Agency Management

Employer concerns about rising health plan costs and struggles for small insurance agencies tackling compliance questions are factors that open up opportunities for large insurance brokers, National Underwriter magazine reports this week.

Major insurance brokers are stepping up their game, delivering better service to their customers in a bad economy and surpassing the satisfaction rating of others who in the past would have been considered service leaders.

Ryan Specialty Group, LLC said its wholesale brokerage unit, R-T Specialty, LLC, has acquired OakBridge Insurance Services, LLC.

The latest surveys of rate changes for the group medical and the property and casualty insurance markets reveal a tale of two very different markets--with medical rates continuing to climb and p&c prices still falling.

Property and casualty carrier employment decreased by 0.2 percent in October compared to September, dropping to the lowest employment level in the last 20 years, according to an I.I.I. analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

While some people are debating the existence of climate change, reinsurers aren't taking any chances. They are doing a tremendous amount of research and modeling and are creating action plans.