Risk & Insurance articles from January 2009

Risk & Insurance archives from January 2009

What's the ERM story?
January 1, 2009... Enterprise risk management (ERM)... some risk managers swear by it and others think it's total hogwash. Well, the time has come to take a closer look and there's no better time than in 2009, in the wake of the most precipitous collapse of...

Innovator indeed.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... Dear Editor: What a pleasure it was to read in the Risk & Insurance[R] electronic newsletter that Dan Anderson had been selected as a Risk Innovator and Responsibility Leader in Education. The selection was right on target. Dan has...

Stinking hilarious.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... Dear Editor: Thank you, for not being politically correct. I just read your Roger on Risk column titled "Stinking Badgers" (Oct. 15, 2008, Page 16) and suspect that you have already received too many e-mails vilifying you for your solution...

Nothing but talk!(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2009... Dear Editor: I read with interest Tom Slattery's October column on contingencies. And while I did not agree completely, it prompted the RIMS response from Terry Fleming in December. That letter says it all about RIMS' actions concerning...

Was risk management to blame?(BANKING RISK REPORT)
January 1, 2009... As the financial crisis continues to unfold, one of many lingering questions facing the financial services industry is whether better risk management could--indeed, should--have saved some companies from their current financial difficulties....

Scoping out the TARP.(BANKING RISK REPORT)
January 1, 2009... Exactly what does the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act and its Troubled Asset Relief Program allow the Treasury Secretary to do, and how will the optional insurance program play into it? To read the rest of this piece, please visit us...

Managing supply chain risk during a recession.(ERM)
January 1, 2009... It's not easy to keep global supply chains running smoothly even in the best of times. But now, as many of the world's economies sink into a recession and the financial crisis deepens, supply chains are likely to come under even greater stress,...

How's your crystal ball performing?(ERM)
January 1, 2009... The current financial crisis is our latest reminder that good risk analytics systems need to be a comprehensive, integrated, and forward-looking part of insurance companies' overall business models. To read the rest of this piece from DFA...

Five questions to ask before switching insurers.(LEXINGTON)
January 1, 2009... It's no secret that the federal government's huge loan to AIG has led many corporate policyholders to take stock of their insurance portfolios and consider changing insurance companies on one or more lines of coverage. To read the rest of...

Why outsourcing is a double-edged sword.(CYBERLIABILITY)
January 1, 2009... There's good and bad news for insurance risk managers when it comes to protecting data from online thieves, according to Internet security expert Larry Clinton, chief operating officer of the Internet Security Alliance. To read the rest of...

Quote of the month.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
January 1, 2009... "I do want to see this work."--SEAN DILWEG, COMMISSIONER OF THE WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE, ON EVOLVING NAIC CLIMATE CHANGE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR INSURERS.

Climbing the career tree: out of a computer software fiasco, LAUSD's Dave Holmquist branches out to become COO.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One of the first things you perceive as you approach Dave Holmquist's office is the scent of fresh oranges. Once inside his office, the reason is apparent. He keeps a big bowl of oranges, just off the tree from his...

'Hard' conjectures about this market: S&P: reinsurance pricing inflection point reached with January renewals.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
January 1, 2009... It's that time in the pricing cycle, the time when insurance and reinsurance prices are changing direction. Carriers, who've been in a market-share war for the past two years trying to cope with price declines, couldn't be happier. Buyers,...

A warming 'climate' of disclosure? Insurance commissioners prepare a survey that will ask insurers to list their climate change risks.(UPFRONT)
January 1, 2009... U.S.-based insurers in 2009 are going to be entering into a new era of disclosure of their climate change risks, thanks to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, which is finalizing a climate risk disclosure survey. The...

Keeping core competencies close to home: popularity of sending some workers' comp claims processing functions offshore drops, survey finds.(UPFRONT)
January 1, 2009... Looking to send core competences like underwriting, loss control and surveillance offshore to Bermuda? No thanks. How about to India? We'll take a pass, thanks very much. No? Well then, how about giving China a try, it's still fairly cheap? Not...

Slicing and dicing: Marsh cuts into the small-business sector--for real this time.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Marsh is taking yet another crack at the small-business segment of the industry, that $8 billion pie that has driven big brokers crazy because it's so fragmented and so diverse Marsh that it's nearly impossible to...

Bigger and better in 2009.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
January 1, 2009... The fourth annual Power Broker award competition will be taking over the entire issue of Risk & PO Insurance[R] published in late February. Every editorial inch of the magazine will be related to brokers, in addition to listings in 25 different...

William Gallagher Associates.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] DAVID L. ROBERTSON joined William Gallagher Associates as a senior vice president. He will be running the David L. Robertson company's Atlanta office. Robertson most recently headed the Willis HRH office in Atlanta...

Marsh.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Marsh appointed ROBERT P. WHEARTY as senior vice president of the firm's U.S. Space Projects Practice. Whearty has held senior positions in business development, strategic management and engineering with a variety of...

Aon Specialty: Grahame Chilton.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... GRAHAME CHILTON, formerly chief executive officer of Benfield Group, will serve as chairman of Aon Specialty, a new global specialty business unit aimed at leveraging the specialty talent at Aon with the talent at the former Benfield corporate...

Aon: Jim Finnamore.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... Jim Finnamore joined Aon as regional director of Aon Environmental Services Group, Asia-Pacific. Based in Singapore, he will coordinate the delivery of the unit's services to clients in the APAC region. Most recently, Finnamore served as senior...

Assurance Agency Ltd.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] JACKIE GOULD will be returning to the role of chief operating officer at Assurance Agency Ltd., the Schaumburg, III.-based Jackie Gould independent brokerage firm, leaving her current post as employee benefits...

Burns & Wilcox.(BROKER MOVES)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CHRISTIAN T. HAMLIN has joined Burns & Wilcox as a professional lines broker based in the company's Los Angeles Christian T. Hamlin office. Hamlin has more than 10 years of specialty lines insurance expertise...

The need to think.(WORKERS' COMP)
January 1, 2009... Beware the 8-4-3 agony index! The index is a thermometer for workers' comp medical costs. Inflation extends into past and future as far as the eye can see. Medical costs inexorably rise in the 5 percent to 11 percent range annually, above...

Deflating the fat cats.(ROGER ON RISK)
January 1, 2009... I've just spent a few weeks in England, a country described by comedian Bill Hicks as "a socialist nightmare." They don't like fat cats in Britain. I don't just mean rich people, although rich people are officially considered public...

Studying economic ecology.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
January 1, 2009... One of my favorite classes while studying engineering was an elective course in ecology, which is the study of the distribution of life and its interdependencies. The science gave me a quiet satisfaction and sense of ease when I thought of the...

Is everything a risk?(RISK INNOVATION)
January 1, 2009... One of the challenges presented by these trying financial times is the tendency for management to view everything through a risk management lens. At first blush, this may seem appropriate and even worthwhile, since it would naturally drive...

Combating diabetes: plan combines preventive care, incentives and member compliance.(Advertising Feature)
January 1, 2009... Roughly one in four Americans is either at risk of developing diabetes or already suffers from this chronic disease, an unfortunate testimony to the rising obesity rate in this country. This alarming trend not only jeopardizes the health of...

Reflections on ERM inflections: 2009 is poised to be a pivotal year for enterprise risk management as ratings houses take the strategy into account across all industries.(Cover story)
January 1, 2009... IN-DEPTH RISK & INSURANCE First in a Three-Part Series No one can deny the surge in activity in enterprise risk management over the past 18 months, thanks in part to the bond agencies, which are now taking into account ERM programs...

Flying through squabbles of the turbulent: despite strict liability governed by the Montreal Convention, airlines have options to minimize passenger-on-passenger torts.(LIABILITY)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We have all been through it: extended waits at the cheek-in counter; overworked and discourteous airline personnel; intrusive and rude security guards; "sardine can" cabins with seats so close together you can barely...

Pausing for a second thought about Bermuda: with governments scrambling to find every dollar they believe is owed their treasuries and vowing to slam shut corporate tax loopholes, companies rethink the advantages of doing business in the archipelago.
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] An assessment of how individual insurance and reinsurance companies based in Bermuda might perform in 2009 must first address a larger issue: How will Bermuda fare? In 2008, its largest insurer, ACE, moved its...

Where duty rules: cases reveal courts taking a harder line against the destruction of electronic evidence, a trend that underscores the importance of keeping records.(SPECIAL REPORT: LIABILITY)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The law has always imposed on plaintiffs and defendants the duty to preserve evidence once litigation is foreseeable. However, case law in the area has grown quickly and become more complex as storage and...

Presence of mind: retailers can mitigate the risk of online payment fraud, even when a credit card isn't present as part of the transaction.(SPECIAL REPORT: LIABILITY)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The problem of "shrinkage" is as old as the retail industry itself. Employee theft, shoplifting, organized crime and paperwork errors are well-known negatives for retail profitability. Surprisingly, identity...

Assessing burdens of the bailout: while the bailout of the financial services industry by Congress isn't likely to generate a flood of new D&O claims, provisions within the law may generate more shareholder lawsuits.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: BANKING)
January 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The year 2008 will be remembered as the year when the U.S. government made its most extraordinary interventions in the financial system since the Great Depression. The amount of money being spent is breathtaking. The...

Insurance company software.(Directory)
January 1, 2009... DIRECTORY INSURANCE COMPANY SOFTWARE Below are paid listings of specialty software packages for insurance companies, risk managers and brokers. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an overview of some of the...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
January 1, 2009... JANUARY 25-28 ABA Insurance Conference The American Bankers Association hosts its annual Insurance Risk Management Conference & Meetings for the financial services industry. Against a backdrop of growing economic uncertainty,...

Prepared to go all out: self-insured health plans are willing to work with the new administration to maintain the employer-sponsored healthcare system, but are also prepared to go to war against efforts to nationalize the healthcare system.(VIEWPOINT)
January 1, 2009... It's safe to say that January 2009 is very different than anyone would have predicted in January 2008. The combination of new political leadership and a foundering economy leaves us in a strange public policy environment. Of course,...