Latest Trends Headlines
All the headlines from our Trends Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Montana State Fund Down About $26 Million in Market Tumble
Nov 2 2008 // The Montana State Fund lost about $26 million in late September when the stock market plummeted, a fund spokesman said. At about the same time, Montana voters received a pamphlet describing Constitutional Amendment 44....
Risk Managers Report Price Softening; Insurers Battle Surplus Decline
Nov 2 2008 // Property Premiums Fall Sharply; P/C Insurers Post Q3 Losses; Some Sell Stock to Raise Cash for Surplus Woes Risk managers report that commercial policy renewal prices are continuing to drop even as insurers are battling a...
Conning Research: Challenges, Threats Loom for Homeowners Insurance Market
Nov 2 2008 // The five-year period spanning from 2003-2007 served the homeowners insurance line favorably after the dismal 20-year period that preceded it, and return on surplus for the line averaged an estimated 11 percent for those...
Local Governments Increase Homeowners Loss
Nov 2 2008 // Personal Lines Ordinance or Law Exposures Within 10 years of completion (sometimes in as little as five) a house may violate several parts of a community’s most current building codes. Specific jurisdictional...
2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey at a Glance
Nov 2 2008 // The 2008 Insurance Journal Agency E&O Survey, conducted Oct. 3 through Oct. 16, drew 1,042 respondents from 50 states; there were no respondents from the District of Columbia. The five states with the highest...
Hanover Insurance Posts Q3 Loss But CEO Sees Positive Trends
Oct 31 2008 // Worcester-Mass.-based Hanover Insurance Group Inc. posted a $61.8 million quarterly net loss, as like other insurers it felt the pain of storm and investment losses, but the CEO said his company remains in excellent...
Selective Insurance Posts Profit Despite Storm Claims, Investment Decline
Oct 31 2008 // New Jersey-based Selective Insurance Group, Inc. today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008 that included a profit despite storm claims and a drop in investment income. Selective...
Florida Approves Another Rate Decrease for Workers’ Comp
Oct 30 2008 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty approved the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s amended rate filing for workers’ compensation insurance rates that will become effective Jan. 1. The rate...
S&P Affirms Hannover Re’s ‘AA-‘ Ratings and Stable Outlook
Oct 29 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on German reinsurer Hannover Rueckversicherung AG and its core entities...
Reinsurers Expect Financial Storm Will Cause Premium Increases
Oct 28 2008 // The world’s reinsurers expect the intensifying financial market storm will allow them to push through higher prices for the risk cover they offer insurance companies. The world’s No. 2 and No. 4 reinsurers,...
Survey: Insurance Agent Salaries Could Freeze in 2009
Oct 28 2008 // Given today’s tough economic times, most insurance agencies and carriers in the Southern California region are not planning to give their employees cost of living increases in 2009, although many companies have not...
Survey: P/C Premiums Decline Again as Industry Enters ‘Uncertain Times’
Oct 27 2008 // Commercial property/casualty premiums continued a downward slide during the third quarter of 2008, but there were suggestions the market decline may have leveled off, at least between July and September, for small and...
S&P Says QBE, PMI Australia Ratings, Outlooks Unchanged
Oct 24 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said that its ‘A-‘ rating on Australia’s QBE Insurance Group Ltd. and its ‘A+’ ratings on QBE’s core operating entities remain unchanged...
Liberty Mutual Serves Up Loss Control Unit for Insurance Agents, Buyers
Oct 24 2008 // Liberty Mutual Group has created a new loss control organization, Loss Control Advisory Services, to give middle and national market commercial insurance buyers and their agents and broekrs better access to professional...
California Commissioner Announces 5% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Oct 24 2008 // Rejecting the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) call for a 16 percent increase in the benchmark for determining workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner...
S&P Affirms ING’s Group Ratings; Outlook Remains Stable
Oct 22 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its ‘AA-/A-1+’ counterparty credit ratings on both ING Groep N.V. and ING Verzekeringen N.V. S&P also affirmed its ‘AA/A-1+’...
European Commission to Crack Down on Derivatives Risk
Oct 21 2008 // The European Commission said on Friday that it intends to make proposals to control risks in the $60 trillion credit derivatives market, which is seen as one of the causes of the worst financial crisis in 80...
ING Seen up After Dutch Government Cash Deal; Taiwan Life Sale
Oct 21 2008 // The Dutch government has agreed a €10 billion ($13.25 billion) cash injection into financial group ING, and ING shares were expected to rally on Monday after a 27.5 percent slump in the previous session. ING sought...
Brown & Brown: Revenues Up Even as Insurance Prices Falling
Oct 21 2008 // Florida-based insurance agency Brown & Brown, Inc. reported that its total commissions and fees revenues for the third quarter of 2008 increased 8.1 percent over the third quarter of 2007. While revenues were up, net...
Survey: U.S. Firms Prepare for Rise in Litigation After Two Years of Declines
Oct 21 2008 // Following two straight years of reporting declines in the number of new lawsuits and regulatory proceedings — including a drop in large-dollar cases — U.S. companies now anticipate an uptick in new actions and...
