The ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times,” never resonated more within the property-casualty industry than it did in 2008, when the fallout from the subprime mortgage crisis nearly destroyed the nation’s highest-profile carrier, seriously undermined the balance sheets of nearly everyone else, and set the stage for the worst economy since The Great Depression. These macro-economic factors and the political fallout from them helped determine the top insurance news stories in 2008.
The “NU Top-10” list is totally subjective. These are the developments I felt were the most interesting of the year, based on my personal opinion and the feedback I received when commenting on these particular subjects in my column and blog.
Indeed, if you feel I’ve overlooked a key event, feel free to share your choices in the comment section below.
Anyway, here goes!
NU’S TOP 10 P-C INSURANCE STORIES OF 2008! (Click on any of the headlines to read a particular story of interest to you, then come back and comment here on my blog.)
#1: AIG Nearly Drowned By Subprime Debacle
#2: Financial Meltdown, Recession Rock Insurers
#3: Economic Woes Don’t Stop Soft Market Pricing
#4: Will Democrats’ Gain Be Insurers’ Loss?
#5: Cat Losses Spike After Two Quiet Years
#6: Mighty Players Fall, While One Icon Rebounds
#7: Urge To Merge Fuels Insurer, Broker Deals
#8: Party Pooper! AIG Forced To End Producer Junkets
#9: Goliath Marsh Takes On David’s Agencies
#10: NAIC May Plunge Into Ratings Game
Looking ahead, massive layoffs, business failures and the slowdown in the number of startups to a trickle all pose stiff challenges to an industry searching for top-line growth to make up for depressed investment income and rising reinsurance rates.
What will be the Top-10 Stories Of 2009? Check out my Jan. 5, 2009 blog entry for my predictions! And if you want to verify my predictive powers, check out my blog on Friday, Dec. 26, in which I'll brag about what I got right in trying to predict the future last year at this time, and shrug off where by some miracle my crystal ball failed me!
Meanwhile, have a very happy, healthy and profitable new year!
