Risk & Insurance articles from June 2003

Risk & Insurance archives from June 2003

RIMS hot topics: a message in a bubble, speedy ratings, hard markets. (Up Front).
June 1, 2003... If Liberty Mutual's attention-getting gimmick of wrapping a bus with lime green bubble wrap wasn't exactly the most elegant sight among downtown Chicago's soaring skyscrapers, at least it drove home the following point, reinforced with a...

Risk managers in a furor over renewal tactics. (Up Front).
June 1, 2003... The one hot topic that stirred passionate debate among risk managers gathered at the Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.'s 41st Annual Conference & Exhibition in Chicago in April wasn't on the "hot topic" agenda. Risk managers were...

Earnings Threats.
June 1, 2003... Earnings Threats Hazards posing the biggest threat to corporate profitability 2003 Financial 2003 Risk Executives Managers Property-Related Hazards...

From the editor.
June 1, 2003... Risk managers have long memories. To be sure, they'll have visions of the current round of renewals well beyond the emergence of an eventual soft market. And the soft market will return; it's just a matter of time. In fact there are some...

Killer virus leaves infected managers in comp benefits lunch. (Up Front).
June 1, 2003... SARS not only lurks in the lungs of hapless corporate managers. It also resides in the legal shadows of the workers' compensation world and the best advice--for now--appears to be to stay home. "There's gray area," says Keith Bateman,...

Correction.
June 1, 2003... In the April 14 edition, columnist Joseph Paduda's name was misspelled. His email address is jpaduda@healthstrategyassoc.com.

Feedback.
June 1, 2003... To The Editor. As one of a few people who have spent years researching and promoting the stakeholder value protection concept, which is the core of the Chief Risk Officer position, I believe your hypothesis supports the problem rather than...

Workers' Comp: A roundup. (Up Front).
June 1, 2003... It's not a great time to be in the workers' compensation business as WC continues to struggle through a tight market, according to brokers and analysts. Why? Because workers' comp insurance is too cheap to be profitable for insurers and too...

UnumProvident Corp. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... UnumProvident Corp. has ousted CEO Harold Chandler, as the disability insurer looked to restore investor confidence and improve its financial performance, the company said. The company, whose shares have tumbled on debt worries and lawsuits,...

Acordia Inc. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... Acordia Inc. has established a Risk Finance Group to serve as a resource for clients and brokers, the company has announced. The group will offer client consultations and other insurance services to protect clients from the financial risks...

The Risk Management Association and Automated Financial Systems. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... The Risk Management Association and Automated Financial Systems have launched a lending risk exposure service, the firms have announced. The Risk Analysis Service will analyze an institution's commercial loan information, and report on its risk...

Inreon. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... Inreon, an online reinsurance marketplace, will expand its operations in Asia with two leading reinsurers, Korean Re and China International Re, writing policies using the online platform, Inreon has announced. The news follows recent growth in...

World Trade Center. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... Personal injury lawsuits filed by people who claim their long-term health was damaged by the clean-up of the World Trade Center site could bankrupt New York City in the next 20 years, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The mayor also asked...

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... Asbestos exposure foreshadows a growing rift between insurers and the reinsurance companies that back them, according to a new report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. "Disputes between insurers and reinsurers appear to be intensifying,"...

Universal American Financial Corp. (News and Notes).
June 1, 2003... Universal American Financial Corp. has completed the acquisition of Pyramid Life Insurance Co. from Ceres Group, Inc. for $57.5 million, Universal American has announced. Founded in 1913, Pyramid Life provides health and life insurance products...

Ratios improve in 2002. (Bermuda Angle).
June 1, 2003... Insurance and reinsurance companies routinely make complex forecasts about their financial performance. Internal budgets and plans, return on equity forecasts, regulatory and ratings agency filings, the "dog and pony" investor and broker road...

Always read before you sign. (Property).
June 1, 2003... Do you read the loan documents your organization signs? All of them? Before anybody puts his or her stamp of approval on the dotted line? One risk manager didn't, and now he wishes he had. Out of the blue a risk manager (whose name was...

Case management's new era. (Benefits).
June 1, 2003... When should an employer begin to care about an employee's health? At the first medical treatment? At the first symptom? Some employers are expanding health care benefits beyond traditional indemnity health plans or managed care plans with a...

Navigating the ratings maze. (Risk Primer).
June 1, 2003... Never before has selecting a financially secure insurance company been such a game of chance. Insurance companies' ratings have been plummeting and once prominent and financially secure companies are falling by the wayside. Insurance companies...

Field of bad dreams: The shrinking crop insurance market. (Cover Story).
June 1, 2003... The twin torments of weather and price volatility conspire to make farming one of the riskiest business ventures on the planet. The recent collapse of one of the industry's largest crop insurers proves those who help mitigate those risks aren't...

The renewal rollercoaster: though new Bermuda players are helping ease prices, casualty, D&O and malpractice rates keep the industry holding its breath. (Reinsurance Focus).
June 1, 2003... Insurance company executives are generally finding ample capacity in the global reinsurance marketplace as they get ready to seal their July renewal contracts with their reinsurers. The entrance of new players in the Bermuda market during the...

Reinsurance blending: is the timing right? (Reinsurance Focus).
June 1, 2003... While it seems that the timing is ripe for the blending of reinsurance and investment banking products to take off, it hasn't happened. Even with diminished capacity and sky-high reinsurance prices, convergence currently commands only a tiny...

Cutting to the chase: suddenly seeking cut-through clauses. (Reinsurance Focus).
June 1, 2003... Once given as an accommodation to insurers and rarely charged for in decades past, cut-through clauses are now expensive provisions sometimes wrapped in the reinsurance contract that an insurance company negotiates when laying off their risk....

EPLI's forgotten stepchild: employee behavior. (Liability).
June 1, 2003... A dramatic increase in employment-related lawsuits over the past decade has left employers searching for ways to reduce their liability. An aggressive approach to compliance may be just the answer they're looking for. When it comes to...

See-through data: The push for transparency. (Risk Management).
June 1, 2003... Fueled by closer scrutiny of corporate-governance risk and the drive to increase shareholder value, data transparency has become the latest weapon in the war against risk exposure. Expect a long struggle ahead for those risk managers who...

Your brand is much more than a name. (Insurance Executive).
June 1, 2003... In troubled times, don't let the marketplace define your brand. those companies with a customer-focused brand strategy can prosper with higher customer retention and greater market share. If there was ever a critical time when having a...

Capping the costs: employers are finding newer, better ways to control drug costs through pharmacy benefit management plans. (Cover Story).
June 1, 2003... The health-care news was mostly bad in 2002, as costs increased more than 14 percent. But some employers are trying to find a glimmer of hope in their ability to manage prescription drug prices-one of the fastest-rising components of their...

How to reconcile the split personality of the claims organization.
June 1, 2003... As claims organizations advance closer to the emerging paradigm of claims management, they will incorporate increasingly intensive approaches to subdividing the work of a claim. Veterans of the P&C claims industry often marvel at how the...