Two former risk managers share some of the things they know now that they wish they had known when they were in their old jobs. Henry Good, now with Wells Fargo Insurance Services, and Lance Ewing, now with Chartis, spoke with Insurance Journal’s Andy Simpson at the MarketScout Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium.
The Insurance Journal Academy of Insurance provides online training for insurance professionals.
Insurance is one of the most important financial mechanisms of modern capitalistic societies. And an insurance career can be fascinating and rewarding – provided it has the right foundation. The 12-week Advanced Basic Training course will provide that strong career foundation. Designed for those [...]
Property/casualty insurers’ investment income has been down and it isn’t going up any time soon, according to Dr. Robert Hartwig, president and economist for the Insurance Information Institute in this interview with Insurance Journal’s Andrew Simpson. How will insurers perform and price products in this environment and will regulators take note? Hartwig also discusses the [...]
Insurance innovation…is it an oxymoron? That was the provocative title of a panel at the Professional Liability Underwriters Society meeting in Chicago. One of the panelists, Leib Dodell, now with the new ThinkRisk Underwriting in Kansas City and formerly president and CEO of Media Professional Insurance, discusses why and how the insurance industry should embrace [...]
The world is changing, with virtually every business now facing both media and technology exposures. Insurance needs to keep up, says Leib Dodell , former president and CEO of Media Professional Insurance, who is now part of the team launching a new specialty E&O facility based in Kansas City called ThinkRisk Underwriting Agency. In this [...]
The insurance industry has taken a keen interest in finding future workers with the knowledge and skills required to hit the ground running in the insurance business. One of the more interesting approaches is the Next Generation initiative by the National Association of Professional Surplus Lines Offices, or NAPSLO. The effort, which began as a [...]
Japanese insurance agents learned about best practices from U.S. agencies on a recent East Coast tour. Peter van Aartrijk, of Aartrijk Branding Group, and Sue Noda, of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Japan, discuss the visit and what it’s like to be an independent agent in Japan.
Agency consultant Al Diamond of the Agency Consulting Group says a good consultant helps an owner realize his or her own dreams, not the dreams of the consultant. What consultants can be expected to do and how they get paid.
Agency consultant Al Diamond of the Agency Consulting Group cautions agents against shrinking their business even under financial and pricing pressures.
Agency consultant Al Diamond of the Agency Consulting Group with some tips on how insurance agents might capitalize on other industries’ woes.
Agency consultant Al Diamond of the Agency Consulting Group says a properly-constructed compensation plan can re-energize producers who have lost their spark. It works for non-producer employees, too.
Al Diamond is one of the country’s best known and respected agency management consultants. His firm, Agency Consulting Group, Inc., is based in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He deals with agencies across the country on issues ranging from operations to mergers to sales and compensation. He is also a Best Practices instructor for the Independent [...]
Ohio agent Jerald Tillman founded what is today the National African American Insurance Association some 30 years ago to attract more black professionals into the industry. The group now has chapters in dozens of cities across the country with still more planned. In this excerpt from a recent interview with Insurance Journal’s Andrew [...]
Agency consultant Al Diamond of the Agency Consulting Group discusses why more people are starting agencies today and why some who left are returning to the business.
Young agent Joey O’Connor, vice president with Daniels & Eustis Agency in Louisiana, talks about what being independent means to him and to other young agents– and why they are optimistic about the future — in this excerpt from an interview with Insurance Journal’s Andrew Simpson.
John Norwood, principal of Norwood & Associates, has a career in political work dating back to the early 1980s, and he’s one of the state’s best known lobbyists in the insurance and financial services sectors. Norwood talked about workers’ compensation, and other legislation and regulation matters that the insurance industry will face in 2012, including [...]
John, principal of Norwood & Associates, has been an lobbyist for insurance and financial services sectors across several decades. Norwood offered a focused looking at the all-important workers’ compensation issue, and he gave his thoughts on health insurance exchanges. In fact, Norwood forecast that 2012 will rank as an important one when it comes to [...]
John Norwood is one of California’s best known legislative advocates for the insurance and financial services sectors. Norwood spoke to the Insurance Journal about legislation and regulation, including a proposal by a consumer advocacy group that would establish prior approval for healthcare insurance and would make major changes to auto insurance and homeowners insurance in [...]
This year the Entrepreneurial Insurance Alliance (EIA), sponsored by MarketScout, named Vertafore and Risk Metrics, as winners of it 2011 Entrepreneurial Award in technology. Vertafore’s WorkSmart and Risk Metrics’ Insurance 360 technology products received recognition from the EIA as being some of the industry’s most innovative concepts in technology. Each year, the EIA receives hundreds [...]
Retail and wholesale brokers face the challenge —and opportunity— of redefining their relationships and value proposition in today’s changing insurance distribution world, according to Glenn Hargrove, president, MarketScout Wholesale, Dallas, Tex. In this interview from the recent Western Insurance Agents Association’s Insurance Industry Roundtable in California, Hargrove outlines the value proposition of agents and brokers [...]
The medical liability market continues to perform well even as the nation struggles to implement health care reform. Robert Allen, senior vice presidents at Torus Insurance, says many health care institutions are implementing new strategies to be successful in today’s health care reform world. In this interview with Insurance Journal’s Andrea Ortega-Wells from the annual [...]
Patrick Ryan is an innovator who sees opportunity. And it was opportunity that drove him to launch Ryan Specialty Group in early 2010. Success lies in hiring “good people,” Ryan says. In this interview from the annual National Association of Surplus Lines Offices (NAPSLO) annual convention in San Diego, Ryan says his newest venture gave [...]
The surplus lines industry is facing a new deadline. On July 21, 2011, the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act must be implemented. In this interview, insurance regulatory attorney Richard Brown shares what effects the NRRA will have on surplus lines brokers.
More information from Richard Brown on the effects of the NRRA can be found at [...]
Employers today, large and small, face big risks from employment claims such as discrimination and wrongful termination. At a PLUS conference held last year, Richard Rupp, senior vice-president of Professional Indemnity Agency, sat down with Insurance Journal to discuss employer risks; some new, and others not so new. While many businesses do not purchase employment [...]
Milo Bolender, Senior VP of Frontier Adjusters, remembers a time when independent insurance adjusters and carrier claims representatives had personal relationships based on friendships and frequent collaborations. In this interview with Claims Journal, Bolender discusses how he feels the relationship between carrier claims reps and independent adjusters has changed.
A prison guard is mentored by a guard who likes to tease the prisoners.