Risk & Insurance articles from July 2006

Risk & Insurance archives from July 2006

Happy hunting.
July 1, 2006... The July renewal season is upon us, and there's good news in store. It's a great time for buyers to be shopping. Notwithstanding the pricing bloodbath in property catastrophe rates in some areas of the country, prices in the property/casualty...

Risk retention.(LETTERS TO THE EDITOR)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2006... Dear Editor: In discussion of cyclical retention strategies, ("Retention Selection: Chasing Our Tails," Risk & Insurance[R] March 2006, page 37) you mention that the following rule leads to an unsustainable outcome: "If the premium charged...

Upcoming events.(Calendar)
July 1, 2006... JULY 13-14 Annual Product Safety & Liability Conference This two-day Milwaukee event will present some of the leading product safety and legal experts from across the country. A major event for manufacturers. Goodden...

Survey in broker basics: have scandals changed the benefits carriers and brokers business alliance?(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
July 1, 2006... A recent study found that intermediaries will still accept an occasional lunch with a carrier's representative, but other historic perks are out, such as dinners, golf games, sporting events or trips. "Intermediaries don't have the...

Supersizing property coverage: new product may recover if insurance fails.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
July 1, 2006... Every week it seems another law firm or trade group holds a seminar on how to recover as much money from property claims as possible. In large commercial losses, too many unpredictable, uncontrollable things occur in the gray areas of...

FERMA moves forward; president's take on the trans-Atlantic divide.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
July 1, 2006... "We live in a different world," Marie-Gemma Dequae said of her American peers. The new president of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations explained during an interview that European risk managers must deal with a...

Efficiencies yet to crack commercial lines: commercial-lines leaders want to emulate the success of Geico and Progressive.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
July 1, 2006... Some of the best practices that have made auto insurers Geico and Progressive so successful are beginning to penetrate into the commercial-lines segment, where there's still plenty of room to cut costs, according to analysts. "Best...

Worth repeating.(UPFRONT: News, Updates and Other Emerging Strategies from Around the World)
July 1, 2006... "I've been a risk-taker all my life." Retired Gen. Tommy Franks, keynote speaker at the 80th annual convention of the American Association of Managing General Agents "We have become the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval." Scott M....

Carrier squeeze.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)(Interview)
July 1, 2006... Q: What's your perspective on the current environment? A: (With) the cost of reinsurance, meteorological conditions, rating agency pressures and the losses that have been incurred in the last couple of years, the marketplace has just...

Gallagher sues.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has filed a lawsuit charging former rival Palmer & Cay Holdings Inc. with wrongfully hiring away the head of Gallagher's St. Louis healthcare brokerage operation in 2003. Gallagher accuses Palmer & Cay, acquired by...

Aon buys unit.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Aon Corp. subsidiary Affinity Insurance Services Inc. has acquired a 50-person division of JLT Services Corp. for an undisclosed sum, the Chicago-based brokerage announced. The JLT division, with offices in Chicago and Latham, N.Y., specializes...

Beecher purchase.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Beecher Carlson has acquired Eugene, Ore.-based Cramer & Giles Insurance Inc. and merged it with its Portland, Ore., operation, JBL&K Risk Services. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Beecher Carlson operates as JBL&K Risk...

Claims product.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc. has announced that it is formally launching its Electronic Claims File initiative for reinsurers in the London market. ECF improves the current, antiquated London claims process, which requires reinsurance brokers to...

Renewals report.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Willis Group Holdings has released its reinsurance review of the marketplace for the April 1, 2006, renewals. According to the report, the pressure on retrocession, marine, energy and the U.S. property markets shows no sign of abating and may...

Merger announced.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Beecher Carlson and Gulfport, Miss.-based Sawyer-Foster Insurance Group, have announced that the two companies have successfully joined forces. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agency will conduct business as Sawyer-Foster Insurance...

Willis wins deal.(BROKER NEWS & NOTES)
July 1, 2006... Willis Group Holdings Ltd. has been awarded new construction and marine cargo business with the Fujian Refining and Ethylene Project. A $4 billion equity joint venture by Fujian Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (a company jointly owned by the China...

Lockton president and CEO honored for community service.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
July 1, 2006... Timothy J. Noonan, president and CEO of California's Lockton Insurance Brokers Inc., was recently honored by Phoenix House with the 2006 Public Service Award for his professional accomplishments, philanthropic endeavors and service in the...

Aon Consulting.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... Aon Consulting has announced that MICHAEL GULOTTA and ROGER VAUGHN have been appointed chairman and vice chairman of Aon Consulting U.S., respectively. Gulotta currently serves as executive relationship manager for a number of Aon Consulting's...

Aon Construction Services Group.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... PHIL SHAW has been appointed as director of surety for Aon Construction Services Group, the firm has announced. Shaw will be responsible for primary account management duties on commercial and contract accounts for the Dallas office,...

Aon Risk Services Americas.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... KATHY BURNS has been appointed CEO, Aon Risk Services Americas, eSolutions Group. Burns will be in charge of the eSolutions business in the United States, and focus on three premier technology platforms: AonLine, Aon RiskConsole and Aon...

Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc. has announced that SHAUN SCADE will join the firm as a senior vice president and head of its accident and health specialty practice in London. Prior to joining Guy Carpenter, Scade was an executive director of Aon Re's...

Beecher Carlson.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... Beecher Carlson has announced that it has expanded its national energy practice with the appointment of PATRICK STUMBRAS as managing director. Stumbras brings 17 years of experience to Beecher Carlson with deep expertise and specialization in...

Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... DOUG MILLER has been appointed to chief financial officer of the Lombard, Ill., office of Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co., the firm has announced. He joins HRH with 18 years of insurance industry experience. His expertise includes analyzing and...

Willis Group Holdings Ltd.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... Willis Group Holdings Ltd. has announced the appointment of four new insurance professionals to its Canadian operations: ROBERT KUDZMAN, DANIA FAWAZ, SYLVAIN DICAIRE and DANIEL GIROUX, are based in Montreal. Kudzman, formerly partner and...

Swett & Crawford.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... Swett & Crawford has hired BRUCE J. ROUNTREE to lead the firm's Phoenix operations, the company has announced. His hiring is part of the company's strategy to expand its presence in key markets. Rountree, who has managed books of business...

Lockton Cos. Inc.(BROKER MOVES)
July 1, 2006... PAUL KOBYRA has joined the Lockton Cos. Inc., as senior vice president of its New York retail office. As casualty practice leader, his department will be responsible for the delivery of casualty broking and advisory services to clients. Paul...

Guy Carpenter's Carroll honored.(BROKERS: People, Ideas and Trends shaping the Brokerage Community)
July 1, 2006... The Reinsurance Association of America and the Insurance Education Institute have awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award to Kathleen M. Carroll, senior vice president, Guy Carpenter & Co. Inc. The Lifetime Achievement award recognizes insurance...

Mary's mystery.(WORKERS' COMP)
July 1, 2006... A 47-year-old, sedentary, overweight customer service representative began to wake up with numbness, first in one hand and then in both. She soon found herself shaking her hands out at work, where she typed all day while on the phone with a...

Crombie's eye for the office guy.(ROGER ON RISK)
July 1, 2006... I'm perturbed. Here I am, monitoring the heartbeat of the insurance world, yet a major industry-changing event takes place, and I am the very last to know. Who didn't send me the memo? I could have helped avoid this catastrophe if only I'd been...

Stop the press!(BROKERAGE)
July 1, 2006... When John Paul II died last year, the College of Cardinals gathered in Rome, in solemn conclave, sequestered in the Sistine Chapel. There, shielded from the world, the princes of the church went about God's work and selected a new pontiff. The...

More sizes fit all.(BENEFITS)
July 1, 2006... One size has never really fit all in the world of employee benefits, and at the same time employers began trying to better control their costs, they began offering more choices to employees: health maintenance organizations, preferred provider...

An answer to a boondoggle.(RISK MANAGEMENT)
July 1, 2006... Enterprise risk management is being touted as a highly complex and expensive program. This is truly a shame because effective ERM programs are actually very simple and elegant. But simple and elegant solutions don't generate $3 million in...

Wholesalers feel the heat; standard-lines carriers deepen their foray into the client base held by managing general agents as rates soften. With a price war in the offing, it's a great time for buyers to shop around.(Cover story)
July 1, 2006... Wham! That's what Charles T. McCloskey Jr., vice president of a New Jersey-based wholesaler, heard when, just months ago, a $100,000 cosmetics account up and left his Ridge field Park managing general agency for carrier One Beacon. He felt the...

RIMS 2006: hits and misses: floor traffic at the annual convention of the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. in April was down by as much as 30 percent, but there was still plenty of action, just not where you might have expected it.(INSURANCE)
July 1, 2006... MISS: LONG FLIGHTS For many attendees, this year's excursion involved traveling from the East Coast. Some, for better or worse, came with toddlers. Though these parents may have considered themselves good risk managers, planning for this...

Hold it! Recent cases regarding "litigation hold" procedures for electronic data clarify when insurers will pay for such expenses.(TECHNOLOGY)
July 1, 2006... The abbreviation "EDD" stands for "Electronic Data Discovery," and is also commonly referred to as "E-Discovery." A recent survey indicates that the EDD market grew 94 percent to $833 million in 2004 from the previous year, and projects the...

Katrina claims unbound; claims, claims everywhere. After the hurricanes of 2005, risk managers are still hunting for dollars. Where are those advances? Witness how three risk professionals are faring.(SPECIAL REPORT: CLAIMS)
July 1, 2006... "We've learned some things about some of these carriers." That's coming from a man who's filing property claims for two hurricanes, Katrina and Rita, on four properties--in Biloxi and Gulfport, Miss., and New Orleans and Lake Charles,...

Stonewalled! A New Orleans real estate risk manager files a huge claim, only to find that settlement is still months away.(SPECIAL REPORT: CLAIMS)
July 1, 2006... Perhaps Interstate Realty's Bill Geddes said it best. In the affordable homing developer/manager's 33-year history he never experienced a claim this massive--more than $30 million. The size dwarfed any previous claim the controller and risk...

Cycles ruled by ebb and flow: maritime risks come and go, yet never completely disappear. Pilferage and pirates still haunt maritime commerce. Pollution spills present ocean-cargo companies with huge liabilities.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: CRUISE LINES/MARINE SHIPPING)
July 1, 2006... As they set sail on the high seas, today's merchant vessels can rely on modern technology to make their voyages safer than ever before. Despite the advances, however, ship owners and cargo owners still face many of the same age-old risks that...

Time to take risk topside: fires, disappearances, ghastly viruses--you'll find them all aboard cruise ships. That makes reputation management quite a challenge.(INDUSTRY RISK REPORT: CRUISE LINES/MARINE SHIPPING)
July 1, 2006... Managing reputational risk in the cruise industry has never been smooth sailing. Consider that the world's most well-known luxury cruise of all time is the one that struck an iceberg and claimed the lives of 1,523 passengers and crew. ...

Insurance company software.(Directory)
July 1, 2006... Below are paid listings of specialty software packages for the insurance companies, risk managers and brokers. This guide is not intended to be a complete directory but is an overview of some of the packages available. Suppliers themselves have...

By the numbers (and letters): CFO 101.
July 1, 2006... 404 Section in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 outlining procedural requirements for internal controls over financial reporting 953(d) IRS tax election for foreign-controlled corporations that qualify as insurance companies to be treated as...