our mission as a business is to save driving and car culture for future generations,” said McKeel Hagerty, CEO....
AM Best Revises Outlooks to Negative for Quincy Mutual Group Members
Sep 23 2019 // AM Best has revised the outlooks to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of A+ (superior) and the long-term issuer credit ratings of aa- for the members of Quincy Mutual Group. The group includes...
Staying Profitable in an Increasingly Fragmented World: SCOR Global P&C CEO
Sep 23 2019 // There are several things that keep SCOR’s Jean-Paul Conoscente awake at night. Climate change is one of them; cyber risk is another. Only time will tell whether these risks are actually insurable, cautions...
Re/insurers Rethink Climate Change Risks as Losses Grow from Wildfires, Floods, Hail
Sep 20 2019 // By the time David Kaisel got back from selling his flour at a farmers’ market, a wildfire in California’s Capay Valley had burnt both his tractor and the shipping container where he kept some tools. His insurer...
