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Specialty Program Group Acquires Illinois’ Insurance Allies 0

Specialty Program Group Acquires Illinois’ Insurance Allies

Article 0 Comments Specialty Program Group LLC (SPG), an operator of specialty insurance brokerages and underwriting facilities, announced that it has acquired the assets of Insurance Allies LLC (Insurance Allies), an industry leader in the axe throwing and sports and entertainment industry operating the website AxeThrowingInsurance.com. Chicago-based Insurance Allies services approximately 700 entertainment venues including numerous mobile-only venues across the United States. In addition, Insurance Allies has expanded coverages and services to numerous other sports and recreational industries, including pickleball, haunted houses, smash rooms, go-kart venues, escape rooms, laser tag and many others. Insurance Allies offers a level of expertise and tailored coverage that is unmatched in the industry. Specialty Program Group LLC is a specialty platform headquartered in Chicago. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Excess Surplus Illinois Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Excess Surplus? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

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Carson’s Detrick Remains Bullish Into 2024: 3 Reasons Why

Ryan Detrick, Carson Group’s chief market strategist, sees the stock market rallying through year’s end and continuing its bullish run well into 2024. He cites an economy that’s on firm footing. “Sure, things are ‘slowing down’ some, but we like to say they are normalizing, not slowing down. Could we really keep growing at 400k jobs a month like last year? No, but a steady 150k to 200k is perfectly normal and in line with pre-COVID trends,” he wrote in a column posted on the firm’s blog Thursday. “The consumer remains strong and incomes are growing at a very healthy clip as well. If we can avoid a recession next year — our base case — then we think the chances of a year with potential low double digits returns is quite likely,” Detrick said. Carson Group expects a year-end rally and believes that stocks probably will reach all-time highs in 2024’s first half. The following are three reasons for Detrick’s bullishness. Strong Earnings “We’ve seen analysts continue to come in way too low on estimates and this trend likely continues. The third quarter was expected to see earnings fall slightly, now S&P 500 earnings are expected to come in...

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Columbia Threadneedle Cuts 14 Portfolio Managers

Columbia Threadneedle plans to lay off most of the portfolio managers and analysts on three equity investment teams in the United States as the firm seeks to cut costs. The asset manager confirmed that 14 portfolio managers will exit the firm at year’s end. “The asset management industry is experiencing significant change and we are taking action to manage our business thoughtfully, with a focus on prudent expense management and operational efficiency,” a firm spokesman told ThinkAdvisor by email Friday, confirming a story that appeared on Citywire on Thursday. “We have made a strategic decision to streamline our investment resources in areas where we have duplication and where we believe making portfolio management changes is also in the best interest of our clients.” The firm, which is part of Ameriprise Financial, is making personnel changes to three U.S.-based equity investment teams: Acorn International, Integrated Equity and Small Cap Value II.

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13 New Tax Numbers to Know for 2024

5. Medical Savings Account This is a type of account available to participants in certain high-deductible Medicare plans. For taxable years beginning in 2024, the term “high deductible health plan” means, for self-only coverage, a health plan that has an annual deductible that is not less than $2,800 and not more than $4,150, and under which the annual out-of-pocket expenses required to be paid (other than for premiums) for covered benefits do not exceed $5,550. For family coverage, the term “high deductible health plan” means a health plan that has an annual deductible that is not less than $5,550 and not more than $8,350, and under which the annual out-of-pocket expenses required to be paid (other than for premiums) for covered benefits do not exceed $10,200. Credit: Adobe Stock

FRISS Launches Claims Analytics Accelerator for Guidewire Cloud 0

FRISS Launches Claims Analytics Accelerator for Guidewire Cloud

FRISS Accelerator for Claims Analytics for Guidewire Cloud Mason, OH (Nov. 7, 2023) – FRISS, a world leading provider of trust automation solutions for P&C insurers and Guidewire PartnerConnect Solution partner, is pleased to announce the launch of the FRISS Accelerator for Claims Analytics for ClaimCenter Cloud. The accelerator leverages the latest capabilities of the Guidewire Cloud Integration Framework, and is now available in the Guidewire Marketplace to ClaimCenter users on Guidewire Cloud. The insurance industry operates in a world where customer loyalty is awarded to those who can deliver the best experience. Trust is of vital importance. But insurers cannot simply underwrite every policy and pay every claim – at least not right away. They need to do their research, and they need to do it instantaneously. FRISS’s Accelerator for Claims Analytics for ClaimCenter Cloud is built to automate and support this challenge. FRISS’s sophisticated, real-time accelerator uses a wide variety of powerful AI techniques, internal and 3rd-party data, network analytics, and risk and fraud indicators to consistently analyze claims. It promptly flags suspicious claims and allows for trustworthy claims to go on a fast track, all directly within ClaimCenter. The seamlessly integrated accelerator displays fraud and risk screenings...

AI + Data is a Force Multiplier for P&C Commercial Lines 0

AI + Data is a Force Multiplier for P&C Commercial Lines

By Meredith Barnes-Cook, Partner, Resource Pro Consulting — Data-driven decision-making has long been the goal of P&C commercial lines carriers. There has never been a shortage of data within a carrier’s own walls, and decades ago, some sought to create a competitive advantage through the use of predictive models. However, it was a considerable challenge to amass and normalize enough structured data to train a model. The handoffs to run and use a model were manual. And keeping the model current—by retraining it with newer data—ran into the same challenges. Despite these early hurdles, carriers saw the value of using models to evaluate risks and identify the new business submissions in the queue with a higher probability of winning. Risk analysis models eliminated discretion in comparing exposures to target account guidelines. Predictive reserving models avoided being solely reliant on each claims adjuster’s experience to recognize the losses that looked simple at intake but carried all the hallmarks of a complex and costly claim. An Inside Look at Artificial Intelligence in Commercial Lines Carriers Resource Pro Insights’ newly released research, Artificial Intelligence in P&C Commercial Lines: Carrier Plans, Perceptions and Potential for High-Value Use Cases, offers a comprehensive look at AI within...

IBAO Provides Consumer Data for Brokers 0

IBAO Provides Consumer Data for Brokers

IBAO is taking steps to become the go-to place for market intelligence data for brokers Toronto, ON (Nov. 2, 2023) – The Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) has published a new data project as part of an effort to become a centralized source of market intelligence data for Ontario brokers. For this new project—completed in partnership with the data firm Environics Analytics—they compiled consumer data from across Ontario and produced consumer reports for 79 geographical areas within the province. These reports contain segmented demographic information, which will allow brokerages to better target their advertising and sales efforts. The reports also contain information on the types of businesses that exist within these same areas, giving brokerages valuable strategic information for their Commercial Lines business growth planning. These reports are available for free to IBAO Members—they can find the password in IBAO’s Member Resource Library in the Consumer Data folder. A free preview of these reports is available here. “We’re always looking for new ways to empower Ontario Brokers,” said IBAO COO Brett Boadway. “More consumer data for brokers will lead to the generation of stronger business outcomes. This supports a major goal of the IBAO, which is to ensure that our members are industry leaders.”...

Markets/Coverages: Florida Citizens Taps Verisk Aerial Imagery for Underwriting 0

Markets/Coverages: Florida Citizens Taps Verisk Aerial Imagery for Underwriting

Article 0 Comments Verisk, a global data analytics and technology provider, announced that Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the residual, not-for-profit insurer in Florida, will adopt Verisk’s aerial imagery analytics solution. The move is designed to help provide Citizens a more comprehensive view of risks across the state. According to a press release, Verisk collaborates with Vexcel Data Program, the world’s largest aerial imagery program, to source imagery and elevation models. Verisk then applies what it called “computer vision” and machine learning to compile its library of imagery analytics for P&C insurers. Ultra- and high-resolution aerial imagery is available, the release said, covering 99.6 percent of U.S. structures today. Citizens is also licensing roof age, homeowner data and property history solutions from Verisk. Topics Florida Underwriting Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Drones? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

12 Best Cities for Veterans: 2023 0

12 Best Cities for Veterans: 2023

Start Slideshow Some 18 million military veterans now live in the United States, according to the Veterans Association. A new report from the personal finance website WalletHub finds that many veterans face challenges when reentering civilian life, including the ability to secure jobs, shelter or health care. In October, the 2.9% unemployment rate for veterans was better than the 3.9% rate for the overall population, the report said. However, homelessness remains a major problem, with more than 33,000 unhoused veterans. Some cities offer better conditions for veterans than others. In order to determine the best places for veterans to live, WalletHub compared the 100 most populated U.S. cities based on these characteristics: Employment, including share of military skill-related jobs and veteran employment rate; The local economy, including housing affordability, veteran income growth and educational opportunities; Quality of life, including projected veteran population growth, and family and retiree friendliness; and Health care, including VA health facilities in relation to the area’s veteran population and the quality of VA health facilities Researchers evaluated these issues using 19 relevant metrics and graded each one on a 100-point scale — with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for veterans. They also considered only...

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Liberty Mutual Records $219M Q3 Net Income

Article 2 Comments Liberty Mutual Holding Co. on Thursday reported third quarter net income of $219 million, reversing a loss of $353 million a year ago during the same time. Timothy Sweeney “Solid underwriting results in our Global Risk Solutions business and the tailwind from rising net investment income helped offset continued pressure from inflation and severe weather impacting US personal lines,” said Tim Sweeney, Liberty Mutual CEO, in a statement. Third quarter net written premiums in Global Risk Solutions decreased 3.4% year over year to about $4.2 billion. US Retail Markets NWP increase 0.8% to about $8 billion as Liberty Mutual continues “to take aggressive rate and non-rate actions to return that business to target profitability,” Sweeney added. Boston-based Liberty Mutual’s total combined ratio for Q3 was 102.6, down from 106.7 a year ago. Catastrophes of about $1.1 billion added 9.6 points during the quarter. A $192 million addition to loss reserves added another 1.7 points to the combined ratio. Sweeney said Liberty Mutual has a target combined ratio of 95. For the nine months of 2023, Liberty Mutual posted a net loss attributable to LMHC of $441 million compared to a net loss of $198 million in 2022....