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People Moves: Jenks Named President of JH Blades; Gonzales Joins Alliant Healthcare

Article 0 Comments Graham Jenks Starwind Specialty Insurance Services named Graham Jenks the president of JH Blades Group, which encompasses JH Blades Energy, JH Blades Marine, Southern Marine and Energy Technical Underwriters (ETU). JH Blades is a specialty platform of Starwind Specialty Insurance Services, a CRC Group company headquartered in New York City. Jenks has served as president of Southern Marine for eight years. He previously served at the company as a vice president and marine underwriter. Before joining the company in 2012, Jenks was a marine cargo broker at Price Forbes and Partners. Richard Martin, long-time leader of JH Blades, has retired following a career spanning many years of service. Gonzales Jois Alliant Healthcare and Risk Management Team Michael Gonzales joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, California, as first vice president with the value-based healthcare and risk management solutions team within its employee benefits group. Based in North Carolina, Gonzales will work closely with clients across the healthcare spectrum. Gonzales has over 20 years of experience in business development, sales operations, and go-to-market strategy, along with 15 years of experience focused on partnering with hospitals, health systems, physician provider groups and managed service organizations. Before joining Alliant, Gonzales...

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10 Most Affordable U.S. Cities to Buy a Home: 2025

/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.

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Getting Social Security Claiming Right With Joe Elsasser

The passage early this year of the Social Security Fairness Act was a major development in the lives of many current and former government workers, one that could have a big effect on their benefit claiming strategies. The law change is just one of many factors that add significant complexity to the Social Security claiming process, according to Joe Elsasser, a certified financial planner and the founder and president of Covisum. Getting the claiming decision right, while difficult, is among the most powerful ways financial planners can help ensure their clients successfully navigate retirement. Another big consideration is the financial outlook of the vital retirement income insurance program. With the main trust fund used to pay retirement benefits set to become insolvent sometime in the early 2030s, advisors and their clients must stress-test their income plans and prepare for the possibility of benefit reductions or higher taxes in the future. On this Season 3 kick-off episode of the Ask the Retirement Expert podcast series, Elsasser joins ThinkAdvisor Senior Reporter John Manganaro to discuss all things Social Security and retirement income planning. In addition to claiming strategies and Social Security funding, the pair also discuss the importance of tax-aware income planning,...

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Get Ready for Another Busy Atlantic Hurricane Season

Article 0 Comments With warmer than normal ocean waters, forecasters are expecting yet another unusually busy hurricane season for the Atlantic. But they don’t think it will be as chaotic as 2024, the third-costliest season on record as it spawned killer storms Beryl, Helene and Milton. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Thursday unveiled its outlook for the Atlantic hurricane season that begins June 1 and stretches through the end of November, with a 60% chance it will above normal, 30% chance near normal and just 10% chance it will be quieter than average. The forecast calls for 13 to 19 named storms with six to 10 becoming hurricanes and three to five reaching major status with winds of more than 110 mph (177 kph). A normal season has 14 named storms, seven of which strengthen to hurricanes and three power up further to major hurricanes. Related: Early CSU Hurricane Season Forecast Calls for ‘Above-Average’ Activity Ocean warmth is not quite as high as last year’s off-the-charts heat. But it’s sufficient to be the top reason for the busy forecast, National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said. “Everything is in place for an above average season,” he said. Despite...

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New Custody Rules Signal ‘Regulatory Reset’ for Digital Assets: SEC Roundup

[embedded content]Welcome to SEC Roundup, a bimonthly video series by former Securities and Exchange Commission senior trial counsels Nick Morgan and Tom Zaccaro, founders of the nonprofit advocacy group Investor Choice Advocates Network. In this episode, former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes and Cooley Special Counsel Rodrigo Seira discuss the commission’s evolving approach to financial innovation and digital asset regulation, offering insights valuable to investment advisors navigating the changing regulatory landscape. The conversation centered on the SEC’s renewed commitment to stakeholder engagement, showcased through its recent series of roundtables designed to address jurisdictional questions and regulatory frameworks. This approach marks a significant shift from the previous administration’s enforcement-focused strategy, which Seira characterized as having “a very strained relationship” with innovative financial technologies. Paredes emphasized the commission’s current willingness to “embrace the promise and opportunity” of financial innovation while still upholding core regulatory principles. “The commission is looking to generally embrace the promise and opportunity that the underlying technology affords and what that innovation means in the context of securities markets,” he noted. The SEC withdrew on May 15 its previous staff opinion on broker-dealer custody of digital asset securities. The withdrawal takes away the “scare” factor the announcement caused when it...

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10 Stocks Top Fund Managers Are Buying: Morningstar

/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.

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State Farm Still Wants a 30% Rate Increase in California

Article 1 Comment State Farm isn’t done seeking a rate increase in California, upping its request a week after getting the OK for a large rate hike to what the company had originally wanted before being rejected and agreeing to an interim deal for an increase. The wildfire-bitten insurer recently got approval for a 17% rate increase following billions of dollars in losses from the Los Angeles wildfires and pullback on writing new policies in the state. Administrative Law Judge Karl Seligman last week recommended approval of State Farm interim rate hike on Monday. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara still must make the final approval. Lara and State Farm have been meeting for months on the details of an increase before the original rate request was lowered. The terms of last week’s approval include the agreement that State Farm’s non-tenant HO-3 line would get a 17% increase, a 15% increase in its renter/condo line and a 38% increase in rental dwelling, while the carrier committed to refraining from a new round of nonrenewals through the end of 2025. The agreement also stipulates that parent company State Farm Mutual will make a $400 million capital infusion into State Farm. State Farm...

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Senate Will Try to Block California Vehicle Standards to Phase Out Gas-Powered Cars

Article 1 Comment The U.S. Senate will move this week to block California from enforcing a series of vehicle emissions standards that are tougher than the federal government’s, including first-in-the-nation rules phasing out the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Tuesday that the Senate will begin to consider three House-passed resolutions that would roll back the standards. Final votes could come as soon as this week. His announcement came despite significant pushback from Democrats, questions from some Republicans and the advice of the Senate Parliamentarian, who has sided with the U.S. General Accountability Office in saying California’s policies are not subject to the review mechanism used by the House. Related: California’s Ban on Gasoline Cars Is Overturned by US House Vote The resolutions would block California’s rules to phase out the gas-powered cars, along with standards to cut tailpipe emissions from medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and curb smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution from trucks. Like the House, Senate Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act, a law aimed at improving congressional oversight of actions by federal agencies, to try to block the rules. The Trump administration in 2019 revoked California’s ability to enforce its...

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12 Best States for Military Retirees: 2025

/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.

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California Commissioner Launches Smoke Claims & Remediation Task Force

Article 0 Comments A new task force has been formed to develop standards in California for insurance coverage and clean-up of smoke-damaged homes. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara announced the formation of a Smoke Claims & Remediation Task Force within the California Department of Insurance to develop consistent statewide standards for investigating and paying smoke damage claims. Related: Smoke Damage from LA Wildfires Leaves Questions to Be Answered In March, Commissioner Lara began requiring insurers to fully investigate and pay legitimate smoke damage claims. He also sent a directive to the California FAIR Plan requiring it to follow the same standards. The task force will bring together public health experts, environmental health professionals, smoke remediation specialists, fire safety experts, and consumer advocates to recommend standards and best practices for smoke restoration of homes and personal property, as well as enforcement tools to the CDI. Related: Study: Smoke From Climate-Fueled Wildfires Contributed to Thousands of US Deaths Over 15 Years According to the CDI, Lara is in the process of appointing task force members and will announce its membership in the coming weeks, and the meeting will be scheduled after that. Topics California Claims Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please...