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Range Rovers Become Thief-Magnets, Causing Insurance Premiums to Skyrocket

Article 0 Comments Tim Coen, a property investor, loved his Range Rover Sport but decided it was time to go green. He wanted to trade in the gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle for an electric Porsche. There was a snag, however. A string of Range Rover thefts in the UK has caused insurance premiums to skyrocket. While the Porsche was being built, his coverage provider said it wouldn’t re-insure the Range Rover. He searched online and the cheapest quote he could find was £48,000 ($60,100). The eye-watering cost has sent the SUV’s resale value tumbling. The Leeds-based entrepreneur, who runs investment firm North Property Group, paid £103,000 for his Sport SVR two years ago. He checked its value online three months ago and it was supposedly worth £75,000. Now, it would only fetch about £45,000, according to the same site. Coen, 34, can’t even sell it — he would need to fork out an extra £25,000 to pay off the finance because of the drop in valuation. “I was trying to be a bit more eco-friendly, but now I’m probably not because I’ve got two cars rather than one,” said Coen, whose previous Range Rover was stolen in London in 2020....

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Gen Xers Fret About Retirement Savings Gap

Gen Xers are feeling downbeat about achieving their retirement goals, Schroders reported Wednesday. In a survey, non-retired Americans ages 43 to 58 said that on average they will need $1,112,183 in savings to retire comfortably but expect to put away just $661,013, leaving a shortfall of $451,170. Millennial and baby boomer respondents look forward to a smaller savings gap. Millennials believe they will need $1,280,892 to retire comfortably and expect to have saved $877,266, resulting in a gap of $403,626. Boomers still in the workforce say it will take $924,897 in savings to retire comfortably but anticipate having saved $291,496 less than that, or $633,401. Put another way, the survey findings showed that 61% of non-retired Gen Xers are not confident in their ability to achieve a dream retirement, compared with 53% of non-retired boomers and 49% of millennials.  Further, 45% of non-retired Gen Xers said they have done no retirement planning, compared with 43% of millennials and 30% of non-retired boomers.  “The size of the retirement savings gap facing Gen X is concerning, as they are the first generation to rely on 401(k) plans instead of pensions and the next in line to retire,” Deb Boyden, head of U.S....

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Infrastructure Faces $600B Hit in Worst-Case Climate Shift: Study

Article 0 Comments Infrastructure investors face losing nearly a third of their money, or around $600 billion, if countries do not plan for an orderly shift to a greener economy by mid-century, a first-of-its-kind study shared with Reuters showed. The researchers describe this worst-case scenario in terms of governments moving late, or unexpectedly, to impose taxes on carbon emissions. Those abrupt moves would drive an inflation-fueling price shock that would see interest rates rise, impacting the net-asset value of the investments. Infrastructure portfolios could lose as much as half of their value, according to the research by the EDHEC Infrastructure & Private Asset Research Institute. “There’s more risk than people think,” co-author Frederic Blanc-Brude told Reuters by phone, while the COP28 climate talks were taking place in Dubai. “They are going to become material sooner, and more than is expected, and people need to wake up.” In an orderly transition, by contrast, where the system changes gradually to rein in emissions, the costs would be absorbed as part of normal business operations. Both scenarios were assessed across 9,000 infrastructure assets – including airports, toll roads, power stations, seaports and pipelines – but did not include potential legal, market and technological...

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When a Client Faces Cognitive Decline, Speak Up

The first step in protecting clients that show signs of cognitive decline is straightforward, argues Barbara Archer, managing director and partner of Hightower Wealth Advisors in St. Louis. “If we see something, we need to say something,” she says in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. Specifically, this means speaking with the client and then to a trusted contact if the client has one. When advisors spot a red flag, they also need to protect themselves. This entails taking the above steps plus contacting their firm’s compliance department and the state in which they’re based to determine appropriate rules, says Archer. Should a client with diminishing cognitive capacity or other mental health issues start to handle assets differently from an established manner, “the client’s family or their counsel may question the advisor. If there’s an issue, there is liability,” Archer points out. Some behavioral changes do not necessarily signal cognitive decline, she notes. They may be temporary changes resulting from a new medication or an infection. Archer, who heads a practice with two partners and five other advisors, supported by six associates — with assets under management of more than $1 billion — founded Archer Wealth Management in 1983 and joined Hightower in 2016, merging...

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Harnessing AI in Annuities

What You Need to Know Clients and prospects already use AI systems to make their dinner. You could use it to educate your clients. Insurers could use it to develop new types of investment indexes. Artificial Intelligence is today’s hottest of hot topics across all industries, and the annuities market is no exception. AI technology and machine learning is transforming traditional processes for financial advisors, agents, and carriers leading to improved efficiency, accuracy, and customer experience. A question remains, however, as to what exactly can and cannot be automated, and how much human intervention will be required, as AI is increasingly integrated across the lifecycle of a product. Here’s how AI could affect three types of processes within the annuity sector. 1. The Buying Experience Consumers themselves are already turning to AI for a wide variety of reasons, from asking ChatGPT to tell a joke to generating a recipe to help use the items you have in your refrigerator. As consumers continue to use AI in their everyday lives, it begs the question of how the technology can be leveraged by financial professionals and advisors to educate folks about more complex subjects, like annuities. Annuities are commonly seen as some...

Intact Financial Corporation and RSA announce sale of UK direct Personal Lines operations to Admiral Group plc 0

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Intact Financial Corporation and RSA announce sale of UK direct Personal Lines operations to Admiral Group plc

RSA to sell its UK direct Personal Lines (Home and Pet) operations following the recent conclusion of a strategic review RSA will also exit its Home and Pet partner and broker contracts in the UK, which completes its exit from the UK Personal Lines market Accelerates path to sustainable outperformance for the continuing UK&I business, which is now expected to deliver a low-90s combined ratio[1] in 2024 No material impact expected to Net Operating Income Per Share (NOIPS)[2] Toronto, ON (Dec. 7, 2023) – Intact Financial Corporation and its subsidiary Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Limited (RSA) are pleased to announce that they have reached an agreement to sell RSA’s UK direct Personal Lines operations, representing approximately £165 million of annual premiums,[3] to Admiral Group plc (Admiral). The transaction will result in the transfer of renewal rights, brands and employees. RSA will retain the claims reserves, which will be run off over time. The sale has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both Intact and Admiral, and is expected to close at the end of Q1 2024. RSA will also exit its UK Home and Pet partner and broker contracts representing annual premiums of approximately £515 million,[3] and is exploring...

AM Best Upgrades Financial Strength Rating of Louisiana Dealer Services Insurance 0

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AM Best Upgrades Financial Strength Rating of Louisiana Dealer Services Insurance

Article 0 Comments AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings to “a” (Excellent) from “a-” (Excellent) of Louisiana Dealer Services Insurance, Inc. (LDS) and its subsidiaries, Loss Deficiency Surety Insurance Company, Inc. and Versant Casualty Insurance Company. All companies are headquartered in Baton Rouge. Louisiana and are collectively referred to as LDS Group. The outlooks of these Credit Ratings (ratings) are stable. The ratings reflect LDS Group’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management. The LDS Group maintains an established market position as a vehicle service contract provider and mechanical breakdown insurer predominantly in Louisiana and Mississippi. The LDS Group offers credit and gap insurance among other products. According to AM Best, the rating upgrades reflect the supportive improvement in LDS Group’s balance sheet strength which is underpinned by risk-adjusted capitalization at the strongest level, as measured by Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), its conservative investment portfolio and sound liquidity measures. AM Best cites strong surplus growth that was achieved over the last five years and reduced exposure to...

On Side announces acquisition of Superior Disaster Services 0

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On Side announces acquisition of Superior Disaster Services

On Side grows in Ontario with latest acquisition Toronto, ON (Dec. 4, 2023) – On Side Restoration Ltd. is excited to announce the acquisition of Superior Disaster Services Ltd. that closed December 1, 2023. Welcoming Superior Disaster to the team as the 17th and 18th branches in Ontario, the Company will strengthen its capacity along the 401 and will extend its service offering across the province. Superior Disaster was founded as “Superior Cleaners” in 1959 by Leonard and Wanda Martin. When Leonard retired in 1981, Andrew Martin, and Robert Webb purchased the company and renamed and expanded it to become Superior Disaster. With more than 60 years’ experience between them, Andrew and Bob have focused on the development of their company since 1981. In addition to the 24/7 emergency response services, Superior Disaster utilizes the expertise of two specialized divisions operating under the same umbrella – Superior Cleaners and Superior Restoration and Contracting – to offer a full range of services for residential, commercial, industrial and institutional customers. Part of their uniqueness is their reputation for handling specialty and large losses, and On Side Restoration is very pleased to welcome their team to the company and to continue to innovate...

Aha Insurance Announces Acquisition by Southampton Financial 0

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Aha Insurance Announces Acquisition by Southampton Financial

Toronto, ON (Dec. 4, 2023) – Southampton Financial, a private equity firm focused on the Canadian property and casualty distribution space, is pleased to announce it has acquired aha Insurance (“aha”), a digital insurance brokerage. Headquartered in Waterloo, aha Insurance takes pride in being one of the first insurance brokerages in Canada to offer quote, purchase, and management of car and home insurance policies entirely online. aha’s knowledgeable and experienced team is committed to offer a higher standard of customer service driving an ease-of-use platform and superior customer satisfaction. “We are pleased to welcome aha into our portfolio of companies and look forward to driving further innovation and accelerating growth” said Brian Reeve, founder and CEO at Southampton Financial. “For the past six years, aha has focused on bringing digital solutions to the Canadian insurance landscape through our innovative brokerage platform. The transaction with Southampton marks a significant milestone for our young company as we will tap into a much larger platform with significant resources and talent to bring a broader range of products and services, all with the goal of greatly accelerating our growth strategy. We look forward to driving aha forward and working closely with Brian Reeve and...

ChatGPT and Cyber Risks 0

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ChatGPT and Cyber Risks

Q&A with Zair Kamal Director, Client Development & Cyber Specialist Morristown, NJ (Nov. 30, 2023) – We’re now seeing breakthroughs in language models such as ChatGPT, due to the availability of computing power required to power them. People are naturally fascinated with how machine learning and AI are able to benefit their lives and businesses. However, with the evolution of new technology comes risk. In this Question & Answer session, Zair Kamal, Director, Client Development and Cyber Specialist, HSB Canada, provides cyber security insights. What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is a state-of-the-art language generation model developed by OpenAI, capable of understanding and generating human-like text based on a given prompt. ChatGPT can give a complete and articulate answer to any question that is typed into it. Looking for the world’s best chocolate cake recipe? Type it into ChatGPT and you never need to search Google. How could a ChatGPT-type AI model cause harm? Language models such as ChatGPT can be used in the following ways by bad actors: Compromising sensitive data: Language models process and store large amounts of data from inputted queries. If employees upload sensitive data and confidential information into the model, data could be hacked, leaked or accidently...