Swiss Re’s latest sigma study, #5/2010, – “Insurance investment in a challenging global environment” – warns that a “low yield environment coupled with tighter regulatory standards could hamper insurers’ investment returns, leading to lower profits for the industry and higher …
Americans’ spending hits a fever pitch during the holidays and two days in particular – “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” – leave retailers and consumers vulnerable to different exposures. The day after Thanksgiving — also known as Black Friday — …
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports South Dakota’s preliminary seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October 2010 was 4.5 percent, a slight increase from the September 2010 rate of 4.4 percent. “The South Dakota unemployment rate has shown little fluctuation …
As the UN climate summit in Cancun approaches, the insurance industry is preparing to present its case to the poiticians, business leaders and scientists, who will be attending. “As an insurer, we are the frontline industry to feel the heat …
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of the property/casualty and life/health insurance subsidiaries of Assurant, Inc. Best also affirmed the ICR of “bbb” and debt ratings of Assurant. The outlook for …
At Orange Beach in Alabama, what’s typically a beautiful, quiet stretch of beach in the fall now resembles a construction site. Bulldozers and yellow dump trucks shake the ground; a giant sifting machine spits clean sand out one end, tar …
A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has upgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A+’ (Superior) from ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) to “aa-” from “a+” of Zurich Insurance Company Limited (ZIC), the main operating company of …
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has rejected – for the third consecutive time – a workers’ comp rate filing submitted on behalf of insurers by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) seeking a 27.7 percent rate increase. “I will …
Federal safety officials are calling on states to require all motorcycle riders to wear helmets, citing a surge in fatalities since the late 1990s. Motorcycle deaths have increased over the last decade even as other traffic fatalities have declined, the …
Today’s soft insurance market, reduced commissions and a tough economy for agency owners and their clients might be adding to agency errors and omissions (E&O) exposures. But agency owners are not the only ones in an agency who should be …
