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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...

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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’...

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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

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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

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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

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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...

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Wisconsin Wedding Barns Sue Over State’s New Liquor Law Requiring Licensing

Article 0 Comments MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A pair of Wisconsin wedding barns sued the state Tuesday seeking to block enactment of a new law that requires them to get liquor licenses similar to other establishments that host events. Owners and operators of wedding barns tried unsuccessfully last year to kill the law that overhauled regulation of the state’s multibillion-dollar liquor industry. The changes had been worked on for years, gaining buy-in from both Republicans and Democrats, large and small brewers, wholesalers and retailers. Farmview Event Barn, located in Berlin, and Monarch Valley Wedding & Events, in Blair, filed the lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. Patty Mayers, the assistant deputy revenue secretary, declined to comment on the lawsuit. The new law affects every level of the state’s alcohol industry, governing the licensing, producing, selling and distribution of beer, wine and liquor. That includes new requirements on predominantly rural facilities often located on farms that host wedding receptions and other events, but aren’t traditional bars, restaurants or entertainment venues. The new law requires such venues to either get a permit or license to sell or allow alcohol legally starting in 2026. Currently, wedding barns and other private event venues...

Get Ready for the 2024 Hurricane Season: IBC 0

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Get Ready for the 2024 Hurricane Season: IBC

Toronto, ON (May 8, 2024) – According to researchers at Colorado State University, record warm tropical and eastern subtropical surface temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean could result in 11 hurricanes this year, a significant increase over the average of 7.2 hurricanes a year recorded between 1991 and 2020. Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) notes that the research team’s forecast also predicts that five of those hurricanes will be major, having winds of about 180 kilometres per hour or stronger. A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone that forms over tropical or subtropical waters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration considers the storm a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour. Warm water, moist air and converging winds are three of the main factors that cause a hurricane to form. Because heat acts as fuel for storms, this year’s warmer water can create bigger and stronger hurricanes. In February 2024, the Weather Network reported that temperatures in one part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean were already as warm as they usually are in the middle of July. Another factor that could contribute to this year’s hurricane season is the development of La Niña in...

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Google Fights $17 Billion UK Lawsuit Over Adtech Practices

Article 0 Comments Google parent Alphabet has urged a London tribunal to block a mass lawsuit which accuses it of abusing its dominance in the online advertising market, in the latest case to focus on the search giant’s business practices. The lawsuit seeks damages of up to 13.6 billion pounds ($16.9 billion) on behalf of publishers of websites and apps based in the United Kingdom, who say they have suffered losses due to Google’s allegedly anticompetitive behavior. Lawyers for Ad Tech Collective Action asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to certify the case to proceed towards a trial at the start of a three-day hearing on Wednesday [May 8]. Google Faces EU Antitrust Charges Over its Adtech Business Google, however, said the case was incoherent and did not explain how alleged anticompetitive conduct had supposedly caused losses to the publishers. Ad Tech Collective Action’s lawyer Robert O’Donoghue said the London lawsuit was “the latest in a series of major set-preferencing abuse cases involving Google.” The case comes amid ongoing probes by regulators into Google’s adtech business, including by Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, which O’Donoghue said was concluding imminently. O’Donoghue also referred to two multibillion-euro fines...

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What Annuity Administrators Do

What You Need to Know Annuity sales are growing rapidly. Investors want to pull cash out on their schedule. Simply processing and the recording the payments is a big job. Annuities have increased in popularity for retirement planning given their reliable income streams and ability to deliver protection and floors that combat market volatility. Recent data from A.M. Best reveals that individual annuities accounted for $344 billion of life insurers’ $1.5 trillion in direct written premiums in 2023. Additionally, total annuity sales reaching a record-high of $385.4 billion, marking a 23% year-over-year increase. BlackRock forecasts a growing significance of annuities in retirement planning, anticipating an increase in clients with retirement accounts featuring annuitization options. Advisors and agents will play a crucial role in helping clients navigate in-plan annuitization options alongside conventional investments and alternatives. Making Annuities Work While annuities offer vital financial tools for retirees, the effective management of these investments relies heavily on annuity administrators who operate behind the scenes. These professionals oversee the intricacies of annuity contracts, managing tasks such as payment processing, record maintenance, and customer inquiries. Moreover, they serve as intermediaries between insurance companies and annuitants, ensuring compliance with regulations and contractual terms, thus safeguarding the...