Insurance Journal’s Top 10 National Stories of 2019

The top Insurance Journal story of the year was about a merger that never happened.

On March 5, 2019 a marriage between two of the largest insurance brokers seemed to be in the works. Aon was considering a combination with rival insurance broker Willis Towers Watson, in what would be the industry’s largest merger ever

A day later, Aon called off the talks.

Readers were also drawn to reports on the Republicans’ tax break for insurance agents and a tragic accident that took the lives of three brokerage executives.

News on Uber and on GEICO and features on the future for agents and the interest of big technology in insurance were also among the top stories.

Berkshire Hathaway’s announcement of its revolutionary three-page small business policy cracked the top 10 list. (A “fake news” April 1st spoof on a 3-word policy came close to making the list as well.

Coming in just after the top 10 were news reports on two mergers that did happen: Tokio Marine to Buy High Net Worth Insurer Pure for $3.1 Billion and Marsh & McLennan Completes $5.6 Billion Acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson.

Here are Insurance Journal’s Top 10 National Stories of 2019:

1. Aon Considers Bid to Buy Willis Towers Watson
2. Insurance Agents Assured of Trump Pass-Through Tax Break Under Final Treasury Rule
3. Insurance Agency Tragedy: 3 Hilb Group Executives Die in Plane Crash
4. Why Uber ‘Depends Heavily’ on Insurance\
5. GEICO Gets Progressive, Joins Auto Insurers Offering Telematics
6. Future of Agent Distribution
7. How Big Tech Flirted with Insurance in 2018
8. Why James River Insurance Dumped Uber Account
9. Trump Administration Moves Ahead with Revised Truckers’ Hours Rules
10. Berkshire Hathaway’s New ‘THREE’ Policy Seeks to Simplify Small Business Insurance

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