The busy 2011 catastrophe season had a heavy impact on State Farms earnings, as the insurer says its net income slid 56 percent over the previous years results.

The neverending stream of networked information is literally rewiring the way our brains function. How will this change the way consumers make choices?

Corporate risk managers see their insurance broker as an extension of their own companya member of the team whose skills are heavily depended upon in areas like claims and loss-control.

The primary goal of the broker is to listen and understand the business objectives and strains that each risk manager faces. That means understanding the business they are in; the factors driving their risk decisions; the resources they have available; and how they are judged by their superiors.