Queensway Financial Holdings Inc. and St. Paul Companies released their first quarter earnings, with both showing results mirroring industry trends. Both companies followed the industry’s alarming trend of rising operating ratios. And while Queensway’s premium volume rose considerably — the…
Canada Brokerlink Inc. posted first quarter results for this year showed business growth of 67%, and, at the same time, nearly doubling its assets to $67 million compared with the level for the same period in 1998. Revenue for first…
Workers compensation costs, safety and loss control programs, technology, the insurance marketplace and corporate human resources are among the top issues of concern facing risk managers in 1999, according to Liberty Mutual’s Risk Management: Ideas at Work survey released at…
Natural disasters such as extreme weather, a volcanic eruption or an earthquake, are often quaintly referred to in the insurance world as “Acts of God”, adverse events which are seemingly unexplainable or beyond man’s control. Noticeably, the economic and insurance…
Last year I predicted 1998 would bring back a deteriorating trend to the property and casualty insurance industry. In addition to the January ice storm, I felt that the continuing “soft market” would have a negative impact on underwriting results.…
With the rising trend of North American natural catastrophe losses, a great deal of attention is being turned to the development of computer simulated cat risk programs. Cat risk models are hardly a new technological advancement for the insurance industry,…
Arecent tornado that hit Oklahoma has become the worst insured catastrophe in the state’s history, according to preliminary information released by the Property Claim Services (PCS) unit of Insurance Services Office (ISO). The storm system caused $955 million in insured…
When the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) introduced mandatory mediation of statutory accident benefits disputes, insurance companies quietly rejoiced. Essentially, the new rules preclude plaintiffs from launching an action at law prior to mediating issues in dispute which fall…
Recent months have seen increased pressure being brought to bear by the private property and casualty insurance industry to deregulate the monopoly positions of provincial government insurers. Due to its sheer size and control of one of Canada’s largest consumer…
January 1999 was the third-costliest January for the U.S. in terms of catastrophe claims on record with insurers paying an estimated $1.75 billion in damages. The claims result from four events, according to Insurance Services Office, Inc.’s Property Claim Services…
January ice storm losses, rate cutting and poor investment returns are the major culprits pointing to a 42% drop in property and casualty insurers’ earnings to $1.137 billion for 1998 compared with 1997’s earnings of $1.960 billion, says Paul Kovacs,…
Forecasting the U.S. insurance industry in recent years has been a rear view mirror exercise. The rate of growth in the industry has been in the same 2% to 3% range and profitability indicators have shown little change from year…