NU Online News Service, May 19, 3:45 p.m. EDT

The commercial insurance market should see continued stability in 2010, with competition and capacity keeping rates attractive for buyers, according to a report released by Marsh.

But the New York-based insurance broker also said global risk managers are facing demands from their boardrooms for insurer security, balance sheet transparency and heightened accountability.

Marsh's report, titled "Competition Nets Rewards: Multinational Client Service Insurance Market Report 2010," covers insurance market capacity throughout the world, offering perspectives and solutions to different regions and nations.

In the United States, the report said intense competition among carriers increased capacity, and fewer insured catastrophes "played [a key role] in keeping U.S. insurance markets generally stable in 2009."

That condition should continue through this year, the report noted.

Barring a large catastrophe event, the report said that commercial property insurance premium rates will moderate and, generally, clients are likely to see rate decreases.

On the casualty side, despite attempts to keep rates flat in 2009, the recession caused pricing competition as insurers sought to write new business "to offset premium lost due to clients' exposure decreases."

In the report, Marsh said it expects the competitiveness to remain for the rest of this year.

But the report noted that conditions can change rapidly and unexpectedly in the marketplace.

Abundant capacity is also expected to keep financial and professional lines competitive, according to the report.

The report also highlighted challenges for risk managers, noting that multinational companies face a host of regulatory and tax challenges this year.

Risk managers, the report noted, are forced to balance cost, coverage and compliance.

In a statement, Hank Allen, president of Marsh Multinational Client Services, said, "With the ever-increasing complexity of global exposures, successful risk management today depends on timely information, regulatory awareness, and thoughtful anticipation of the range of local and global scenarios.

"For global risk managers, the extent of their visibility--extended to the highest levels of their organizations--is the new world of financial risk and accountability."

Turning to global concerns, the report said multinational companies are finding that individual countries, especially in the European Union and Canada, "have started to challenge global programs of multinational companies with a view to assessing and collecting unpaid premium-related taxes."

This issue is expected to "escalate and become widespread" as the year goes on, the report said.

Marsh also pointed to a global trend of nations requiring local coverage, especially for product recall coverage, professional liability and for certificates of insurance for new business.

One advantage of localizing the master policy and umbrella and excess limits, the report said, is the coverages are admitted and regulatory-approved.

There are also tax benefits on the premium and loss payments, Marsh said.

A copy of the report is available at www.insurancemarketreport.com.

Marsh will host a conference call to review highlights of the report and answer questions on May 25 at 11 a.m. EDT.

Registration for the call is at www.insurancemarketreport.com/IMRcall.

Special Reports /

Commercial Market To Remain Stable, Risk Managers Challenged

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