As the New Year Unfolds

Our region has been “enjoying” the glories of Old Man Winter recently, so it’s at least marginally appropriate to present our Excess and Surplus Lines issue. Everyone who’s anyone is there, and we trust it will serve as your E&S Guide for the coming year.

January takes its name from Janus, the Roman god of gates and doors, who also represented both the endings and the beginnings of things—an appropriate time to reflect on what’s happened, and what’s to come. From a global standpoint, the future isn’t very encouraging. Munich Re’s analysis of 2003’s catastrophes is coupled with a warning that it’s likely to get worse—all the more reason to look at what the E&S people have to offer.

According to Joe Mangan the industry is actually getting off easy this time around, as the current hard market seems to be tempered with a great deal of moderation. Given the calls from all quarters about the perils of “the cycle” that’s indeed cause for cheer. Lou Greenberg has kindly taken the time to walk through the steps involved in obtaining an increasingly important employee benefit—legal insurance coverage at an affordable cost, a benefit that could be beyond price in today’s litigious society, and one that employers are more frequently asking their insurance agents about.

January also saw the marriage celebration between the National Association of Independent Insurers (NAII) and the Alliance of American Insurers, who finalized their union at the beginning of the month, forming the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). IJ has worked with both organizations in the past, and looks forward to doing so in the future; combined they will represent more than 1,000 of America’s most important insurers.

There’s also a certain dissonance in the air, notably in Massachusetts, where the state’s long simmering debate over what to do about auto insurance coverage may be coming to a boil. Kevin O’Reilly reports from Chicago on the trials and tribulations of Near North’s ex-boss Michael Segal—in his own words, no less.

And so, the New Year advances, bringing with it the baggage of the past as well as the hopes for the future. For the industry, it might be best to remember the words of an ancient Irish toast, “May the face of every good news, and the back of every bad news be towards us.”