2012: What’s Next for E&S Players?

With 2012 about to arrive, NU spoke with some of the key figures in the E&S/Specialty Markets arena to hear their assessments of where the biggest opportunities will be found in the year ahead—and to get their take on the greatest challenges that will have to be faced over the...

On-Field Celebration of Big Game Victories: It’s Called ‘Bedlam’ for a Reason

By Kevin Quinley, CPCU

Many moons ago, while I was an undergraduate at Wake Forest University, notable sports victories were celebrated by students by “rolling the Quad.” Dorms would empty as undergrads sprinted toward the tree-lined Quadrangle, armed with rolls of toilet paper. Crowds would then proceed to “TP” the branches of the stately...

Lloyd’s: Talent Shortage a Top Risk for Businesses

By Caroline McDonald, PropertyCasualty360.com

The need for talent and skill remains a top concern for American executives, despite high unemployment levels.

How Greatly Will Health-Care Reform Impact Benefits Practices of P&C Firms?

The health-care reform law is not scheduled to take effect in 2016, but questions and impact of the law is already hitting some employee-benefit agency programs.

Health-Care Reform Doesn’t Have Agents Running for the Exits—Yet

The health-care reform law is not scheduled to take effect in 2016, but questions and impact of the law is already hitting some employee-benefit agency programs.

#10 Workers’ Comp Injury Claims on the Rise for First Time Since 1997

Times are tough for the American worker, whether at the office or on the assembly line—and conditions are at least equally challenged for those underwriters that offer workers’ compensation insurance to the country’s employers.

#9 Agents & Technology: 2011 Proves a Watershed Year for Adopting New Tools

Mobile apps from indie agents. Real-time processing—not only of personal-lines business, but also of midsize commercial accounts. Social media as a marketing essential. Cloud computing. The past 12 months saw a number of game-changing tech trends that are rapidly altering how agents and brokers do business.

#8 ERM, SRM Gaining Ground with Risk Managers; Reinsurers Leading the Way

Enterprise risk management continued to move more toward the mainstream in Corporate America this year, with its implementation being driven by anxious boards and by CEOs more acutely aware than ever of the need to understand and mitigate existential threats.

#7 Bold-Faced Buyers Battle to Acquire Transatlantic

Ending a five-month, multiparty bidding war—with Warren Buffett as one of the belligerents—investment holding company Alleghany Corp. recently reached a deal whereby reinsurer Transatlantic would become its independent subsidiary in a $3.4 billion deal.

#6 Cyber Liability Emerges as Key Coverage for Digital Age

While the words “sexy” and “insurance” seldom appear in the same sentence, cyber liability changed that in 2011.

#5 In D.C., a Busy 2011 Saw Number of Major Moves That Will Shape P&C Future

Politicians, bureaucrats and industry associations kept our D.C. bureau chief, Arthur D. Postal, plenty busy in 2011. Here are his encapsulated reports on the quartet of congressional stories that mattered most this past year—and which will continue to be newsmakers in 2012.

#4 AIG: Industry Giant Generates Host of Headlines in Roller-Coaster Year

While dozens of insurance companies made big news in 2011, none could come close to matching the sheer quantity of headlines grabbed by AIG—the recipient of an $182 billion government bailout and an industry giant whose Chartis division is one of the key P&C players.

#3 RMS Cat Model Revision Ignites a Windstorm

One of the biggest gusts of change that blew through the industry in 2011: The revisions that catastrophe-modeler Risk Management Solutions made to its U.S. Hurricane Model.

#2 The P&C Pricing Picture: Rates Edge Up in Year of Staggered, Unsteady Transition

Two steps forward, one step back: For every couple of events that augured a definitive swing to a hard market this year—a major catastrophe here, increasing combined ratios there—some other factor contributed to helping keep prices soft, whether it was fear over the eurozone debt crisis or underwriters willing to...

#1 A Disastrous 2011 Sees Epic Losses Across the Globe

If one could use only a single word to sum up 2011, “catastrophes” best captures what this year was all about.

Hardening Market, Flat or Neither? Execs, Analysts Offer Varying Perspectives

By Phil Gusman, PropertyCasualty360.com, Chad Hemenway, PropertyCasualty360.com

Insurance-company executives, a global broker and analyst firms are weighing in on whether the market is hardening—and their responses include “yes,” “maybe,” and a debate over whether the traditional hard- and soft-market cycles are even relevant anymore in the marketplace.

Thailand Floods Could Cause up to $11B in Insured Losses

By Mark E. Ruquet, Phil Gusman, PropertyCasualty360.com

Flooding in Thailand that began in July and peaked in October and November could result in insured losses of more than $10 billion, according to the latest estimates.

Fitch: Brokers’ Earnings Expected to Remain Stable

By Mark E. Ruquet

Property-and-casualty insurance brokers were given a continued “stable” outlook from Fitch Ratings, as revenue and earnings growth in 2012 is forecast to match or exceed levels recorded during the first nine months of 2011.

Top Stories & Honorable Mentions

By Bryant Rousseau, PropertyCasualty360.com

The end of 2011 is upon us, which can only mean one thing: It’s time for NU to assemble its annual list of the Top 10 stories of the year. With such a high number of news events to consider as legitimate candidates, deciding on the final lineup was a...

Agents, Brokers’ Visions of Sugarplums

By Bobby Reagan

As we find ourselves in the midst of the holiday season, it may be an interesting exercise to consider how agents and brokers are positioned to respond to some of the traditions that are a part of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s. What do agents and brokers have to...