Best's Review articles from May 2005

Best's Review archives from May 2005

Fast forward.(Editor's Prolouge)
May 1, 2005... Spending in insurance technology has been subdued for a while. In fact, research firm Datamonitor noted that "the insurance technology market has ground to a virtual standstill in terms of growth over the last years." But those days are over....

Admiration of mutuals.(Comment)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... Mr. Arthur Ryan's justification for demutualization ("The Comeback Corporation," Best's Review, March 2005)--"The minute we got into nonparticipating businesses... we were no longer in a participating business"--suggests either a failure to...

Product placement is a turn-off.(Comment)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2005... An article in Best's Review ("The Place to Be," February 2005) on product placement caught my attention because I am an avid television viewer. The article points out that TV ads are skipped through 60% to 80% of the time due to the recent...

Quote/Unquote *.(Thomas J. Donohue, Jeff Randall)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... "The legal system in some states is badly broken and needs to be fixed. We won't rest until we restore basic fairness to the courts...." Thomas J. Donohue President, Chief Executive Officer U.S. Chamber of Commerce "It is my...

United Automobile Insurance Group.(Jack Ramirez appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... United Automobile Insurance Group has named Jack Ramirez president and chief operating officer. Before joining United Auto, Ramirez was president and chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America. In...

Ace USA.(David J. Brosnan appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Ace USA has named David J. Brosnan president of Ace casualty risk. Brosnan will lead the casualty risk operations of Ace USA, the division specializing in lead umbrella and excess liability, custom casualty, public entity and environmental...

Sunshine State Insurance Co.(John E. Rogan, Richard L. Ervin Jr. appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Sunshine State Insurance Co. of Ponte Vedra, Fla., has named John E. Rogan president and chief executive officer and Richard L. Ervin Jr. executive vice president. Ervin continues as chief financial officer. Rogan had been vice president of...

Balance tilts to profit in Canada's auto market.(Highlights From BestWeek)
May 1, 2005... After years of unprofitability, Canada's automobile insurance market looks like it turned the corner in 2004, leading consumer groups and provincial governments to call for continued rate cuts. But industry watchers and advocates caution that...

ProAssurance Corp.(Edward L. Rand Jr. appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... ProAssurance Corp. has named Edward L. Rand Jr. chief financial officer. He succeeds Howard H. Friedman, who will remain as corporate secretary and as chief underwriting officer and chief actuary for ProAssurance's professional liability...

Ace Tempest Life Reinsurance Ltd.(Ari Lindner appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Ari Lindner has been named president of Ace Tempest Life Reinsurance Ltd. Lindner's appointment is subject to approval from the Bermuda Department of Labor and Immigration. Lindner is responsible for the day-to-day management of Ace...

Aon Corp.(Dave Hartoch appointed)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Aon Corp. has named Dave Hartoch president and chief executive officer of Swett & Crawford. Hartoch headed the company from 1997 to 2003. Terry Winkler will continue as chairman of Swett & Crawford, a U.S. wholesale insurance broker that...

U.S. insured property losses in 2004 rank as highest on record.(By the Numbers)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... In terms of both number of events and insured losses, 2004 was one of the most active years on record for natural catastophes in the United States, according to American Re's Annual Review of North American Catastrophes 2004. Hurricanes were...

Meetings.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
May 1, 2005... May 12-15 Life Insurers Council: 95th Annual Meeting, The Phoenician, Scottsdale, Ariz. Phone: (770) 984-3724. Web site: www.loma.org. May 15-18 Casualty Actuarial Society: Spring Meeting, Pointe South Mountain Resort, Phoenix....

AIG overtakes MetLife as biggest life insurer.(Briefing)(American International Group Inc.)
May 1, 2005... American International Group Inc. has emerged as the largest U.S. life insurance company based on admitted assets--overtaking the former leader, MetLife. But, AIG's claim on the top spot may be short lived when MetLife closes on a pending $11.5...

Hurricane forecast: stormy year in Atlantic.(Briefing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The hurricane forecast team at Colorado State University, led by William Gray, has revised its 2005 hurricane predictions to include more storms than previously expected for a "significantly above-average" hurricane season. In December,...

U.S. property/casualty lines post profit for first time in 26 years.(Briefing)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... U.S. property and casualty insurers reversed a 26-year-old trend in 2004 by posting their first underwriting profit since 1978, according to an A.M. Best Co. advance financial results report. Approximately 60% of the industry experienced...

Best's rating changes.(Ratings)
May 1, 2005... 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 ratings.(Ratings)
May 1, 2005... 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....

Shopping spree: U.S. insurers are expected to increase their IT spending this year, particularly for product design, distribution and customer support.(IT Spending)(Cover Story)
May 1, 2005... Insurers will dig a little deeper into their pockets this year. The payout: technology. Carriers are increasingly recognizing the critical role information technology plays in nearly every aspect of the business. "There's no way to achieve...

Penetrating the mist: in China, regulators are groping for transparency as the insurance market surges.(Emerging Markets)
May 1, 2005... China's insurance market has been growing at the fastest rate in the world since the country joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Along with that market growth, China's regulatory framework is being refurbished at a quickening pace, in...

A sure thing: an industrywide effort to secure more on-track insurance for jockeys may have kept the horses running at this year's Kentucky Derby.(Churchill Downs Inc. jockeys insurance)
May 1, 2005... This year's Kentucky Derby on May 7 will mark the horse race's 131st consecutive run for the roses. But only three months earlier, officials were worried. An insurance problem had arisen, one that involved the sport's jockeys. The worst-case...

Financial evolution: as insurers and investors become more adept at dealing with insurance-related securitizations, they're looking for new ways to tap into the capital markets.(Securitization)
May 1, 2005... Money may not grow on trees, but many insurers are seeing green when they turn to the capital markets to raise money through securitizations. Insurers have become well versed in tapping into the capital markets to raise money for...

Market expansion: as America becomes more diversified in areas such as race, ethnicity, life stage and income level, some savvy insurers are growing their bottom lines by targeting specific groups. Those who fail to do so may find themselves falling behind.(Targeted Marketing)
May 1, 2005... Stodgy. Slow moving. Old-fashioned. Those words are often associated with the business of insurance. Yet in the race to capture the wowing diverse American marketplace--and the growing spending of these diverse groups--some insurers are being...

Hitting the target: Best's Review survey shows agents and insurers are finding promising new markets in unexpected places.(Marketing)
May 1, 2005... As the most common insurance markets become saturated, agents and insurers are finding new clients among women, the self-employed, young families and other groups that don't come readily to mind for their sales potential, according to a recent...

Not just a pipe dream: agents and brokers can increase their value by assessing clients' water-damage exposures.(Loss/Risk Management Insight)
May 1, 2005... Insurers nationwide have felt the financial strain of a rising number of water damage claims, including mold, during recent years. As a result, many insurers have tightened their policies and excluded certain perils. With stricter policy terms...

A special pool: two insurers find conditions are right for moving executives out of group term-life plans.(Group UL/VUL)(MetLife Inc.)(MassMutual Financial)(Universal life insurance)(Variable universal life insurance)
May 1, 2005... In the marketplace of employee benefits, group universal life/variable universal life is a classic niche product. It is not well known among employers, is not much sold except by two insurers, and it may be hard for other writers to break into...

Evolution of long-term care: underwriters have become the key to risk management as LTC insurance coverage has expanded and industry experience has developed.(Underwriting Insight)(Long term care insurance)
May 1, 2005... Long-term-care insurance was first presented to the American consumer almost 30 years ago. While originally only covering the cost of skilled nursing home care, most policies sold today also cover the costs of home-care services as well as...

Sink or swim: the future of small health plans is in question, but many are taking steps to ensure their long-term sustainability in the market.(Small Health Plans)
May 1, 2005... Small health insurers are tossed on a sea of change. Although some experts predict the plans will survive the storm, others believe regional and community-based organizations may get caught in the undertow of consolidation and globalization by...

Catastrophic coverage first: provide protection, then convenience, when considering health-care options.(Catastrophic Protection)(First Dollar Benefits)
May 1, 2005... Increasing numbers of employers are finding that high deductible health plans can provide significant premium savings over traditional health plans, and many employers automatically deposit this savings into Health Savings Accounts for their...

Detecting a pattern: insurers can use predictive modeling to segment risks, reveal new market potential and maximize profits.(Predictive Modeling)
May 1, 2005... Home mailboxes are with solicitation offers for a plethora of products--credit cards, mortgage refinances, even automobile or homeowners insurance. Grocery stores provide coupons that print out at the checkout lane based on specific purchases....

Beyond efficiency: advanced companies provide a glimpse into the real competitive power of unifying technology and business.(Technology Insight)(Business Technology Management)
May 1, 2005... Information technology executives across industries in the United States are working with increased budgets this year. For those in the North American insurance industry, according to a recent survey by independent market analyst Datamonitor,...

Judge denies California's 'use it and lose it' regulation appeal.(Technology Notes)
May 1, 2005... A 3rd District Court of Appeal upheld an earlier California court decision that found Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi lacked the authority to issue an emergency regulation restricting the use of electronic claims databases in underwriting...

Aetna.(Web News You Can Use)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Aetna recently announced it's launching a Web site to provide consumers, employers and behavioral health providers with additional resources for their behavioral health needs. The site (www.aetnabehavioralhealth.com) offers consumers practical...

MetLife Retirement & Savings.(Web News You Can Use)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Metlife Retirement & Savings recently announced an innovation in delivering enrollment and plan information to 401(k) participants in the small and midsized markets. Through the use of Macromedia Breeze technology, MetLife is offering plan...

UnumProvident.(Web News You Can Use)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... UnumProvident has added two new features to its online benefits management tool designed to simplify the process of finding and completing forms. My Forms helps benefits managers access applications, enrollment forms and other important...

Identity check: an eight-step compliance program will help insurers avoid the consequences of violating OFAC regulations.(Terrorism)(Office of Foreign Assets Control)
May 1, 2005... In response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13224 blocking (freezing) the financial interests, including interests in insurance policies, of persons identified by the U.S. Department of...

A second look: UnumProvident is poised to reopen and reconsider more than 215,000 denied disability claims.(Legal Insight)
May 1, 2005... Disability insurers have a kinder and gentler approach to claims, and this trend is likely to continue now that the largest writer of disability insurance in the United States has inked a 48-state multistate settlement agreement offering to...

6 strategies for the future: a study reveals new priorities of property/casualty insurers, including organic growth and paperless processing.(Business Performance)
May 1, 2005... The complex and challenging factors of the past few years increasingly have contributed to the heightened level of uncertainty faced by property/casualty insurers. What can these events tell us about what to expect in the future? Will it be...

Qualitative analysis: as prices become closer among competing bids, claim outcomes should be weighted more heavily in the buying decision.(Selling Insight)
May 1, 2005... As the workers' compensation insurance industry quietly approaches its 100th anniversary (Wisconsin 1911), it's time for the industry to evolve the insurance purchasing process. The first century taught us that the cheapest price does not...

GuideOne offers personal lines policies in 19 states.(Marketplace)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... GuideOne, one of the largest insurers of churches, is introducing homeowners and auto coverage. "By tailoring the FaithGuard products to churchgoers' concerns, these auto and homeowners policies provide enhanced protection for the church...

AIG extends terrorism coverage.(Marketplace)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Lexington Insurance Co., a member company of American International Group Inc., is offering a new property terrorism endorsement that provides coverage for losses incurred when a civil or military order related to a terrorist act or threat...

Nationwide, VW program reports test run results.(Marketplace-)(Volkswagen)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Volkswagen is offering an incentive program that provides free private-passenger automobile insurance coverage for one year to new car buyers. Volkswagen provided one year of insurance underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. for...

Checking it out: poor casualty loss experience is driving the uptick in reinsurance underwriting audits.(Underwriting)
May 1, 2005... For reinsurers and direct writers, the reinsurance underwriting audit is a fact of business life. Before reinsurers sign on the dotted line to provide support to insurance companies, they will pore over the priOry company's books of business to...

A criminal question: agent groups say a proposed model law that would criminalize misappropriation of premium funds is flawed.(Fraud)
May 1, 2005... Next month, a committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is expected to consider the final draft of a controversial model act that would criminalize the misappropriation of premium funds by producers and establish new...

Pizza, basketball and insurance: Hartford's new advertising campaign marks the comeback of the stag and a foray into a co-promotion with Kraft Foods to spread the word of the insurer's financial-services brand.(Marketing)
May 1, 2005... Pizza, college basketball and its iconic stag are at the heart of Hartford Financial's new "The Stag Returns" advertising campaign. The commercials featuring a computer-generated stag debuted during the NCAA basketball tournament. Linking...

Hartford's multipronged marketing strategy.
May 1, 2005... ON THE ROAD: Team Hartford members Allen Pinkett (third from left) and Javier Loya (far right), CEO of Choice Energy and former Columbia University defensive end, speak to student-athletes about financial planning at the "Playbook for Life"...

Taken for granted: insurers shouldn't discount the critical role that customer service plays in sales.(Selling Insight)
May 1, 2005... The prevailing wisdom among sales people in our industry is that the easiest--and cheapest--sale to make is the sale to a current customer. That may be true, but the opposite is also true:The easiest sale to lose is the one to a current...

New group plans may boost long-term-care sales.(Marketplace)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... New approaches to selling group long-term-care insurance can help writers boost market penetration, according to a recent white paper released by consulting and actuarial firm Milliman Inc. Authors Jonathan Shreve and Jill Van Den Bos suggest...

Life insurance sales grow at banks.(Marketplace)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Banks still are not adept at selling life insurance, but they are improving, according to the 2003/2004 Kehrer-Limra Bank Life Insurance Sales Studies. The report found that the typical bank in 2003 produced $1.24 in commission revenue from...

Prudential Annuities.(New Products and Services)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Prudential Annuities, the domestic annuity business for Prudential Financial, has introduced Lifetime Five, a variable annuity optional living benefit that can guarantee 5% annual compounded investment growth for up to 10 years and a 5% annual...

Nationwide Financial.(New Products and Services)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... For an annual fee of 0.60%, Nationwide Financial has begun offering owners of certain of its variable annuities Capital Preservation Plus Lifetime income, which guarantees return of principal during the accumulation/preservation period, and...

Protective Life Insurance Co.(New Products and Services)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Protective Life Insurance Co. has introduced its first indexed annuity, the ProSaver Index Choice. The product offers seven- or 10-year initial surrender periods, the choice of a fixed or indexed account, annual reset, credited interest linked,...

Go-ahead for cost control: increased operating pressures mean nursing homes need help mitigating liability risks and costs.(Commercial Liability)
May 1, 2005... Nursing-home liability, a once docile class of casualty risk, has changed significantly over the years into an insurance line which has the attention of both insureds and underwriters. The financial and operating challenges of operating a...

Automated underwriting helps Safeco rate commercial risks.(Loss/Risk Management Notes)(Interview)
May 1, 2005... Safeco Corp. has taken a lesson from the personal lines and is using automated underwriting for commercial business. Mike Hughes, senior vice president of Safeco Business Insurance, recently spoke to Best's Review about the company's goal...

Consultant launches corporate risk group.(Loss/Risk Management Notes)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Mercer Oliver Wyman, a leading financial services and risk-management consultancy, has formed a corporate risk consulting group. The new group will include practice areas in enterprise risk, actuarial and strategic finance. An increased...

Philadelphia Insurance offers golf and country club program.(Loss/Risk Management Notes)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Philadelphia Insurance Cos. said it's offering general liability, umbrella liability and property coverage for high-end, daily-fee golf and private country clubs, as well as homeowners' association-owned golf facilities. To qualify for...

AIG's domestic brokerage forms construction solutions.(Loss/Risk Management Notes)(American International Group Inc)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... The Domestic Brokerage Group of AIG Cos. has formed AIG Construction Solutions, a consolidated practice that will serve as the central point of contact for domestic brokers and agents placing construction business with the member companies of...

Water, water everywhere: in the past two decades, the underwriting of flood insurance has become more complicated.(Underwriting Insight)
May 1, 2005... It has been called the Rodney Dangerfield of catastrophes. While most of the attention for catastrophe losses goes to windstorms, earthquakes and now, terrorism, it is the peril of flood that consistently causes the most havoc and costs the...

Willis settles contingent commission probe for $50m.(Companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd. will pay $50 million and change the way it conducts business in order to resolve allegations of fraud and anti-competitive practices made by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and acting...

Investor group to buy Universal Underwriters.(Companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... A group of investors led by the San Francisco-based private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has agreed to acquire Universal Underwriters Group from Zurich Financial Services Group in a transaction worth $ 1.1 billion. The acquisition...

Wachovia to acquire broker Palmer & Cay.(Companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Palmer & Cay, the 15th largest insurance brokerage and benefits firm in the United States, said it would be acquired by Wachovia Corp. Terms weren't disclosed. Wachovia, the fourth-largest bank holding company in the United States, said the...

Insurer RLI Corp. opens Marine Branch in New York.(Companies)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2005... Specialty insurer RLI Corp. has launched a new marine insurance division based in New York City. The Illinois-based company said its new marine division, RLI Marine, would be staffed by "seasoned underwriters" with "55 years of combined...

Sailing into history: the National Park Service recognizes the exceptional nature of Phoenix Cos.' headquarters building in Hartford.(The Last Word)(Book Review)
May 1, 2005... If you want a corner office, this building is not for you. In fact, the headquarters structure of Phoenix Cos. in Hartford, Conn., has no traditional corners. When it opened in 1963, it was the world's first two-sided building. On Feb. 9,...