Two groups have named prize winners for research on topics touching on insurance supply in developing economies, emerging market insurance strategies and Takaful insurers.

A new data aggregator estimated today that the insured loss from January's Windstorm Klaus that struck the heart of Europe was more than $2 billion, a lower figure than modelers have projected.

The nonprofit Public Entity Risk Institute said today it has launched a Web site to help small- and medium-size nonprofit organizations assess their insurance needs and submit requests for insurance quotes to participating insurers

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators announced it has written Congress advising that proposals for financial services regulatory reform should involve state and federal regulators as equal partners.

A National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) climate risk disclosure survey for insurers serves "nakedly ideological ends," an insurance trade group representative said recently in a published paper.

Theresa Brown of Sandia , in an Aon flu outbreaks teleconference, said schools need to close before 1 percent of the population is infected, and the statement there is "high probability" H1N1 will recur in Mexico was not made by Dr. Brown.

Despite talk of a hardening market on the horizon, commercial insurance rates continue to fall, down by an average of 7 percent in April--matching March's experience, according to Dallas-based MarketScout, an online insurance exchange.

Itasca, Ill.-based insurance broker Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. said it has acquired Sellers Group, LLC, of Woodlands, Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed.