Monday, February 08, 2010 Composite P&C rates down 4% in JanuaryComposite rates fell 4 percent in the U.S. property casualty sector during January, according to MarketScout.
According to chief executive officer Richard Kerr, "The current soft market cycle seems to have no end. We are in the market doldrums and will be here until something changes. Insurers must be patient. Rates will adjust, but nothing will happen quickly without a cataclysmic event of significant magnitude."
Meanwhile, the composite rate remained at minus 4 percent, while rates for service, public entities and energy decreased.
In addition, directors and officers liability fell back, suffering an average rate decrease of 2 percent for January 2010. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Insurance/P&C | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Survey: Insurance policy admin systems not meeting carrier demandsPolicy administration systems at insurance companies are overburdened and do not meet carrier demands for growth, adaptability and standardization, according to a recent survey by Accenture.
The survey found that 84 percent of property and casualty insurers surveyed consider modernization of their policy administration systems to be a key priority over the next three years.
Driving the need for system improvements are the need for speed-to-market and greater flexibility, according to insurers.
According to Michael Costonis, executive director of Accenture's insurance practice for North America, "The complex legacy environment as a barrier to high performance is not a new issue, as insurers have been trying to modernize their core systems for at least 10 years, but few can really claim success. It is very difficult to enhance systems while keeping them working, and insurers have need to have a well-defined release strategy that balances speed of implementation with delivery risk."
The survey found also found that 92 percent of insurers see organic growth as the main contributor to overall revenue growth, while 81 percent feel their current systems are not adequate to support current and anticipated needs. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Insurance/P&C | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Study: Web searches for life insurance rise 15%A growing number of Americans are using the Internet to gather information about life insurance, according to a new study by digital marketing firm comScore.
The study finds that online searches for life insurance information climbed to 16.6 million queries last year, up 15 percent from the previous year.
According to comScore director Susan Engleson, "As more Americans utilize the Internet to research life insurance policies for themselves of family members, it is increasingly important for insurers to have a strong brand presence online. Not more than ever, the Internet is playing an important role in this complex financial planning decision and insurers are experiencing varying degrees of success at meeting online consumers' needs."
The Web site for MetLife, New York Life and State Farm all ranked near the top in number of visits as a result of the term "life insurance," the study said. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Life Insurance | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Survey: Insurers better customer advocates than banksInsurers and agents are better advocates for customers than banks, according to a recent survey by Forrester Research Inc.
The company's seventh annual customer advocacy rankings asked 4,500 consumers to rank 46 separate banks, investment firms and insurance companies on the issue.
While trust in financial institutions has begun to creep up after plummeting during the recession, large banks continue to reside near the bottom of the rankings.
According to Bill Doyle, vice president and principal analyst at the company, "Forrester's research continues to point to the significance of customer advocacy -- the perception by customers that a firm does what's best for them, not just what's best for its own bottom line. Each year, our data shows that consumers who rate their firms high on customer advocacy are more likely to consider their firms for additional products. Customers who rate their firms low on customer advocacy are most likely to say they intend to switch firms in the next year."
As a group, insurers recovered more quickly than banks and investment firms when compared with last year's report.
In fact, USAA insurance took first place in the survey, while AAA came in sixth, State Farm was in seventh place, and GEICO was ranked 10th. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Insurance/P&C | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 ETI up for fifth straight monthThe Conference Board Employment Trends Index (ETI)(TM) rose in January for the fifth consecutive month. The index now stands at 93.2, up 1 percent from December's 92.3, but still down 0.7 percent compared to January 2009.
"The continued rise in the ETI makes us more optimistic that job growth will resume in the first quarter of 2010," said Gad Levanon, Associate Director, Macroeconomic Research at The Conference Board. "The improvement is widespread across all eight components. In particular, Friday's large decline in the number of involuntary part-time workers was the first time this component showed a strong signal of improvement."
January's rise in the ETI was driven by positive contributions from six of its eight components: Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find "Jobs Hard to Get," Number of Temporary Employees, Part-Time Workers for Economic Reasons, Job Openings, Industrial Production, and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Anthem asked to justify rate increaseThe Obama Administration has asked Anthem Blue Cross to justify its plans to raise health insurance premiums by as much as 39 percent for customers in California.
In a letter sent to the company's president on Monday, the secretary for the department of Health and Human Services called the planned increases extraordinary and difficult to understand.
According to the letter, the company has an obligation to provide a detailed justification for the rate hikes to the public. Anthem Blue Cross has yet to make comment on the request for information. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Life Insurance | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Oil climbs above $71/barrelIn response to a depreciating value of the dollar, the price per barrel for oil this morning climbed higher than $71 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In fact, the cost of light, sweet crude for March delivery climbed 30 cents to $71.49 a barrel.
This action on the exchange comes just days after the cost of the commodity dipped 4 percent due to reports of increased inventory and concerns related to rising debt in Greece and Spain. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Economic stress reaches summitIn December 2009, economic stress reached the highest point since the recession began in December 2007, indicates analysis of conditions in more than 3,100 U.S. counties.
It is reported that, in states such as Alaska, Wyoming and Montana -- regions that typically withstand economic hardships -- the effect of job losses in part influenced a drop in energy and mining exploration.
And, foreclosure and bankruptcy rates continued to climb as the national unemployment rate held steady, the Associated Press reports. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print |
Monday, February 08, 2010 Official: Fed could sell assets in 2010The Federal Reserve could sell off some assets later this year in an attempt to reduce its balance sheet, according to senior official James Bullard.
According to the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank president, "Maybe you get in the second half of 2010 or something like that, if things are going pretty well, maybe then you'd sell a little bit at that point and you'd try to see how the market reacts."
By the end of March, the Fed will reach the end of its acquisition of $1.25 trillion in mortgage-backed securities. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Investments | Send to a friend | Print |
Friday, February 05, 2010 Nationwide reaches $2.1M settlementNationwide Life Insurance Co. has agreed to pay $2.1 million to five state insurance regulators over claims involving allegedly unsuitable variable annuity sales.
The nine-year-old claims involve regulators in California, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
The charges stem from events in 2001 and 2002 when advisors advertised two new variable annuities that were developed by Nationwide.
According to allegations, clients were encouraged to switch from other contracts into the Nationwide products, leading to the surrender of nearly 7,000 annuities valued at $616 million.
As part of the settlement, Nationwide will offer to reimburse those affected for their surrender charges and provide an option to rescind some of the riders purchased with the annuities.
According to Nationwide spokesman Chad Green, "We feel it is the best interests of all parties to settle these matters rather than to continue to engage further resource to them. This settlement resolves the matter and allows Nationwide and the participating states to move on."
Nationwide entered the agreement without any admission of wrongdoing, saying it has cooperated fully with regulators in order to reach the settlement. | Be the first to comment on this News | More in Annuities | Send to a friend | Print |
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