Agency Management

Independent agencies that do an outstanding job selling insurance and providing risk management services for their clients are urged to enter the 2009 National Underwriter "Commercial Insurance Agency Of The Year" award program, with entries due July 13.

American International Group's New York headquarters tower and a nearby AIG skyscraper have been bought by the investment and development firm Youngwoo & Associates (YWA) and a Korean bank, a real estate brokerage said.

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America said the importance of social networking tools like Facebook will be a topic at an upcoming workshop designed to teach agents and brokers how to attract younger people to insurance industry careers.

As the current economic environment continues to take its toll on The Hartford, the company's chairman and CEO Ramani Ayer, who will be stepping down at year-end, acknowledged how challenging the last nine months have been.

It has been roughly a decade since federal lawmakers cleared the way for insurance carriers to enter banking, yet progress has been more the exception than the rule. Only a few players have built up a lending business and profits have been scarce.

Now that President Obama has abandoned his campaign promises, there is no telling what his final health care reform plan will look like, says NU Editor In Chief Sam Friedman in his blog today at www.NUSamSoapbox.com.