Best's Review articles from April 2006

Best's Review archives from April 2006

The second time around.(California Earthquake Authority)(Editorial)
April 1, 2006... The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 remains one of the most influential events in insurance history. As a result of that disaster, seismic and engineering research, along with model applications, evolved and led to today's...

Cause of Acrobat's fall during circus is clarified.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... I wanted to let you know that I read "Under the Big Top" in the January 2006 issue of Best's Review and wanted to provide a clarification to the opening sentence. My family and I were at the circus (and very close to the accident), and the...

Independent agents hit hard by Katrina.(Letter to the editor)
April 1, 2006... In reporting the aftermath of a catastrophe such as Katrina ("Searching for a Cause," Best's Review, February 2006), do you ever consider the problems an independent agent faces? Can you comprehend what it means when your office and its...

Correction.(Comment)(Correction notice)
April 1, 2006... Genworth Financial has an internal goal of 12% return on equity by the end of 2008. The company traces its roots in long-term-care insurance to 1974. Both dates were incorrect in an article in the March issue of Best's Review.

Lloyd's likely to feel hit in U.K.'s record robbery; may be a test for self-insurance.
April 1, 2006... The multimillion-pound armed robbery of a storage depot near London is likely to be felt within Lloyd's, which has a worldwide reputation for writing insurance for this kind of risk.The robbery also may offer the cash-in-transit industry a...

Historic robbery.(at a cash depot run by Securitas Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... HISTORIC ROBBERY: The armed robbery at a cash depot operated by Securitas in Tonbridge, south of London, on Feb. 22 may be the largest robbery in British history. Above, police investigate a vehicle in Staplehurst, England. According to news...

Life insurers eye share of health savings windfall.
April 1, 2006... Life insurers with strong asset-management capabilities may be well positioned to capitalize on a big pool of assets if consumer-driven health plans take off in the coming years as many predict. Jerry Ripperger, director of consumer health...

Earthquake early report.
April 1, 2006... In the April 1906 issue of Best's Review, a short front-page feature, inserted after the magazine had been made up, reported "the city of San Francisco was visited by an earthquake followed by a conflagration, the two constituting a catastrophe...

Insurers balk as regulators weigh collateral.(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... With pressure tram European reinsurers and U.S. federal authorities mounting, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is studying easing collateral requirements for nonadmitted reinsurers. At the NAIC's Spring National Meeting...

Regulators to discuss life after TRIA.(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Three months after President Bush signed legislation allowing a two-year extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, regulators and key members of the U.S. Treasury Department are setting the groundwork for what comes next. Looking...

P/C Industry Reports Underwriting Loss for First 9 Months of 2005.(property and casualty insurance)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Driven by the largest natural catastrophe in U.S. history, Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. property/casualty industry reported an underwriting loss of $2.8 billion for the first nine months of 2005, a decline from the $3.4 billion underwriting gain...

U.S. property/casualty industry financial indicators.(Table)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... U.S. Property/Casualty Industry Financial Indicators ($ Billions) 2004 2005 % 9 Months 9 Months Change Net Premiums Written ...

Property/Casualty Quarterly Underwriting Results by Segment.(Table)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Property/Casualty Quarterly Underwriting Results by Segment 2005 Nine-Month Comparison 2005 Combined Ratios First Second Third Nine Predominating Segment Quarter...

Meetings.(Brief article)(Calendar)
April 1, 2006... April 5-7 LIMRA International: 2006 Retirement Conference Series (LIMRA/LOMA/SOA) Hilton in the Disney World Resort, Orlando, Fla. Phone: (800) 235-4672 www.limra.com April 9-11 American Association of Insurance Services: Annual...

Best's insurance stock indices.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... (Dec. 31, 2004 = 1,000.00) Four Weeks Ended March 9, 2006 Percent Change Year Index Month/ to Year/...

Warren Buffett: Geico's success eases catastrophes' bite.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... He faulted Katrina and her ugly sisters and touted his long-time darling Geico all in a single letter. Geico improved its productivity 32% in just two years, Warren Buffett told investors in his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders....

Shenandoah Life Insurance Co.(appoints Mike Coffman)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * SHENANDOAH LIFE INSURANCE CO. has named MIKE COFFMAN senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective May 1. The current senior vice president and chief financial officer, EDWARD MACHADO, will retire April 30. Most recently,...

Conseco Inc.(William Fritts appointed )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * CONSECO INC. has named WILLIAM FRITTS executive vice president of government relations. Fritts' responsibilities include managing Conseco's regulator relationships, monitoring legislative and regulatory developments and acting as the...

State Auto Financial Corp. and its parent company, State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co.(Robert Restrepo Jr. appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... STATE AUTO FINANCIAL CORP. and its parent company, STATE AUTOMOBILE MUTUAL INSURANCE CO., have named ROBERT RESTREPO JR. chairman and chief executive officer. He also was named to the boards of both companies. Restrepo succeeds ROBERT MOONE,...

Hartford Financial Services Group.(Hartford Fire Insurance Co. appoints Andrew Pinkes)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * HARTFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP has named ANDREW PINKES president of Heritage Holdings Inc., a unit that oversees the company's property and casualty run-off operations. His appointment is effective April 1. Pinkes joined the company...

Ohio Casualty Insurance Co.(appoints Jerry Mallicoat)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * OHIO CASUALTY INSURANCE CO. has named JERRY MALLICOAT senior vice president and chief marketing officer, effective March 20. Previously, Mallicoat was with Wellpoint Inc., where he was vice president of central region marketing since...

Lloyd's goes outside the insurance industry for new CEO.(Richard Ward from International Petroleum Exchange of London Ltd. appointed at Lloyd's)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Going outside the insurance market, Lloyd's has named Richard Ward, former chief executive of the International Petroleum Exchange in London, as its new chief executive officer. Ward, who starts his new job on April 24, was IPE's chief...

Fireman's Fund Insurance Co.(Joseph Beneducci appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * JOSEPH BENEDUCCI has been elected president and chief operating officer of FIREMAN'S FUND INSURANCE CO. He most recently was executive vice president and chief operating officer. Other positions Beneducci has held include executive vice...

Safeco Corp.(appoints Tim Mikolajewski )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * SAFECO CORP. has named Tim Mikolajewski senior vice president of Safeco Surety. Mikolajewski will take over the position in May, when current senior vice president Mike Peters plans to retire. Mikolajewski joined Safeco Surety in 1984 and...

Commerce Group Inc.'s.(appoints Arthur J. Remillard Jr.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * COMMERCE GROUP INC.'s chief executive officer, ARTHUR J. REMILLARD JR., will retire from the company he founded at the end of July 2006. Remillard, 75, founded Commerce Insurance Co. in 1971 when he joined with other independent...

American Family Mutual Insurance Co.(appoints)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INSURANCE CO. has accepted the retirement resignation of Chief Executive Officer HARVEY PIERCE, effective Dec. 31, 2006. DAVID ANDERSON also was named chairman and chief executive officer effective Jan. 1, 2007. ...

White Mountains Insurance Group.(appoints Tom Hutton )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * WHITE MOUNTAINS INSURANCE GROUP has named TOM HUTTON president and chief executive officer of White Mountains Re Group Ltd. Over the past five years, Hutton has provided management oversight and transaction services to private equity...

Renaissancere Holdings Ltd.(appoints Mark Wilcox)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * RENAISSANCERE HOLDINGS LTD. has named MARK WILCOX senior vice president and chief accounting officer. Wilcox joined RenaissanceRe in 2003 and most recently was vice president and controller. Before coming to the company, he was with...

Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd.(appoints William Pollett and Neil Greenspan)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * MONTPELIER RE HOLDINGS LTD. has named WILLIAM POLLETT treasurer and senior vice president of the company and of Montpelier Reinsurance Ltd. NEIL GREENSPAN was named chief accounting officer and vice president of the company and of Montpelier...

Hannover Re Group.(appoints )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * HANNOVER RE GROUP has named RODMAN FOX chief executive officer of Clarendon Insurance Group, Hannover Re's wholly owned specialty insurance operation. STEVEN NAJJAR, who had been Clarendon's CEO for the past 16 months, has been named CEO of...

Guy Carpenter & Co.(Peter Cheeseman appointed)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... * GUY CARPENTER & CO. has named PETER CHEESEMAN senior vice president of its Instrat group, the firm's actuarial and modeling unit, based in Sydney, Australia. Most recently, Cheeseman worked for Glencairn in London, where he was head of...

10 advertising No-No's.(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Independent agents and brokers are sales and service professionals. But they typically struggle with marketing and advertising issues. I-Marketing Management has observed the top 10 advertising mistakes--and offers remedies: 1. NO PLAN....

More, please.(Farmers Group Inc. advertises)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... FARMERS GROUP INC. rolled out the largest advertising campaign in its history featuring two new commercials--"More" and "Pleasantville." "More" features classic movie clips with famous characters saying "more" in each excerpt. With scenes...

Top 5 auto writers ad spending.(Table)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Company * 2004 2005 % Change State Farm $260 Million $320 Million 23.1% Allstate $299 Million $289 Million 3.3% Progressive $201...

Life: decline in applications.(life insurance applications decrease in numbers)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Applications for life insurance last year fell by 3.3%, according to the MIB Life Index. When coupled with declining activity in 2004 (minus 2.3%) and in 2003 (minus 3.0%), the industry's three-year decline exceeded 8%. December's decline...

Primary insurance for hotel industry.(from GE Insurance Solutions Corp.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... GE Insurance Solutions has developed a comprehensive insurance product for any hotel or motel not considered a destination resort, residential hotel or a convention/conference center. The broad coverage includes liquor liability, garage-keepers...

New coverage for fitness sudios.(Philadelphia Insurance Co.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Philadelphia Insurance Cos. has launched a product for fitness and wellness studio operators. It focuses on risks involving one-on-one fitness training or group fitness training in aerobics, Pilates, personal training, martial arts, elite...

Trustmark offers combo product.(Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions introduces life insurance products)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions has launched a series of universal life insurance plans that also provide long-term-care coverage. The new flagship Universal Life product provides greater long-term care benefits than the previous version,...

Critical-illness product benefits.(insurance products)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Colonial Supplemental Insurance has developed a guaranteed-issue group voluntary critical-insurance product that can pay benefits for multiple and recurrent illnesses. The product offers three categories of covered illnesses, and insureds can...

Working in retirement.(Table)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Percent of surveyed population currently working/planning to work. Working Retired Japan 68 40 Hong Kong 67 6 United States 63 15 Australia 60...

Best's rating changes.(for insurance industry)(Table)
April 1, 2006... This edition of Best's Rating Changes reflects all rating changes--assignments, changes or placed under review--that occurred for life, health and property/casualty insurers domiciled in North America, as well as international insurance...

Guide to Best's financial strength rating.(Table)
April 1, 2006... GUIDE TO BEST'S FINANCIAL STRENGTH RATINGS A Best's Rating is an independent opinion, based on a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation, of a company's balance sheet strength, operating performance and business profile....

A century of aftershocks: the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 remains a milestone in insurance risk assessment. On its centennial, the post-Katrina world is asking the obvious: "What if ...?".(Cover story)
April 1, 2006... Key Points * The 1906 San Francisco earthquake shook the insurance industry into thinking differently about risk. * The event shaped the industry's approach to disaster planning, cat modeling and risk management. * Such a quake in...

All shook up: if the 1906 San Francisco earthquake occurred today, insured losses would likely reach $80 billion; however, there are many scenarios capable of producing even greater losses.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * The 1906 San Francisco earthquake remains one of the most significant earthquakes in U.S. history, particularly because the actions that followed had a far-reaching impact on the understanding of earthquakes and their effects....

Preparing for the worst: risk managers are flocking to the annual Risk and Insurance Management Society's conference to discuss hot topics including pandemics, wild weather and terrorism.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * All companies should have a plan to respond to a potential pandemic. In the past 100 years, a total of three pandemics have killed 43 million people worldwide. * Risk managers can prevent 80% of wind storm and hurricane...

On call.(Mike Liebowitz of Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... ON CALL: Mike Liebowitz, incoming RIMS president and director of risk management for Bridgeport Hospital & Healthcare Services in Connecticut, said the hospital is ready with an emergency headquarters where officials could live to oversee the...

'Tis a gift to be simple: complex annuities scare off both buyers and advisers, so the industry is offering less intimidating products.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * Due to their higher expense and complexity, annuities often receive bad press. * Confident that annuities can help baby boomers, insurers are experimenting with simpler designs and greater transparency. * Part of the...

Here's to your health: insurers are working with employers to provide wellness programs in hopes of creating healthier and more productive employees.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * In addition to creating healthier and more productive employees, wellness programs can help curb rising health-care costs. * Of 960 large national employers participating in a 2003 Hewitt Associates survey, 95% offered...

Who will sell life insurance in five years? Just as the initial wave of baby boomers is starting to retire, so will an increasing number of life insurance agents.
April 1, 2006... A fundamental challenge for life insurers is to develop ongoing, mutually productive relationships with advisers whose practice, market focus, expertise, interest and support needs are aligned with theirs. Particularly for insurers who aspire...

Hot cat contracts: industry loss warranties are growing in popularity as insurers look to balance their risks and fill in gaps in traditional catastrophe coverage.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * Industry loss warranties are a creative risk management tool for insurers looking to balance their portfolios. * Demand for industry loss warranties has increased 35% since Hurricane Katrina. * Pricing for industry...

The return of own-specialty: liberalized disability benefits for professional groups suggest that history might repeat itself, to the detriment of insurers.
April 1, 2006... Group long-term disability insurers and reinsurers have developed a lot of tools and technologies to help us price, underwrite and manage our business. Of all these, however, the one we have not developed is the time machine. If we had, I'd...

The changing face of online distribution: internet insurance marketing has evolved from being aggregator-driven to being carrier-driven.
April 1, 2006... In the past eight or so years, the insurance industry has witnessed some interesting changes in the way the Internet market is evolving. In the late 1990s, the market was overwhelmingly aggregator-driven. Internet start-ups dominated. The...

Web-based doctor credentialing helps health insurers target costs.
April 1, 2006... U.S. health insurers are saving money and cutting administrative hassles by switching over to paperless, Web-based systems that collect information on physicians who seek to join their networks. They also can use such information to promote...

Andromeda Webs Ltd.(compltes trial launch of web blog)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Financial Web site specialist Andromeda Webs Ltd. has completed the trial launch of its Web blog on its Brokers Online Web site. Daily entries include such topics as pet, travel and auto insurance. The Brokers Online Web site,...

The Hartford Financial Services Group.(offers EstateGuidance, a online tool)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... The Hartford Financial Services Group (www.thehartford.com) now offers EstateGuidance, a new online will-preparation service. EstateGuidance can be purchased by new customers of Hartford's group basic and supplemental life policies covering...

Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.(online services introduced)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Applications for professional and management liability insurance products from the Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. now can be submitted entirely online with an electronic signature. Chubb's Applications are available at www.chubb.com for 10...

MetLife.(launches online calculator )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... MetLife announced a new online calculator at www.metlife.com/gsib. The Guaranteed Survivor Income Benefit calculator pinpoints how much life insurance an individual needs to guarantee his or her survivors an income they can't outlive....

A global future: research shows the need to break away from old operational models for many aspects of insurance.
April 1, 2006... The IBM Institute for Business Value recently completed a global, qualitative study, Insurance 2020: Innovating Beyond Old Models, that looks 15 years into the future of the insurance industry. The research investigated the impact of many...

Help wanted: although insurance jobs are increasing, aging baby boomers and a decline in college graduates entering the industry are creating a limited supply of talent.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * The insurance industry is expected to experience a 10% growth in new jobs in the next several years. * Some experts fear aging baby boomers, consolidation in the market and not enough college graduates entering the...

Insurance recruiters: some search firms specialize in placing insurance in specific lines of business and occupations, while others serve the entire industry.(Directory)
April 1, 2006... AJC Search Associates Ltd. Jay Cohen 15 Grand Avenue Baldwin, N.Y. 11510 Phone: 516-766-1699 Fax: 516-766-3889 Expertise: Benefits Administration/Pension, Financial Services, Life and Health, Managed Care ...

On guard: new rules require life insurers to establish programs to prevent their products and services from being used for money laundering or terrorist financing.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * The U.S. Treasury now requires life insurers to establish formal compliance programs to prevent their products from being used for money laundering or terrorist financing. * The law requires insurers to make sure its...

A punch to the wallet: sure, insurance covers assaults and beating, but what about fiscal hostility?(Column)
April 1, 2006... My past columns have explored whether insurance covers intentional physical attacks; I've written about shootings and fist fights before. But what about the attack that is most painful--the financial attack? This was the subject of Home...

Growing crop insurance concerns: the 2007 federal budget has agents seeking yet another language change to the Federal Crop Insurance Act.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * Agents for crop insurers are petitioning Congress to extend a funding limitation to the Premium Reduction Plan, a section of the Federal Crop Insurance Act they say promotes unfair price competition. * Compounding that is...

Boom and bust? Insurers face new challenges as the baby boom generation may have to work beyond age 70 to maintain its current standard of living.
April 1, 2006... As most readers are aware, there will be a sharp and unprecedented growth in the number and percent of older people in the coming years, due in large part to the birth spike from 1946 to 1964--the baby boom generation--and lengthening life...

Doing something about weather: weather derivatives have helped companies control financial risk for nearly a decade. Now that they're trading on a mercantile exchange, sales are really taking off.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * New financial instruments that hedge weather risks dramatically spurred sales of weather derivatives last year. * Large reinsurers and other financial institutions play a major role in creating weather derivatives. *...

Prescription for fair play: insurers and consumers are using litigation to recover overcharges from pharmaceutical firms that illegally keep generics off the market.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * Illegal restriction of generic competition is a common form of overcharge abuse in the drug industry. * To recover overcharges, insurers may file an independent lawsuit, join a class-action suit or join a group of...

Keeping it simple: effective simplicity is the product of careful thought, sound judgment and thorough planning.(Column)
April 1, 2006... HOW does a risk manager, chief risk officer or enterprise risk management overseer make certain that decision-makers throughout the organization appropriately take risk into account and understand the importance of doing so? Part of the answer...

Study: D&O rates fall again.(Directors and officers liability insurance)
April 1, 2006... Directors and officers liability insurance rates fell for the second straight year in 2005, even as claims susceptibility, frequency and severity continued to climb, a recent survey by consulting firm Tillinghast shows. Tillinghast's D&O...

Companies still risk information theft.(insurance industries)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... As many as 80% of corporate employees will disclose sensitive company or customer information to people they do not know over the telephone, and up to 33% will do the same via e-mail, according to a survey by RavenEye, an information security...

Database essentials: insurers are faced with the fairness-consistency challenge in settling bodily injury claims.
April 1, 2006... In advocating adherence to cost-based pricing as the surest path to strong underwriting performance, I always stress the importance of having access to vast quantities of high-quality data, and the right analytic tools to make sound business...

Hot liability: recent pro-plaintiff developments in welding fume litigation have put welding companies and insurers on the alert.
April 1, 2006... Key Points * An appellate court's 2005 ruling in Elam vs. Lincoln Electric Co. et al. and other developments favoring plaintiffs could portend more proplaintiff decisions and settlements, as well as an increase in future welding fume...

SEC probes MetLife unit over suitability of universal life sales.(Securities and Exchange Commission)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... MetLife Inc. said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating a subsidiary concerning the suitability of its sales of universal life insurance policies. In its Form 10-K filed with the SEC, MetLife said it learned of the...

Prudential to buy Allstate's variable annuity business for $560 million.(Prudential Financial Inc.)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Prudential Financial Inc. said it would acquire Allstate Financial's variable annuity business through a reinsurance transaction for an initial investment of about $560 million. The move would boost Prudential's position to the third-largest...

Poe Financial Group stops writing homeowners in Florida.(homeowners policies )(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... Poe Financial Group's property/casualty subsidiaries will stop writing homeowners policies in Florida, at least temporarily. The move comes after the state Office of Insurance Regulation told Poe subsidiary Southern Family Insurance Co. to...

Federal court dismisses market-timing suit against Marsh, Putnam.(Marsh and McLennan Companies Inc. sued)(Brief article)
April 1, 2006... A federal court in Maryland has dismissed a shareholders class-action lawsuit based on allegations of market timing against Marsh & McLennan Cos.' Putnam Funds. A U.S. district judge granted defendants' motions to dismiss all claims...

Outstanding in his field: Gene Gantz has been honored for spending more than four decades promoting crop insurance.
April 1, 2006... You can take the man off the farm, but you can't get the farm out of the man. For more than 42 years, Gene Gantz has worked in the crop insurance industry, visiting more farms than he can count in 49 states to educate farmers on risk management...