Latest Underwriting Headlines

Aug 22 2005 // Calabasas, Calif.-based Lionheart Insurance Services has hired Russ McFarren as an excess and surplus broker. He began his insurance career in Ohio and relocated to Los Angeles in 1963 with the Pacific Indemnity Insurance...

Is the New “American Dream” Owning a Converted Apartment?

Aug 22 2005 // When I first heard from someone I knew that was excited about purchasing an apartment that had been “converted” into a condominium, it really piqued my curiosity. Excited? Purchased? Apartment? Converted?? I...

Catastrophe Models No Substitute for Experienced Underwriters

Aug 22 2005 // Managing Editor, Insurance Insider Computer programs designed to predict losses from possible cataclysmic events have been a boon to the insurance industry-the programs have reinforced reinsurers’ loss expectations,...

Harleysville Group Appoints Whitlock, Chief Underwriting Officer; Becker, Chief Actuary

Aug 19 2005 // Harleysville Group Inc. has appointed Robert G. Whitlock Jr. as senior vice president and chief underwriting officer. He will assume senior management responsibility for Harleysville’s commercial lines and personal...

AVRECO Appoints Gloppe Professional Liability Underwriter

Aug 17 2005 // AVRECO, a wholesale insurance brokerage based in Chicago, has announced the appointment of Marcia Gloppe as an underwriter in the professional liability underwriting department, headed by Linda Deiss. Gloppe began her...

Credit-based Insurance Scoring in Renewal Policy Underwriting Essential for Accuracy

Aug 17 2005 // The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies will testify at an Alaska Division of Insurance hearing that, “at renewal, insurance carriers need the flexibility to engage in a total circumstances analysis of...

Maeyama Joins Colemont in Dallas

Aug 11 2005 // Colemont Insurance Brokers announced the addition of Bob Maeyama as senior underwriter in its Dallas office. Maeyama will be responsible for the marketing and servicing of commercial insurance products to retail agents in...

ISO: P/C Industry Ends 26-Year Drought, Breaks Surplus Records

Aug 8 2005 // Ending a 26-year drought, insurers posted a $5 billion net profit on underwriting in 2004, despite slowing premium growth and a deluge of catastrophe losses. Powered by the best underwriting results in almost three...

People

Aug 8 2005 // American International Group Inc. announced that AIG Vice President Charles Dangelo has been appointed AIG’s senior reinsurance officer, effective immediately. In this role, he will be responsible for all outward...

ISO: P/C Industry Ends 26-Year Drought, Breaks Surplus Records

Aug 8 2005 // Ending a 26-year drought, insurers posted a $5 billion net profit on underwriting in 2004, despite slowing premium growth and a deluge of catastrophe losses. Powered by the best underwriting results in almost three...

SCPIE Holdings Announces 2005 Second-Quarter and First-Half Results

Aug 4 2005 // Los Angeles-based SCPIE Holdings Inc., a provider of healthcare liability insurance, reported continued improved results for its second quarter and first half ended June 30, 2005. For the 2005 second quarter, SCPIE...

Platinum Underwriters Announces Management Changes, Dividend

Jul 29 2005 // Bermuda-based Platinum Underwriters Holdings Ltd. announced it has appointed Michael D. Price to serve as its chief operating officer, subject to the approval of the Bermuda Department of Immigration. In this capacity,...

Banks Relaxing Both Commercial and Retail Credit Underwriting

Jul 29 2005 // The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) reported today that it has found significant easing in both commercial and retail credit underwriting standards over the past year. The OCC’s eleventh annual Survey...

Report: Hedge Funds Consider Entering Insurance Underwriting

Jul 28 2005 // Hedge funds are increasingly drawn into insurance underwriting business in an ever-ending search for alpha for their investors, according to experts at www.hedgeco.net. New reports show that hedge fund managers have been...

New Underwriting Tool Could Improve Competitiveness in Urban Markets

Jul 27 2005 // A new urban insurance underwriting methodology that uses what its creators say are sophisticated data mining technology and new sources of information beyond traditional credit scores may help insurers better analyze risk...

Willis Index: Financial Institutions Find Favorable Insurance Conditions

Jul 20 2005 // Market conditions for the first quarter of 2005 have become increasingly favorable, and the Willis Index shows that respondents are now beginning to acknowledge that premium rates are decreasing for many financial...

Burns & Wilcox Appoints Johnson, Goodman to N.C. Posts

Jul 20 2005 // Burns & Wilcox has announced the appointment of Susan Johnson as an assistant underwriter of transportation/inland marine for its Morehead City, N.C. office; and James Goodman has been named a personal lines...

Ore. Insurance Underwriters Assoc. to Host Annual Golf Tourney Aug. 12

Jul 19 2005 // The Oregon Insurance Underwriters Association (OIUA) and The Oregon Chapter of CPCU have announced the date for this year’s annual industry golf tournament and awards luncheon. The event will be held on Friday, Aug....

Affirmative Insurance Holdings Finalizes Mich. Underwriting Agency Purchase

Jul 19 2005 // Affirmative Insurance Holdings Inc., a producer and provider of personal non-standard auto insurance, announced the completion of a previously announced acquisition of the assets of IPA LLC, an underwriting agency with...

PIA’s Donnelly to Head New Hiscox U.S. Office; Ward, Chavez Also Join

Jul 19 2005 // Hiscox plc has announced a number of appointments to expand its presence and distribution in the U.S. market. Ed Donnelly joins Hiscox with immediate effect in the newly-created position of president of Hiscox USA. He will...