Latest Market Headlines

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

Insurers’ Group Comments on End of Sessions in Maine, Maryland

Apr 15 2010 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) says the P/C industry made some positive legislative steps in Maine and Maryland this year, although the trade group says it was disappointed with a Maryland law that will raise the...

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

Apr 15 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...

Risk Managers Continue to Report Soft Market Pricing

Apr 15 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...

Insurance Industry Urged to Explore Alternatives to Credit Scoring

Apr 14 2010 // With the use of credit scoring still under attack, the insurance industry would be wise to consider new ways to assess risk, according to an industry actuary.Roosevelt Mosley, a principal with Pinnacle Actuarial Resources...

Arizona Insurance Industry Contributes $1.2 Trillion in Assets to State

Apr 13 2010 // The more than 940 property/casualty insurers in Arizona that compete for business add more than $1.2 trillion in assets to the state, that enables Arizonans to drive cars, own homes, protect their property and operate...

Insurance Mergers Dropped in 2009, Reports Conning

Apr 8 2010 // The U.S. saw a significant decline in the reported value of insurance industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions in 2009, and overall global transaction values also declined further from very low 2008 levels,...

Politics Makes Things Better?

Apr 5 2010 // A Connecticut State Senator thinks things have become too chummy between the state’s insurers and the commissioner of the state’s insurance department. To fix it, he says he would like to make the...

People

Apr 5 2010 // Accident Fund Insurance Company of America, based in Lansing, Mich., appointed Lisa Riddle the new vice president of Claims and Medical Operations.In her new role, Riddle is responsible for the strategic direction of...

Hospitality Risks: A Game for Captives

Apr 5 2010 // Hospitality owners have concerns with retaining risk that they cannot transfer to the insurance market and owners are looking for legitimate ways to preserve their firms’ assets or to use the captive as a profit...

Lloyd’s Graduates First Student Group

Apr 2 2010 // Lloyd’s announced that it has graduated the first group of graduate students from its new Program, which features an 18 month rotation, after which the new graduates will continue to work in London’s insurance...

Soft Market, Weak Economy Will Challenge Insurers, Brokers in 2010

Apr 2 2010 // The recession may be over, but recovery is not happening quickly enough for insurers and brokers. From unemployment rates hovering at about 10 percent to still rising business bankruptcies, the lingering effects of the...

Florida’s Crist Opposes, Bush Backs Bill Deregulating Insurance Prices

Mar 31 2010 // Tallahassee politicians must ensure a robust private property insurance market to avoid a financial disaster if a major hurricane or several smaller storms strike the state this summer, former Gov. Jeb Bush said this...

Terrorism Insurance Market in State of Uncertainty

Mar 30 2010 // The threat of terrorism in the U.S. is rising but the future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) is in question. At a time when top U.S. officials warn of an imminent attack that might be hard to prevent, the...

Insurers Disagree With Calif. Over Divesture of Iranian Investments

Mar 29 2010 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced that 460 insurers have agreed in writing to a moratorium on future investments in 50 companies identified by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) to be...

Best Affirms Hartford’s ICR – Outlook Negative; Other Ratings Affirmed

Mar 29 2010 // A.M. Best Co. affirmed the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “bbb+” of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. with a negative outlook. The rating agency also affirmed the FSRs of ‘A’ (Excellent)...

8 New Markets in Response to Current Trends

Mar 22 2010 // The last few years of the soft market have forced many carriers and agencies to get creative when it comes to bringing in additional premium. This has included launching new products for specialized risks. At first glance,...

People

Mar 22 2010 // Cheryl Celcer has joined wholesale insurance provider Swett & Crawford after a nearly 30-year career with The Hartford, in which she held the position of executive select customer sales representative. Celcer will work...

Florida’s Market and How Surplus Lines Agents Are Faring

Mar 19 2010 // Hurricane Andrew, for all of the grief it delivered, gave wholesale broker Hull & Co. and Bruce Bowers a big opportunity.“Prior to ’92, there wasn’t much of a need for personal lines in the excess and...

P/C Executives to Dodd: Don’t Shift Risky Firms’ Costs to Insurers

Mar 19 2010 // Property/casualty insurance companies, which already pay into state guaranty funds to backup claims of their insolvent peers, don’t want to have to also pay into a federal fund to cover failures of larger and riskier...

P/C Industry Operating Profits Up Markedly in 2009: Fitch

Mar 18 2010 // Operating profits improved substantially during 2009 across the U.S. property/ casualty insurance industry, with most market participants reporting double-digit operating returns on capital, according to Fitch Ratings in a...