Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters cost insurers $26 billion and claimed roughly 15,000 lives in 2009, according to Swiss Re. Insured losses were below average due to a calm US hurricane season, reported the sigma study, Natural catastrophes and man-made…
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) has completed the sale of Transatlantic Holdings Inc. (TRH) shares for proceeds of roughly $452 million. AIG had previously announced the secondary public offering of more than 8.4 million shares of TRH common stock owned…
The number of overall traffic fatalities reported in 2009 reached the lowest level since 1954, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The fatality rate declined to the lowest on record, to 1.16 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled…
Policy Works has entered into an agreement with SGI Canada to deliver a commercial lines data exchange solution. The agreement integrates Policy Works’ commercial management system (CMS) and SGI’s underwriting system. The integration between SGI’s underwriting system and the Policy…
FirstOnSite Restoration has selected the Women in Insurance Cancer Crusade (WICC) as its chosen charity for national sponsorship. FirstOnSite is WICC’s newest national sponsor at the platinum level, representing a commitment of Cdn$45,000 over three years.“As an organization we wanted to…
A group of 19 US property and casualty reinsurers wrote $23.9 billion of net premiums in 2009 — flat compared to the prior year — according to a survey by the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA). Net income for the…
Sixty-seven per cent of brokers said that changes in distribution have affected their business results, according to a Keal Technology survey.Keal surveyed its broker-user base on issues that included carrier relations, changes in distribution and technology.The top four reasons cited…
Zurich Financial Services Group reported a net income of $3.2 billion in 2009, marking a 6% increase from 2008’s net income of $3 billion.Its solvency ratio improved 38 points, to 198% last year from 2008’s 160%.Zurich’s general insurance unit saw…
An Ontario arbitration decision has once again raised a question about the deductibility of collateral benefits. This time a decision determined that long-term benefits received from a group disability insurance plan underwritten by Sun Life can be deducted from income…
British Columbia’s regulator has adopted the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institution (OSFI)’s guidelines for stress testing and dynamic capital adequacy tests (DCAT) for insurance companies.OSFI released Guideline E-18 in December 2009. The guideline outlines five areas that should…
Hannover Re’s non-life reinsurance segment’s profit increased to EUR 472.6 million (Cdn$661.8) for 2009, compared to a loss of EUR 160.9 million (-Cdn$225.3) in 2008. In the wake of the heavy loss expenditures incurred in the previous year, stable prices…
The United Way has named The Economical Insurance Group (TEIG) as a recipient of its Community Spirit Award.TEIG’s 2009 United Way campaign was one of its most successful campaigns to date — it raised just over $283,000 — including an…