Latest Market Headlines

All the headlines from our Market Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Insurance Industry Reacts to Gulf Coast Oil Spill

May 11 2010 // The blame game for the recent British Petroleum (BP) oil rig accident and subsequent oil spill is just getting started as are the insurance implications of this disastrous event, according to underwriters and other...

New Jersey Targeting Growth in Captive and Reinsurance Markets

May 11 2010 // New Jersey Insurance Commissioner Tom Considine praised new, bipartisan legislation that would grow the reinsurance market and create a captive insurance market in the Garden State.The captive insurance bill was put...

Oregon Advises P/C Industry of Credit Scoring Changes

May 10 2010 // The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services Insurance Division is reminding the insurance industry of new credit scoring legislation, which passed in the 2009 Legislative session and apply to personal insurance...

74% of Nation’s Top Insurance Companies Are Hiring

May 4 2010 // The insurance industry employment outlook for 2010 is guarded, but cautiously optimistic, according to a new survey that also revealed 74 percent of the nation’s top insurance companies are currently hiring.“In...

P/C Industry’s Net Income Up $25B in 2009; Combined Ratio Improves to 101

May 3 2010 // The U.S. property/casualty industry’s profitability as measured by their rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus (or statutory net worth) increased by 5.8 percent in 2009, while private P/C...

People

May 3 2010 // Cincinnati, Ohio-based American Empire Surplus Lines Insurance Co. (AESLIC) has named Frederick J. Woebse president and chief operating officer. He succeeds Robert Nelson, who was named chairman and chief executive...

Price Scare

May 3 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a new industry study.Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...

Price Scare

May 3 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a new industry study.Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...

People

May 3 2010 // Regional property/casualty insurance company, The Republic Group, based in Dallas, announced that Jim Drawert, vice president – Industry Relations, will retire June 30.Prior to joining Republic in 2003, Drawert was...

Price Scare

May 3 2010 // Seven years and running, the soft market shows few signs of loosening its grip on commercial insurance pricing, according to a new industry study.Average premiums in every line tracked by the RIMS Benchmark Survey fell in...

Geneva Ass’n. Criticizes IMF’s ‘Stability Tax’ as ‘Contradictory’ for Insurers

Apr 29 2010 // The Geneva Association,* the most prominent global “think tank” for the insurance industry, has taken issue with the proposals from the International Monetary Fund to impose a “financial stability...

Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Awards Grants

Apr 26 2010 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Western Division based in Walnut Creek, Calif., announced it has awarded and distributed more than $175,000 in grants to 23 community nonprofits in its first quarter.The Western...

A.M. Best: U.S. P/C Industry Results Rebound

Apr 26 2010 // The U.S. property/casualty industry reported a strong fourth quarter topping off a solid year, according to rating analysts.Net income climbed to $31.1 billion in 2009, driven by improved underwriting results, the...

Why Captive Solutions Might Grow Your Hospitality Book, and Revenue Too

Apr 23 2010 // Compare the estimated $30 billion in after tax profits that the U.S. property and casualty marketplace will likely book for 2009 to the year end results of the hospitality industry, whose lodging (occupancy near 56...

Florida CEOs Urge ‘Cost Driver’ Reforms as Legislature Nears End

Apr 21 2010 // The Florida-Based Property Insurers CEO Group, representing 21 carriers, held a media conference today to discuss legislation to address the problems in the state’s property insurance market. The group downplayed the...

Saudi Arabia Insurance Sector Poised for Growth

Apr 20 2010 // Saudi Arabia’s insurance industry is poised for growth in the coming years if customers overcome misgivings about compliance with Islamic law and companies consolidate to gain critical mass.The world’s top oil...

Many Insurance Professionals on Fantasy Island

Apr 20 2010 // Many insurance industry professionals are living in a dream. Their fantasy is that the soft market is ending, but nothing could be further from the truth. As long as our economy stays weak, the soft market will continue.A...

Despite Tough Times, Insurance Industry Employee Benefits Secure

Apr 19 2010 // Independent insurance agencies and carriers’ top concerns for 2010 may be profit margins, cash flow, sales volume and marketing, the down economy and the possibility that it might falter again, but that doesn’t...

Despite Tough Times, Insurance Industry Employee Benefits Secure

Apr 19 2010 // Independent insurance agencies and carriers face a hefty list of concerns for 2010 — profit margins, cash flow, sales volume and marketing, the down economy and the possibility that it might falter again. Yet that...

Lockton: Soft Market Pricing Continues to Benefit Insurance Buyers

Apr 19 2010 // Commercial insurance buyers continue to benefit from lower prices and steady or increasing insurance capacity in property/casualty markets, reports the nation’s largest insurance broker.In its newly published Lockton...