What’s New: In Brief (February 16, 2010)

Marsh won the insurance contract with the Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) and placed a significant portion of the event program into the Lloyd’s market.
Sums insured can range from thousands to hundreds of millions of dollars, depending on the risk, according to a Lloyd’s release.
“You could be the organizer, you could be the Games host, you could be a sponsor, an advertiser or a little man in the street with 10,000 mugs that say ‘Vancouver 2010’,” David Bruce, a contingency underwriter and the divisional head of specialty for Hiscox Syndicate 33, says. “Each individual policy, depending on who you’re insuring, will mean a different conversation relating to how complex the policy is going to be.”
When it comes to the Olympic Games, nothing is left to chance, Lloyd’s notes.
This includes weather, security, property damage, transportation and broadcasting.

Profitability for U.S. insurance brokers remained relatively stable in 2009, despite continued softening of the commercial insurance market and challenging global economic conditions, Fitch Ratings reports in its Insurance Broker Industry Outlook.
Although brokers are likely to fall well short of peak profitability levels last seen in 2002 and 2003, Fitch said it anticipates sufficient cash flow to support debt-servicing requirements.
Many brokers have adapted to the tougher operating environment by right-sizing their operating platforms, reducing their head counts and streamlining operating systems, according to Fitch.
Five publicly traded brokers tracked by Fitch have seen average organic revenue growth turn negative for the first nine months of 2009. They are: Marsh & McLennan Companies, Aon Corporation, Willis Group Holdings Limited, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and Brown & Brown Inc.