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UK’s Admiral Group to Sell Its US Insurer Elephant to J.C. Flowers
Article 0 Comments United Kingdom’s Admiral Group has agreed to sell its U.S. auto insurance business — Elephant Insurance Co. and Elephant Insurance Services— to the private investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co. for an undisclosed cash consideration representing approximately the net asset value of Elephant. Headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, Elephant is a property/casualty insurance that offers auto as well as home, motorcycle, and life insurance direct to customers through an online application process. It sells in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Admiral indicated it is selling Elephant in order to focus on its core business. “This is a good outcome not only for Elephant and its employees, but also the Group and our shareholders. This transaction will enable us to focus on the opportunities we see for delivering long-term sustainable growth in our businesses in the UK and Mainland Europe,” commented Costantino Moretti, head of International Insurance for Admiral Group. Eric Rahe, managing director and co-president of J.C. Flowers, noted that Flowers has a long history of investing in the insurance industry. Rahe said Flowers will leverage its experience to “help Elephant Insurance generate new opportunities as a standalone company.” The move by Admiral was...
California Workers’ Comp Board OKs Higher Pure Premium Rate Filing
Article 0 Comments The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s governing committee on Wednesday voted to authorize the WCIRB to submit a September 1, 2025 Pure premium rate filing on average 11.2% percent above the average approved September 1, 2024 advisory pure premium rates. The proposed advisory pure premium rates are based on insurer losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred during accident years 2024 and prior valued as of December 31, 2024. Related: Claim Frequency in California Workers’ Comp Higher in L.A. Area, Study Shows WCIRB Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary Tony Milano noted that on average, the proposed September 1, 2025 advisory pure premium rates are higher than the advisory pure premium rates proposed by the WCIRB in the September 1, 2024 filing. According to Mr. Milano, the more notable drivers of the change were increased medical loss development, increased frequency of cumulative trauma claims, higher average medical costs and higher allocated loss adjustment expenses. Related: California Workers’ Comp Report Shows ‘Relatively Stable’ System Post-Pandemic The WCIRB expects to submit its September 1, 2025 Pure Premium Rate Filing to the California Department of Insurance by the end of April. The CDI will schedule a public hearing to...
Gartner Identifies Top 12 Early-Stage Technology Disruptions that Will Define the Future of Business Systems
Technologies Addressing GenAI-Enabled Code Architecture, Disinformation Security and Surface Asset Management Will Be Widely Adopted by 2030 Stamford, CT (Apr. 7, 2025) – Gartner, Inc. has identified 12 emerging technology disruptions that will define the future of business systems. Technology leaders must prioritize these over the next five years, as they present competitive opportunities in the near term and will eventually grow to become standard throughout businesses. “Technology leaders must take action now to gain a first-mover advantage with these technologies,” said Bill Ray, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Innovative advancements like generative AI (GenAI)-enabled code architecture, disinformation security and Earth intelligence will provide the differentiation needed to help enterprises pull ahead of the pack in terms of data and product offerings.”The 12 early-stage technology disruptions are highlighted in Figure 1. Each disruptor is significant in its own right, but in combination they start to define broader emerging solutions to new business practices. For example, advancing GenAI technologies will spawn new solutions around Earth intelligence and business simulation, spur the expansive growth of domain-specific language models, and lead to higher functioning tools. Figure 1: Top 12 Early-Stage Technology Market Disruptors for 2025 (Gartner, April 2025) Additional insights into some of...
IBM Enhances Enterprise Cloud Capabilities in Canada to Meet Local Clients’ AI and Data Needs
IBM’s Cloud Multizone Region (MZR) in Montreal opens doors to support Canada’s regulated industries with cloud solutions which prioritize data sovereignty through resiliency, performance, security, and compliance IBM’s watsonx® AI portfolio available on IBM Cloud® at Toronto MZR, enabling Canadian organizations to scale AI solutions in country Armonk, NY (Apr. 3, 2025) – IBM is pleased to announce two key advances in its cloud capabilities in Canada, further strengthening offerings to enable Canadian organizations to scale AI deployments, and to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements for data storage and security including Canadian data sovereignty. IBM officially opened the doors to its latest Cloud MZR in Montreal, Quebec, adding to its existing Cloud capabilities and investments across North America. IBM aims to help clients address their evolving regulatory requirements and leverage technology such as Generative AI with our secured, enterprise cloud platform. IBM Cloud offers a high-performance, flexible, AI-optimized infrastructure with bare metal and virtual server Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) options, for IBM watsonx or other generative AI solutions. The availability of watsonx, IBM’s portfolio of AI products, on IBM Cloud at Toronto MZR addresses the growing demand for scalable, safe and responsible AI deployments in Canada. It will enable Canadian organizations to achieve high levels...
10 Best Blue-Chip Stocks to Buy Now: Morningstar
Blue-chip companies are large, well-established and financially sound, and the stocks from these brand name organizations usually boast consistent dividends and are often considered less risky, Margaret Giles, a senior editor at Morningstar, writes in a new blog post.
Uber Spends Six Figures on Ads in Latest NY Insurance Reform Push
Article 0 Comments Uber Technologies Inc. is spending six figures on advertisements in New York in its latest appeal to lawmakers to address issues stemming from the insolvency of the city’s largest taxi insurer. The rideshare giant launched the campaign on Tuesday as state lawmakers reconvened in Albany to discuss the budget, according to a statement from the company. The exact size of the ad buy was not disclosed. The latest push adds to the millions of dollars that Uber has set aside this year for advertising and backing political candidates in New York and nationwide to agitate for insurance reform. Uber executives have been warning since late last year that demand in some US markets has softened as the company has passed on rising insurance costs to customers in the form of higher prices. The problem of rising fares is especially acute in New York City, one of Uber’s top rideshare markets, where the area’s largest taxi insurer, American Transit Insurance Co., is insolvent. Hochul in January proposed a plan to stabilize the insurance market. But an Uber lobbyist, Josh Gold, said at the time it was insufficient to address underlying problems in the legal system that encourage fraudulent...
USI Says Lockton, Former Team Leader Poached Workers, Harmed Client Relations
Article 0 Comments USI Insurance Services, one of the largest brokerages in the country, has filed suit against a former sales team leader and another powerhouse broker, Lockton, accusing them of poaching employees and harming client relationships. Elisia Hahnenberg, who began her career at USI as an intern and rose to lead a team of account executives, breached non-compete agreements and brought three USI salespeople with her when she jumped ship to Lockton last year, the federal lawsuit contends. “Lockton and Ms. Hahnenberg have acted in concert to unlawfully and wrongfully poach the support personnel from the (sales) team in order to cripple USI’s ability to provide services to its clients and to ultimately convince the clients to switch their employee benefits broker to Lockton,” the April 11 complaint reads. USI, with offices in Atlanta and New York, is asking for compensatory and punitive damages, an injunction requiring that the defendants comply with employment and non-interference agreements, as well as attorney fees. Hahnenberg and Lockton have not yet filed an answer to the complaint, filed in federal court in Atlanta. The suit was filed one week after another major insurance broker, Brown & Brown, based in Florida, charged in a...
Federal Judge Blocks Labor Department From Enforcing DEI Ban for Contractors
A federal judge on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction that prevents the U.S. Department of Labor from requiring government contractors and grant recipients to certify they do not operate any diversity, equity and inclusion programs that run afoul of anti-discrimination laws until further order from the court. Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued the ruling in response to a lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades, a nonprofit dedicated to training and retaining women in skilled construction trades that receives several grants from the Department of Labor. The certification provision is a key part of President Donald Trump’s executive orders aimed at curbing DEI programs because contractors and grant recipients could be subjected to crippling financial penalties under the False Claims Act if they are found in violation of it. The lawsuit filed by Chicago Women in Trades argued that Trump’s executive orders infringe on First Amendment Rights and are so broad and vague in their definition of what might constitute illegal DEI as to make compliance impossible. Kennelly had already issued a temporary restraining order against the Labor Department last month that was shorter in duration. His order is limited...
Insurtech 1Fort Raises $7.5M to Support AI Binding Tech for Brokers
Article 0 Comments 1Fort, the AI platform for business insurance, announced it raised $7.5 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by Bonfire Ventures. The round also included Draper Associates (Tim Draper); Karim Atiyeh, the founder of Ramp; and participation from all existing VCs: Village Global, Operator Partners, 8-Bit Capital, Character VC and Company Ventures. This latest round brings the 1Fort total funding to $10 million. A large majority of businesses still rely on insurance brokers and agents for coverage but the process is manual and time consuming, and many businesses remain underinsured. 1Fort looks to empower brokers to bind more top-tier insurance policies for businesses faster using artificial intelligence. The funding will allow 1Fort to continue to improve the broker experience through AI innovations and talent acquisition and further expand partnerships with carriers and brokers, the insurtech said. The platform leverages AI to automate various broker workflows, including auto-filling insurance applications, retrieving quotes from carriers, comparing coverages, and integrating payment and financing options. 1Fort, licensed in all 50 states, said brokers who use the platform save an average of up to two hours per submission and increase their bind rate by up to 20%. 1Fort also has complementary risk...