Risk Management Solutions says insured losses from the March 11 Japan earthquake and tsunami will likely be between $21 billion and $34 billion, including both property and casualty and life and health claims.

With a rise in mergers and acquisitions expected to continue through 2011, unseen regulatory, legal and other risks can doom a potentially sound arrangement, according to an expert at ACE USA.

Recent court decisions appear to shield agents from a duty to provide advice about sufficiency of coverage, limiting their legal responsibility to obtaining coverage requested by a consumer, according to this week’s NU cover story.

The value of insurance-linked securities placements increased by more than half in the first quarter of this year as four insurers placed more than $1 billion in bonds in the market, according to a report from Willis Group.

Independent insurance agents want what every consumer wants these days—one stop shopping. When agents have issues, they don’t want to call 10 different people in the carrier’s organization to get the issue resolved, explains Mike Fitzgerald, senior analyst in the insurance practice for Celent.

Broker networks, working with carriers and forging individual relationships with partners overseas are all good ways for agents and brokers to tap into the multinational marketplace.

Insurance regulatory bills being mulled by the North Carolina General Assembly are “all about corporate greed,” says Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

Florida’s insurance agents are among those within the industry looking to lawmakers to reform the insurance market in the Sunshine State during this year’s legislative session.