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New Reporting Process: Citizens can start their collision reports online 0

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New Reporting Process: Citizens can start their collision reports online

Toronto, ON (July 16, 2024) – Accident Support Services International Ltd. (ASSI) has been providing post-collision care to drivers since 1994.  Through 47 Collision Reporting Centres in Ontario, Alberta, and Prince Edward Island (opening July 23, 2024), ASSI assists customers with the completion of reports for motor vehicle collisions in partnership with the police services at no cost. This service guides customers through the collision reporting process and frees police to attend to higher priority needs. The program is funded by the licensed insurers through the savings they realize. ASSI is proud to announce its “Start From Home” – the next phase to collision reporting. When citizens have been involved in a collision that meets the threshold to attend a Collision Reporting Centre (CRC), they can start online from their own device at reportacollision.com. A secure site that allows drivers to provide a typed statement and capture a number of the fields required to complete the form. The driver receives a unique reference number and must report to a CRC to ensure the accuracy and consistency of the information collected. At the CRC, ASSI staff will take photographs, verify the information, and work with the citizen to finish the process....

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Pennsylvania Shaved $98 Million Off Insurer Rate Requests in First Half of Year

Article 0 Comments The Pennsylvania Insurance Department (PID) reported that it has saved consumers $98.3 million in annual auto, home and other property/casualty insurance premiums in the first six months of 2024 through its review of insurance company rate filings. The vast majority of these savings, or $77.2 million, have been in personal auto insurance premiums, where department actuaries required reductions in proposed rate changes and assumptions, the agency said. “This rate review process helps keep hard-earned money in Pennsylvanians’ pockets. PID encourages all consumers to shop for coverage, so that they can ensure they’re purchasing the coverage that fits their needs, at a price they can afford,” said Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Michael Humphreys . Insurance companies must file their proposed rate changes for review before the rate changes take effect. The department then either approves, approves with adjustments, or disapproves the proposed rate changes. The department’s news release on the savings said that it has received a “significant volume of requests for rate increases” in recent years, which the agency attributes largely to various inflationary factors, including the increased cost of new and used vehicles, rising costs to repair or replace safety technology features or parts in vehicles, and...

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Biden Drops Out of 2024 Election, Endorses Kamala Harris

U.S. President Joe Biden said he will not seek reelection, a historic reversal that came after weeks of pressure from Democrats for the 81-year-old to exit the race in hopes of improving their chances of preventing Donald Trump from returning to the White House. Biden announced his decision on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, to become the Democratic nominee. The move came less than four months before Election Day and just weeks ahead of the party’s nominating convention in Chicago. “While it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” Biden said in a statement he posted to X. “It’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this,” Biden said in a subsequent post offering his “full support and endorsement” to Harris. The first president in more than half a century not to seek reelection, Biden had until now repeatedly rejected calls to drop his bid in favor of a younger candidate. Those appeals grew stronger following a disastrous debate performance in...

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Mega-RIAs Will Grow to Rival Wirehouses in Next Decade: Mariner’s Bicknell

The number of RIAs has grown rapidly in the past several years, but none has become as vast as a sprawling wirehouse. Not yet. Marty Bicknell offers an authoritative prediction. “In five to 10 years, there will be a handful of truly large independent RIAs that can rival the size of the wirehouses,” Bicknell, CEO and president of Mariner Wealth Advisors, tells ThinkAdvisor in an interview. It’s a good bet that Mariner, fourth on Barron’s list of top RIAs, could be one of those. The Overland Park, Kansas-based firm, founded in 2006, has grown at a fast clip — it has 110 locations nationwide and now advises on a total of $230 billion in assets. Its 1,800 financial advisors include employees and independent contractors.  Inorganic growth has been a significant key to its success. To date, Mariner has made 55 acquisitions, the most recent of which, a combination of institutional consultants AndCo Consultants and Fourth Street Performance Partners, closed in April. The deal kicked off the firm’s Mariner Institutional brand and brought in $104 billion in assets under advisement. Other brands include Mariner Ultra, for ultra-high-net-worth clients, and Mariner Workplace, for business owners. Bicknell argues that it’s critical for advisors to offer a...

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The Benefits of Using Financial Education, and How to Implement It

Financial education enhances your value proposition because it demonstrates that you are interested in helping clients understand and manage their finances, solve problems and work toward their goals.  Educating clients can set you apart from competitors by demonstrating that you care about their financial education and well-being. 6. Attracts new clients. Offering financial education through seminars, webinars, blogs or newsletters provides an opportunity to showcase your expertise and reputation as a thought leader in the industry.  Financial education is the best platform to attract new clients looking for reliable and knowledgeable financial professionals. Share financial education on social media and your website blog so they can find you when doing organic searches. 4 Tips to Implement Financial Education Now that we have established the benefits of using financial education to grow an advisory practice, we must consider how to implement it effectively.  1. Source content from multiple providers. Check with your clearing firm, website provider, broker-dealer or RIA, advisor marketing solution provider, or other content provider sources to find content that will likely resonate with your client base or those prospects you want to attract.  Consider writing content or hiring a ghostwriter if you’re seeking specific content for a distinct...

Robust economies set to drive insurance growth and profitability: Swiss Re Institute 0

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Robust economies set to drive insurance growth and profitability: Swiss Re Institute

Major economies are more resilient than expected, with global GDP growth forecast at 2.7% in real terms in 2024 Non-life hard market expected to continue over 2024 and 2025 as inflation and rising claims costs push rates higher Higher interest rates to boost both growth and profitability for life insurance business in 2024 Armonk, NY (July 16, 2024) – Geopolitical tensions and higher inflation have led to economic concern in recent years. Swiss Re Institute’s annual World Insurance sigma report finds that the global economy has remained remarkably resilient, setting the scene for growth and improved profitability across the insurance industry. Jérôme Haegeli, Swiss Re’s Group Chief Economist says: “The insurance industry has reached a new equilibrium after the challenges of recent years. The global economy has surprised on the upside, which should drive more demand for insurance. The life sector in particular is one to watch as higher interest rates drive investment income and consumer demand for annuities, giving more people secure retirement incomes.” Continuing global growth for 2024 and 2025 Swiss Re Institute estimates that global gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 2.7% in real terms in 2024, the same as 2023. This resilient growth is expected...

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Hurricane Beryl Caused Estimated $2-3B in Insured Losses to U.S. Property: Verisk

Article 0 Comments Estimated industry insured losses to onshore property from wind in the U.S. for Hurricane Beryl will range between $2 billion to $3 billion, Verisk’s Extreme Event Solutions business unit said. Beryl made landfall near Matagorda Bay, Texas the morning of July 8 as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm tracked north as it moved further inland, hitting the Houston region head on. The storm caused heavy rainfall, leading to roadways and homes becoming flooded throughout the Houston area and parts of western Louisiana. Wind damage included reports of tree damage to roofs, moderate levels of damage in the form of broken windows and tree damage to residential and apartment complexes, Verisk said. Nearly 3 million households lost power in Texas from Beryl, including more than 2.2 million in Harris County alone. “Widespread and prolonged power outages in Texas are likely to be a legacy of Beryl’s arrival in the state,” Verisk said. “The outages could well drive significant claims due to food spoilage, mold, and losses to additional living expenses and business interruption coverages.” Verisk’s loss estimates do not include losses from storm surge, losses paid out by the National Flood Insurance Program, losses to inland marine,...

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Global IT Crash That Blocked 911 Calls and Grounded Planes Eases

Article 1 Comment In what will go down as the most spectacular IT failure the world has ever seen, a botched software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. crashed countless Microsoft Windows computer systems globally. Microsoft Corp. and CrowdStrike have rolled out fixes and systems are being restored. But for several hours, bankers in Hong Kong, doctors in the UK and emergency responders in New Hampshire found themselves locked out of programs critical to keeping their operations afloat. “This is unprecedented,” said Alan Woodward, professor of cybersecurity at Surrey University. “The economic impact is going to be huge.” The catastrophic failure underscores an increasingly dire threat to global supply chains: The IT systems of some of the world’s biggest and most critical industries have grown heavily dependent on a handful of relatively obscure software vendors, which are now emerging as single points of failure. In recent months hackers have exploited this phenomenon, targeting vendors to bring down entire sectors and governments. Adding to the disruption, Microsoft experienced a separate and apparently unrelated problem with its Azure cloud service on Thursday that lasted for several hours. On Friday afternoon, the company said in a post on X that all Microsoft...

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Tesla’s California Car Registrations Fall for Third Straight Quarter

Article 1 Comment Registrations of Tesla cars in California fell 24% in the April to June period, marking the third consecutive quarter that the company posted a sales drop in its key market, indicating mounting challenges for the EV maker, according to industry data on Thursday. High interest rates and stiff competition have softened demand for electric vehicles as consumers opt for less-expensive hybrid cars. Potential Tesla customers in the United States have been shying away from buying its electric cars, partly due to CEO Elon Musk’s polarizing persona. Musk’s embrace of Republicans and outspoken comments have sparked concerns about Tesla’s brand, especially in liberal states such as California, which accounts for 10% of the company’s global deliveries. The world’s richest man publicly endorsed former President Donald Trump for the first time in the U.S. presidential race after the assassination attempt on the Republican candidate on Saturday. Tesla’s California registrations fell to 52,211 vehicles in the second quarter, according to a report by the California New Car Dealers Association. The battery electric vehicle market slipped only 1.3% during the period. In contrast, sales of hybrid vehicles surged 22% in California. Related: California Needs a Million EV Charging Stations — But...

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Goldman’s Top Stock Analyst Is Waiting for AI Bubble to Burst

What You Need to Know It happened with dot-com companies in the late 1990s and more recently with cryptocurrencies, says Jim Covello. One survey found that fewer than half of companies investing in AI have yet to see a significant return. AI has shown the promise of making some jobs like coding more efficient, but not by nearly enough to justify the expense. Over three decades on Wall Street, Jim Covello has learned how painful it can be to bet against an inflating tech stock bubble. The market has a way of minting riches, month after month, even after it’s clear the latest breakthroughs aren’t playing out quite as expected. It happened with dot-com companies in the late 1990s and more recently with cryptocurrencies. And Covello, the head of equity research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., says it’ll likely happen with artificial intelligence, too, making it dangerous, if not outright foolish, to start wagering against the likes of Nvidia Corp. And yet, he has no doubt that the reckoning is coming. It might not be this year or even next year, for that matter, but at some point, he says, it’s happening. As he sees it, the hundreds of billions...