Mergers & Financial
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How Some Florida Property Insurers Manage to Succeed
About 50 Florida property insurers reported losses in 2009, even though there was no major storm. But that also means there were at least as many not losing money. What do they know, what are they doing, that the others aren’t? Insurance Journal’s Andy Simpson asked Kevin McCarty, insurance commissioner; James Graganella, president/CEO, Southern Fidelity [...]
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Insurers Can’t Count on Investments, Advises III’s Hartwig
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 [...]
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CEO Motamed Says Changes Underway at CNA
Thomas Motamed joined CNA Financial as Chairman and CEO in January, 2009 after 30 years at Chubb Corp. In this interview, he talks about the changes he has in store at CNA.
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P/C Insurance & the Economic Recovery
This recession certainly has kept economists busy. None busier, perhaps, in the insurance industry, than Dr. Robert P. Hartwig, CPCU, president and economist at the Insurance Information Institute. He has spent the last year or two explaining economic indicators and their impact on the property / casualty insurance industry. Insurance Journal’s Andy Simpson caught up [...]
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Playing the Cross-Over Game
The soft market’s effect on the economy has forced many standard market insurers to make adjustments in the way they compete for business. This currently includes writing risks that they usually would avoid. James Carey, CEO of Admiral Insurance Co., explains his firm’s reaction to this trend and gives advice on how to [...]
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Buyouts in Hindsight
Just a few years ago, amid strong profits and solid premiums, the private equity world was keen on getting into the insurance industry. But that was then. Now, given the soft market and the current difficulties of the down-cycle, those moves by private equity firms, banks and other non-traditional buyers in the early part of [...]
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Smart Growth in the P/C World
Being too big to fail is not really an issue in most of the property/casualty business, says Bob Restrepo, CEO of State Auto Insurance, a super regional carrier that is looking to grow and balance its personal and commercial book. Restrepo discusses growth and the pricing, acquisition and competitive environment in these excerpts from a [...]
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What AIG Means for the Future of State Regulation
Proponents of federal regulation say the recent $85 billion bailout loan for American International Group demonstrates the need for federal oversight of the insurance industry. But in these exclusive interviews with Insurance Journal’s Ken St. Onge, top regulators from Wisconsin, Maine, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida argue that the reason AIG remains is because its insurance [...]
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The AIG Effect on States
Cash flow problems have nearly crippled mega-insurer American International Group in recent weeks, forcing the company to take an $85 billion loan from the federal government. Now, attention remains focused on how AIG’s problems will affect insurers in individual states. Recently, the top insurance regulators from Kentucky, Mississippi, Oregon, Arizona and Connecticut sat down with [...]
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Exclusive Video Interview with William R. Berkley, Take 3: Personal Lines, Politics and Florida
William R. Berkley, founder of W.R. Berkley Corp., discusses his firm’s 1999 decision to get out of personal lines and how it is managing the property insurance situation in Florida in this excerpt from an exclusive video interview with Insurance Journal.
Watch the entire interview. -
Exclusive Video Interview with William R. Berkley, Take 2: Diversity and decentralization
William R. Berkley runs his giant insurance holding company of diverse specialty and regional insurers a lot like a family business where the parents trust their kids to behave. Diversity and decentralized management have worked well for W.R. Berkley Corp., the founder notes in this excerpt from an exclusive video interview with Insurance Journal.
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W.R. Berkley Interview: Delivering Results through Diversity and Decentralization
An Insurance Journal Exclusive Video Interview with William R. Berkley.
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Exclusive Interview with William R. Berkley: Take 1- Why this cycle is different
Every cycle is different, says William R. Berkley, and the current one has its own unique features. The founder of the giant insurance holding company that bears his name explains why this cycle is different, discusses the incursion into surplus lines by standard carriers, and offers his outlook for 2008, 2009 and 2010 in this [...]
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Mass. Commissioner Burnes: Effect of Managed Competition on Mass. Agents
Massachusetts regulator Nonnie Burnes
Featured
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Markets in Motion: Solar Manufacturer Warranties
The alternative energy market has many complicated angles to it, including solar warranties, which are essential to solar manufacturers as well as to the development and funding of solar projects.
According to Mike McMullen, president of PowerGuard Specialty Insurance Services, banks are hesitant to lend against some larger solar projects because of the severe credit [...] -
Excellent Claims Service when Clients Need it Most
Engle Martin & Associates is an independent adjusting firm providing claims services to the insurance industry. In this interview with Claims Journal, Susan Froman, Engle Martin’s Director of Sales, discusses the growth of the company and providing service to their clients when they need it most.
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‘Uncomfortable Change’ Paves Road to Perpetuation
Too often agency principals find themselves facing a forced sale as a result of not having a proper perpetuation plan. In this podcast, MarshBerry president John Wepler discusses the many difficult and “uncomfortable” decisions required of an owner seeking to properly–and profitably–perpetuate the firm. Listen to this frank conversation as John offers some good news: [...]
Popular
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Get Smart About Insuring Intellectual Property
The Internet makes it easier to get into business but it also makes it easier to steal others’ ideas. The Web is also expanding the notion of what materials, images and designs need to be protected. Intellectual property attorney David Branfman advises agents on questions to ask clients about intellectual property exposures and warns about [...]
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Risk Management’s a Priority for Moving Company
Moving companies face a number of exposures in their daily operations, including workers compensation, cargo, fleet and general liability. Priority Moving in San Diego, Calif. is no exception. A Wheaton Van Lines agent, Priority Moving has created a series of internal procedures, reinforced by a strong employee screening process and training program. Analytics software [...]
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Cyber Breaks, Insurance and Data Breach Response Advice
Stroz Friedberg is a consulting firm that does computer forensics, mobile phone forensics, electronic discovery and cyber crime response, operating at the intersection of law, technology and behavioral sciences. David Garrett, managing director of Stroz Friedberg’s San Francisco office, explains why clients may or may not have cyber risk insurance, whether those that have the [...]
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Helicopter Business Revolves Around Safety
Corporate Helicopters is a San Diego business focusing on charter, tours, aerial filming and helicopter sales. In this episode of Watching the Risks, Corporate Helicopters president Ivor Shier explains how looking through the lens of risk analysis from the formative years to the present has led to a safer company.
Random
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Managing an Agency in a Troubled Economy, Priority No. 1: Customer Retention
In this economy, agents must be looking at how they are managing their agencies, but what should be the top priority? Insurance Journal’s Andy Simpson asked Juan Andrade, executive vice-president for sales and distribution at The Hartford, where he also oversees the agency management consulting arm, Business Management Group. This is part 1 [...]
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Interview with Big I’s Bob Rusbuldt, Take 3: The Agency Difference in Katrina
Independent agency companies did a better job spreading coastal risk and settling Katrina
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InVESTing in the Industry
InVEST was founded in 1970 by a member agent of the Independent Insurance Agents of Los Angeles
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Order of the Day
Some discipline is now returning to the market as seasoned underwriters and managers have begun to walk away from a lot of this business, says Tom Curtin, chairman, CEO and founder of CRC, the largest wholesale brokerage firm in the nation. In this interview, from the recent NAPSLO Annual Convention in San Diego, Curtin shares [...]
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