David Disiere, the chief executive officer of Dallas-based managing general agency Deep South Insurance Group, announced plans to leave the company, the firm said last week.

We made it! This exceedingly volatile, outrageously expensive and mercilessly cruel first decade of the new millennium careened to a chaotic close and somehow the property and casualty insurance industry crossed the finish line more or less intact.

The hardening market predicted to arrive by the end of 2009 failed to materialize for insurers writing services industry risks as competition remains fierce, forcing carriers to cut the prices on their coverage menus.

As we bid adieu to 2009, many in the insurance industry are looking to the new year with greater optimism than they might have thought possible this time last year.