Agency Management

J. Smith Lanier & Co. insurance brokerage said it will donate $50,000 toward relief efforts in Haiti and auto carrier Mercury Insurance said it will match $50,000 of employee giving.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. reported fourth-quarter net income grew 72 percent on the strength of cost-cutting, integration of new business and stepped-up sales activity.

Profitability for insurance brokerages is expected to remain stable for this year despite continued challenges from the soft market and global economic conditions, said a report from Fitch Ratings.

Rates for mining property damage and business interruption (PD/BI) insurance are likely to soften in 2010 but could harden again should this volatile sector experience a catastrophic loss, according to a report from Willis Group Holdings plc.

Carriers and brokers selling Side-A directors and officers liability insurance coverage by delivering warnings about the increasing severity of shareholder derivative lawsuits may be overstating the trend.

Editor Sam Friedman yesterday launched a monthly series of video interviews on NU's Web site--www.property-casualty.com--talking digital marketing for agents with top execs at Astonish Results. Sam offers a preview on his blog at www.NUSamSoapbox.com.