Featured Articles Blog

0

Uncategorized

People Moves: AXA XL Reinsurance Names Sawyer to Expanded Role of Head of London Casualty, Reinsurance; Fusion Specialty Hires 2 for M&A Team in London

Article 0 Comments This edition of International People Moves details appointments at AXA XL Reinsurance and Fusion Specialty. A summary of these new hires follows here. AXA XL Reinsurance Names Sawyer to Expanded Role of Head of London Casualty, Reinsurance Ian Sawyer AXA XL Reinsurance announced it has appointed Ian Sawyer to the newly expanded role of head of London Casualty, Reinsurance, with immediate effect. Sawyer will be responsible for both the US and International Casualty Treaty propositions in London and will oversee AXA XL’s Cyber Reinsurance offering internationally. Sawyer brings more than 37 years’ experience to the business having re-joined AXA XL in 2022 after previously working with the business as head of Casualty five years earlier. His career includes experience as head of Global Casualty, covering US and International Casualty business written in London and domestically within the US, and time spent as a US casualty treaty claims broker. *** Fusion Specialty Hires 2 for M&A Team in London Fusion Specialty, the Sydney-based MGA platform within Pop Group Holdings (POP), announced the appointment of two additional members to its Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) team in London: Alexander (Alex) Mackay joins Fusion UK as a partner and Tom Hopkins...

0

Uncategorized

10 Steps Toward Making a LinkedIn Connection a Real-Life Relationship

8. The aftermath. Like a business meeting, you each go your separate ways. Now you have met and checked each other out, the initial anxieties should have disappeared. If you live or work in the geographic vicinity, you might choose to get together again, at least once or on a regular basis. You might decide on a couple’s night out, including spouses. It all depends on the situation. Because social media has its own protocols, your online friend might want to take a picture of you together, add some text and turn it into a LinkedIn post. Credit: Koonsiri/Adobe Stock

IBM Introduces New Microsoft Copilot Capabilities to Fuel AI-Powered Business Transformation 0

Uncategorized

IBM Introduces New Microsoft Copilot Capabilities to Fuel AI-Powered Business Transformation

Armonk, NY (May 9, 2024) – IBM has announced the availability of IBM Copilot Runway, a new offering from IBM Consulting designed to help enterprises create, customize, deploy and manage copilots including Copilot for Microsoft 365. With the new offering, clients will be able to seamlessly integrate copilots’ generative AI into their organizations in order to enhance productivity and drive business success. IBM Consulting has also formed a dedicated practice of consultants with Microsoft copilot skills, credentials and expertise to guide clients on their AI transformation journey. As part of the new offering, IBM will work with clients to build custom copilots that can be tailored to fit the needs of specific business scenarios and efficiently deployed to help reduce the time and effort often required for implementations. IBM will initially focus on helping clients across priority use cases, including customer and field service, employee experience, and procurement and finance – as well as specific industries, like financial services, retail and CPG, government, and supply chain. These use cases will include: The Procurement and Finance Contract Copilot which assists specialists in extracting valuable insights from contracts. The Customer Service and Field Service Copilot which gives agents and technicians access to...

Executives Bullish on GenAI in Finance and Accounting, Despite Low Adoption Rates 0

Uncategorized

Executives Bullish on GenAI in Finance and Accounting, Despite Low Adoption Rates

New York, NY (May 8, 2024) – Could 2024 be the year that Generative artificial intelligence (AI) sees accelerated adoption within finance and accounting? According to a Deloitte Center for Controllership™ poll, even though few executives (6.6%) say their organizations have already implemented Generative AI solutions to support finance and accounting processes, considerably more indicate they are actively discussing use cases (15.4%) or have future plans to adopt the technology (27.8%). Looking at the next 12 months, responding executives say that cash flow forecasting (23.7%) presents the biggest opportunity for Generative AI within their organization’s finance and accounting function, followed closely by scenario planning (21.1%), expense reporting (18.1%) and financial controls management (14.1%). “Just as in any industry, there are areas within accounting and finance that could be ripe for Generative AI experimentation,” said Court Watson, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory, Deloitte & Touche LLP, who specializes in AI use within controllership functions. “Processes that depend on estimations for which organizations have robust, algorithm-ready data sets — such as cash flow forecasting and scenario planning — might be ideal areas for finance and accounting teams to begin testing Generative AI use.” Data, which is the main input for Generative AI models, is the...

0

Uncategorized

Insurer Bowhead Specialty Seeks About $491M Valuation in IPO

Article 0 Comments Insurer Bowhead Specialty is targeting a valuation of about $491 million in its initial public offering in the United States, as it joins a slew of companies preparing to list amid a rebound in the capital markets. The company is aiming to raise about $106.7 million by selling nearly 6.7 million shares priced between $14 and $16 apiece, it said on Monday. After a two-year dry spell, the U.S. IPO market is on the road to recovery in 2024, helped by firming bets of a soft landing for the world’s largest economy and increasing investor appetite for new listings, although the revival has been uneven so far. Bowhead was founded in 2020 and has presence across U.S. specialty and casualty insurance markets. It is an affiliate of business and personal insurer American Family Insurance. Bowhead will list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BOW.” J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods are the lead underwriters of the offering. Related: Insurer Bowhead Specialty’s IPO Filing Shows Profit More Than Doubled in 2023 Topics Carriers Excess Surplus Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to...

0

Uncategorized

Will Your Clients’ Life Insurance Expire Before They Do?

The client was, of course, thrilled. She had never heard of a life settlement as an alternative to surrendering a policy. What if the client had not been approached by her advisor? Convertible Term Term insurance presents its own unique set of variables that must be watched. Term is typically purchased for a need that will terminate after an expected period of time. This, of course, raises the question of whether that need has terminated or will continue on longer than anticipated. If the term policy falls short, it may be time to obtain a new policy or to convert the policy to permanent coverage. While there are clearly opportunities if more insurance is required, there is also an opportunity if insurance is to be lapsed or terminated: a life settlement. If the policy to be terminated is term insurance, unknown to many advisers is that these policies may also be sold in a life settlement. Term policies that are convertible to universal life can make excellent life settlement prospects. Policies often don’t perform as projected and peoples’ situations change throughout their lives. Being proactive by offering to do policy reviews is the best way to ensure that your clients’...

0

Uncategorized

Insurers Like California Governor’s Statement About Expedited Rate Filings

Article 0 Comments Insurers are applauding a move by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to try and expedite the insurance rate filing process. Newsom made the proposal while discussing the state’s budget. It was mentioned in a press conference to talk about the budget, according to people at the conference. At the conference he mentioned he was working on a bill to expedite the process. Home insurance rates are on the rise, and availability has also become a concern, as many insurers are pulling back from the wildfire prone state. Proposed solutions to the crisis have included finding ways to expedite rate filings, enabling insurers to use reinsurance rates in filings, as well as enabling them to use catastrophe modeling to set rates. Many of these proposals indicate a growing interest in making a change to Proposition 103, the 1988 voter-approved law that requires prior approval from the California Department of Insurance before implementing property/casualty insurance rates. The calls to make changes to Prop. 103 have grown louder as insurers pull back from writing homeowners insurance in the state. Last May, State Farm announced it had stopped accepting new policy applications for property/casualty insurance in California due to increased risks from...

10 Growth Stocks to Buy for the Long Term: Morningstar 0

Uncategorized

10 Growth Stocks to Buy for the Long Term: Morningstar

Start Slideshow In 2023, the Morningstar US Growth Index outpaced the Morningstar US Value Index by some 26 percentage points, Margaret Giles, the firm’s content development editor, noted in a blog post this week. However, from the end of March through May 7, the growth index has declined by nearly 6%.. “Between this pullback and a few modest increases in our fair values, stocks within the growth category are now trading near fair value,” Giles’ colleague Dave Sekera observed. “However, within the growth category, stocks trading at much of a discount to fair value have become increasingly harder to find.”  Sekera said that with the rate of economic growth poised to slow over the next several quarters, Morningstar prefers to invest in higher-quality companies with wide economic moats that share these qualities: See the accompanying gallery for the 10 most reasonably priced growth stocks from Morningstar’s best companies to own list. Year-to-date performance is as of May 9. Start Slideshow

0

Uncategorized

Schwab Shuts TD Ameritrade Platforms for Good

TD Ameritrade platforms will no longer be accessible after market hours Friday as Charles Schwab & Co. starts shifting the last group of Ameritrade client accounts to its own investing platforms. “This weekend, about 1.8M client accounts will move from TD Ameritrade to Schwab, including some of our most complex trader accounts as well as a number of retail and international accounts,” Schwab spokewoman Margaret Farrell told ThinkAdvisor by email Friday. “The TD Ameritrade website and all branding will be drawn down soon after this weekend’s conversion,” Farrell said. Several months ago, Schwab started communicating with the clients transitioning this weekend to ensure they have the information they need and know how to reach the financial giant with any questions, she said. After this weekend, Schwab will have moved approximately 17 million accounts and about $1.8 trillion to $1.9 trillion in assets to Schwab from TD Ameritrade over the course of the integration, according to Farrell. “To-date, we have comfortably outperformed our expectations for client attrition, and we are seeing strong momentum with converted Ameritrade clients who are engaging in the spectrum of services and capabilities available to them at Schwab, including retail trading platforms and advisory services and wealth management.”

BrokerLink Strengthens Its Presence In Alberta And Ontario 0

Uncategorized

BrokerLink Strengthens Its Presence In Alberta And Ontario

Toronto, ON (May 10, 2024) – BrokerLink continues its momentum in the acquisition space, with three new acquisitions: Ontario-based Law Insurance Brokers Limited (Law Insurance Brokers), and Alberta-based Direct-Line Insurance and MKMK Risk Management Inc. (MKMK Group). All three closed May 1. These acquisitions increase BrokerLink’s footprint in Edmonton and six additional locations nearby, as well as Calgary, Aurora and Sudbury. Expanding to local Northern and Central Alberta communities With roots tracing back to the 1940’s, Direct-Line Insurance has always taken a personal approach with customers, learning about their unique needs, and finding the best insurance solutions for their home, vehicles, farm and business. With locations in Edmonton, Millet, Warburg, Calmar, Sherwood Park, Beaumont and Lamont, the employees of this well-established brokerage believe in a local, customer-focused approach. “Our customers are top priority for us, so it’s important that we focus on their needs and find the right insurance coverage for their peace of mind,” says Gord Enders, President of Direct-Line Insurance. “We’re passionate about helping others and are excited to continue being there for our customers and community, as part of the BrokerLink team.”Connecting with customers in Calgary, AB MKMK Group has offered insurance solutions to its customers in...