On Sept. 19, I moderated a roundtable discussion with the winners of our annual Commercial Agency of the Year Award. (No, I cant reveal the winners yetyoull have to wait until next week, when we dedicate much of the issue to celebrating our champions and sharing their success secrets.)

Recent wildfires in Texas are expected to cause nearly $250 million in insured losses, and losses as of now have already surpassed total-insured wildfire losses in the state from any prior year, according to the Insurance Council of Texas (ICT).

Insurance Technologies Corp., introduces AgencyBuzz, a drip marketing tool created for independent insurance agents. AgencyBuzz allows agents to automate their online and offline marketing processes and manage their contacts in an interface that can assign a relationship statusprospect, customer or lostfor each line of business the agent offers.

Global natural catastrophes have made 2011 the highest loss year on record after just the first six monthscreating opportunities for risk managers to review coverage and issues such as supply-chain disruption, according to an industry expert.