Agency Management

The revelations surrounding Tiger Woods' infidelities has helped one insurance broker promote a new insurance product aimed at corporations that place a major portion of their branding campaign behind a celebrity figure.

What were the top-10 property and casualty insurance news stories in 2009? NU Editor Sam Friedman unveils his list and asks readers to weigh in with their picks on his blog at www.NUSamSoapBox.com.

As Editor Sam Friedman scanned all the 2009 editions of National Underwriter, picking candidates for my annual choices as the year's top insurance stories, one thought kept crossing his mind--it could've been worse.

Back in January, Brian Duperreault, president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, said the property and casualty industry was entering its "first 'invisible' hard market."

Although less than a quarter of independent agents and brokers responding to a recent survey are using social networking in their marketing plans, almost 20 percent are considering it.

A trade group representing medical liability insurers is voicing concern over a provision in the Senate healthcare reform bill that would encourage states to create tort reform programs, but allows participants to "opt-out" of the process.