Fitch: ?Fixed-Fee' Comm. Could Become Norm

By Michael Ha

NU Online News Service, Nov. 1, 3:05 p.m. EST?Fitch Ratings, commenting on the ongoing bid-rigging investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, said the scandal could bring further probes into other types of insurance business practices and result in some significant structural changes to the industry.[@@]

"To put all this in context, I think it's pretty interesting that next to 9/11, this probably is one of the most profound, intense and in some ways bizarre stories that has affected the insurance industry that I can recall in about 20 years as an insurance analyst," commented Fitch Managing Director Keith Buckley during an analysts conference call.

Fitch Senior Director Donald Thorpe suggested during the conference call that it may be prudent to explore whether "the plethora of prosecutors and regulators?some battling for the public limelight?now investigating this sector will stumble across other practices that may raise eyebrows and result in further actions."

Mr. Thorpe speculated that the top suspect is what is called finite-risk insurance and reinsurance.

Currently, American International Group Inc. is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors in Indiana to settle charges related to a product offering in the finite-risk insurance category.

"It is Fitch's belief that AIG is not the only company to offer this general product type," Mr. Thorpe said. He added that he is even more worried about finite-risk reinsurance, which he called "finite-risk insurance's bigger brother."

He argued that "Fitch has been very vocal in the past about its reservations with finite risk reinsurance. Although some degree of risk transfer is included in these arrangements, the primary purpose is not true risk transfer, but financial statement enhancement."

Another major potential change that could surface as a result of the bid-rigging investigation is the elimination of standard commissions practice for brokers. The standard, non-contingent commissions usually are determined as a percentage of the insurance premium paid. But even this creates a motivation for brokers to behave outside of the best interest of the insureds?by providing an incentive not to negotiate prices down as low as possible.

"As a result, and due in large part to the limelight shined on the industry as a result of the investigation, the possibility exists that, over time, there may be a slow structural shift toward ?fixed-fee' advice from brokers," Mr. Thorpe speculated. "Fixed-fee agreements avoid perverse incentives for the broker and are therefore likely to be closer to a best practice for the industry."

Mr. Buckley also forecast that the brokerage consolidation trend could face a slowdown because of the investigation. "It has been more or less a seller's market for smaller brokers that want to get acquired. Do you think this reverses that?" asked Lehman Brothers analyst Chris Winans during the conference call. Mr. Buckley responded that in his view, part of the alleged bid-ridding occurred "because of the consolidation and the power that the brokers have enjoyed and their ability to take advantage of that power."

Mr. Buckley added, "To the extent that's true?and that's how regulators would view it?regulators wouldn't be thrilled with the likelihood of future consolidations and greater concentration of power. I would think that the likelihood of future consolidations, at least for a while, has declined greatly."

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Fitch: ?Fixed-Fee' Comm. Could Become Norm

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