Risk & Insurance articles from July 2003

Risk & Insurance archives from July 2003

Incommunicado in a wired world. (Up Front).
July 1, 2003... While the vendors at the annual conference of the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development were promising the world with their latest "ACORD compliant" software, there was no shortage of grumbling among agents and retail...

D & O Insurance in the United States. (Risk Stats).
July 1, 2003... Purchase of D&O insurance is common across all industry segments. Biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, and technology companies are most likely to buy D&O insurance. Education industry concerns are least likely to buy it. Banking ...

ACORD 2003: Basel III standards looming. (Up Front).
July 1, 2003... Risk managers, saddled with new political risks and accounting changes, face a busy few years as the Basel accords force them to scrutinize the capital requirements of their companies. Companies that fail to meet capital requirements will...

From the editor. (Up Front).
July 1, 2003... Despite the corporate civility of Sun Microsystems and Microsoft consultants and programmers who delivered PowerPoint presentations vaunting .Net and J2EE architecture at the 75th anniversary of the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association...

Underwriters Bombarded with doomsday scenarios. (Up Front).
July 1, 2003... The phrase "thinking the unthinkable" may be in danger of overuse since Sept. 11 2001, but speakers at this year's Lloyd's Market Association-International Underwriting Association seminar were ready to do just that. Events with potential...

Premiums cause rift between insurers, public risk clients. (Up Front).
July 1, 2003... Public risk man a g ers, who have had to confront new terrorism risks, growing government deficits and increasing pressures to keep costs down came in record numbers to the 25th annual convention of the Public Risk Management Association...

Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group PLC. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group PLC is liable for asbestos claims brought by the administrators of former asbestos manufacturer Turner & Newall, a U.K. High Court judge has ruled. Turner & Newall, now owned by U.S. Federal-Mogul Corp., is...

Swiss government. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... The Swiss government said it would introduce stricter controls on insurance companies as part of the government's revision of the country's insurance supervision law. Insurers will be forced to improve transparency, and step up their corporate...

Inreon. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... Inreon has announced the discontinuation of its online marketplace for the reinsurance industry, the company has announced. Since the launch of the platform, the volume of risks processed via the platform has shown consistent growth. However,...

American Wholesale Insurance Group. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... American Wholesale Insurance Group, the nation's largest independent wholesale insurance broker, has completed the acquisition of Seaboard Underwriters, Inc., a leading provider of insurance solutions for the transportation industry. Seaboard...

Munich Re for Mannheimer Holding. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... A three-pronged rescue attempt is being prepared under the leadership of Munich Re for Mannheimer Holding, the parent company of the troubled German insurance group. It consists of a capital increase, a reinsurance solution and a request to...

Florida insurance companies. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... Florida legislators have backed a proposal to regulate the marketing of health insurance through associations. The measure, which requires Governor Jeb Bush's signature to become law, is aimed at protecting consumers from unfair practices,...

Hypo Vereinsbank (HVB). (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... German-based Munich Re, the world's largest reinsurance group, was reported to be considering a reduction in its stake in Hypo Vereinsbank (HVB), Germany's second-largest bank. Munich Re holds a 25 percent stake HVB, which, in turn, holds a...

AIG Aviation Inc. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... AIG Aviation Inc., a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), is now endorsing Civil Air Patrol liability insurance coverage onto the non-owned aircraft damage liability insurance form, the company has announced. Civil Air...

Hooper Dolan Insurances. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... Lloyd's has accredited Hooper Dolan Insurances, making it the first Irish insurance broker to be granted direct access to the market. The broker has been trading with the Lloyd's market through London brokers since 1978. placing non-marine,...

Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has lowered credit and financial strength ratings on Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. and related entities to 'A' from 'A+' and removed them from CreditWatch, where they were placed on April 4,2003....

Villanova Insurance Companies. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... A Superior Court in Los Angeles has issued an order of liquidation for the California business of Pennsylvania-based Legion and Villanova Insurance Companies. The move ends a year-long legal struggle to get claims paid for more than 11,000...

Allianz group. (News and Notes).
July 1, 2003... The German financial services supervisory office Bundesanstalt Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht has started a routine check on Allianz AG, the holding company of the Allianz group. This is the first such check to be made on a reinsurer in Germany....

How bankruptcy may limit D&O protections. (The Law).
July 1, 2003... In his 2003 letter to shareholders, Warren Buffet declared that companies should not buy D&O insurance, citing directors' responsibility for their business decisions. However, the demise of once high-flying companies highlights a...

Reality checks: shortcomings of claims-made coverage. (Risk Primer).
July 1, 2003... Insurance buyers will always be looking for cheaper insurance and sellers will typically be offering ways to reduce costs. Recently, in response to a policyholder's plea for premium relief, the broker suggested that moving to claims-made...

The dark side of technology. (Workers' Comp).
July 1, 2003... Economists say that information technology pays off handsomely, and risk and, insurance execs keep on buying more of it. On the horizon hover seamless exchanges with customers and suppliers, and smart databases. Real gains, however, usually...

Model citizen: Hemant Shah's youthful exterior belies a very smart guy who saw that catastrophe modeling data possessed the potential to become "gold" for which insurers would gladly fork over fees. (Cover Story).
July 1, 2003... As a fresh-faced Stanford graduate student in the mid-1980s, Hemant Shah expected to get a master's degree in civil engineering and launch his career. But along the way, he took a business course, a departure from his regular academic...

Closing rifts over environmental liability. (Special Report: Environmental).
July 1, 2003... Risk managers deal with claims and loss in the context of insurance. Business managers view environmental cost as the investments they make to comply with environmental laws. How to close the divide. you're a corporate risk manager and...

Bypassing brownfields: a success story; a "comfort letter" allows a private shipbuilding company to start fresh without the legacy of pre-existing conditions. (Special Report: Environmental).
July 1, 2003... More than a decade ago, the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was a shell of rusting steel, creaking cranes and wasting men-of-wan. The last ship built there, the USS Blue Ridge, steamed Out of dry dock in 1970. Yet, no one could argue that the...

Environmental disclosure in a changing regulatory climate: from the SEC's perspective, disclosure of environmental liabilities is front and center. (Special Report: Environmental).
July 1, 2003... Corporate accounting scandals have led to heightened vigilance among environmental groups, shareholders and regulators to enforce disclosure of environmental liabilities. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 may result in even more pressure on...

Fiona Luck honored as 2003 Insurance Woman of the Year.
July 1, 2003... XL Capital Ltd (XL) congratulates Fiona Luck for being honored as the 2003 Insurance Woman of the Year by the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW). Fiona was selected as the Insurance Woman of the Year due to her strong...

A glimpse of dawn: why the soft market is just around the corner. (Workers' Group).
July 1, 2003... Workers' compensation rates continue to climb, capacity shrinks, carriers with long-established reputations disappear seemingly overnight, and risk managers sweat at the thought of the next renewal. At the height of what appears to be the...

Reinsurance ventures rake in profits in 2002: in its first year of business, the class of 2002 turned a tidy underwriting profit with combined ratios well under 100. (Reinsurance).
July 1, 2003... It's been a good first year for the new reinsurance ventures that were formed after the Sept. 11,2001 terrorist attacks. In its first year of business, the Class of 2002 turned a tidy underwriting profit, with combined ratios well under...

Post-war risk: the war in Iraq turned the spotlight on kidnap and ransom coverage. However, experts say that the risk is just as great in times of peace. (Liability).
July 1, 2003... Ironically, the safest place on the planet today may be Iraq. The presence of U.S. military troops and the fall of the government leave little threat of a kidnap situation, experts say. The likelihood of a kidnapping for ransom in Iraq is quite...

Insurance company software. (Buyers' Guide).
July 1, 2003... BUYERS' GUIDE Insurance Company Software Below is a guide to specialty software packages for insurance companies. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an overview of some of the packages available. The...

Risk managers are best advised to hire a vendor: cost and flexibility lead the vendor argument. (Point/Counterpoint).
July 1, 2003... According to 539 information technology leaders surveyed in the April 2003 issue of CIO magazine, chief information officers will continue to face tight budgets in 2003. Their greatest challenges are prioritizing demands from the various...

Carriers are best equipped to help risk managers: speed and integration lead the reasons for choosing a carrier. (Point/Counterpoint).
July 1, 2003... Simply put, insurance carriers are better equipped to provide risk managers with exactly what they need when they need it. The ability to acquire accurate and timely information is the foremost desire of risk managers. Risk managers...

Who insures you? (Environmental Coverage).
July 1, 2003... You turned a failing factory into a booming business. You made promises to the community and to your shareholders. And you kept them. Then the government declared your property a hazardous waste site. You didn't dump the chemicals. But now you...