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Risk Strategies Acquires New York’s Prince Associates

Article 0 Comments National specialty broker Risk Strategies has added a Long Island commercial lines agency to its roster. Boston-based Risk Strategies announced its acquisition of Prince Associates, Inc., a multi-line retail independent insurance agency founded in 1964 and based in Hicksville, New York. Led by Leith Baren and Craig Sherman, Prince Associates serves clients across 41 states in various industries including waste disposal, manufacturing, animal shelters, hospitality and real estate. In addition to insurance placement, it offers risk management reviews, loss control analysis, claims handling overviews, flexible financing and alternative risk transfer options. Prince Associates also offers personal lines coverages including homeowners, property, renters, auto, flood and identity theft. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Risk Strategies has more than 30 specialty practices. Topics Mergers & Acquisitions New York 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 Mergers? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

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Russian Missile Strike on Merchant Ship Threatens Ukraine’s Exports

Article 0 Comments A Russian missile strike on a commercial ship at a major Ukrainian Black Sea port is adding to risks for commodity exports just as farmers in the war-battered nation are in the midst of this year’s harvest. A 750-feet iron ore carrier, the KMAX Ruler, was hit near Ukraine’s key port of Odesa Wednesday, inflicting what the United Nations said was the first civilian casualty of a mariner since the war began. The incident highlighted the perilous risks for every type of vessel sailing to a country that’s under bombardment from Moscow’s forces. Ukraine is collecting larger-than-expected crops of key staples like corn, much of which typically is sold abroad, despite Russia’s invasion. Burdensome logistics costs have already left farmers squeezed — and any downturn in exports or spike in shipping costs could make matters worse. A trickle of metal shipments may also be in jeopardy. The strike killed the pilot and injured others as the vessel prepared to load iron ore for China, according to Ukrainian authorities. The government in Kyiv said Thursday that ships continue to move, although the strike adds to safety concerns and could raise costs. The UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise...

Top 11 Highlights Now Available for AM Best’s Webinar on Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT 0

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Top 11 Highlights Now Available for AM Best’s Webinar on Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT

Oldwick, NJ (Nov. 3, 2023) – Viewers can now access the top highlights from AM Best’s “How Generative AI and ChatGPT are Reshaping the Insurance Industry” webinar, sponsored by Xceedance. In this video-based interactive presentation, viewers can learn how these new technologies will drive the customer experience as well as the bottom line for decades to come. The webinar was compiled into the following stand-alone segments: How Generative AI is Used in the Insurance Industry</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Generative AI Differs from Traditional Data Analytics</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Generative AI Can Help Insurers Target Pain Points</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Few Limits to How AI Will Impact the Insurance Industry</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> AI Can Help MGAs and Insurers Anticipate Renewal Activity</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Public or Private, Insurers Must Choose Based on Security and Privacy</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Worst-Case Scenarios Could Lead to Over-Regulation of Insurers’ Use of Generative AI</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> How Generative AI Will Help MGAs Create Markets and Services</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Generative AI Will Augment Jobs, Not Remove the Human Factor</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Where Generative AI Will Make the Earliest Impacts in Insurance</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Why Generative AI Will Not Replace Insurance Agents</li style=”margin-bottom: 0.5em;”> Panelists include: Arun Balakrishnan, chairman & chief executive...

Shift Technology Strengthens Insurance Decisioning Solutions via Generative AI Capabilities 0

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Shift Technology Strengthens Insurance Decisioning Solutions via Generative AI Capabilities

New functionality advances company’s industry-leading insurance AI Boston, MA (Oct. 31, 2023) – Shift Technology, provider of AI-powered decision optimization solutions for the global insurance industry, is pleased to announce the integration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) functionality across its suite of products. These new capabilities deliver targeted, accurate insights and context to the risk detection and investigation processes, resulting in significant improvements in decision-making speed and accuracy across underwriting and claims. Users of Shift Claims Fraud Detection, Shift Subrogation Detection, Shift Improper Payment Detection, and Shift Underwriting Risk Detection can take immediate advantage of the added benefits provided by generative AI in identifying suspicious behavior across the policy and claims lifecycle as well as uncovering subrogation/recovery opportunities. Generative AI models analyze patterns in large data sets to generate new content, including text, images and other types of media. Large language models (LLMs) are a type of generative AI used to understand and produce text-based content. Shift’s LLMs are further trained by Shift’s proprietary “insurance knowledge layer,” derived from data and context specific to the insurance industry as well as information unique to individual insurers. Incorporating generative AI into existing solutions allows insurers to harness its benefits without requiring significant...

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Comparing CDs and Annuities

What You Need to Know CDs and annuities can both keep money safe. Some products could offer a higher rate of return. Some products could hit harder if a client takes cash out early. Bank certificates of deposit, or CDs, and annuities are two popular and safe investment options that can provide a steady income stream for investors. Both have advantages and disadvantages that depend on a client’s financial goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Rising interest rates have suddenly made both types of products much more attractive. Here’s a look at how the products work, along with the typical profiles of clients who tend to benefit the most from each type of product. CDs Basics CDs are deposit accounts offered by banks. They have  a fixed interest rate and a fixed “term,” or length of time that the account lasts. When the term ends, your client receives the original deposit plus the interest earned. CDs typically offer higher interest rates than regular savings accounts. They’re FDIC-insured, making them one of the safest places for your clients to put their money. The main downside of CDs is the lack of flexibility; withdrawing funds before the maturity date results in penalties....

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Captain Found Guilty of ‘Seaman’s Manslaughter’ in Boat Fire That Killed 34 off California

Article 0 Comments A scuba dive boat captain was convicted this week of criminal negligence in the deaths of 34 people killed in a fire aboard the vessel in 2019, the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. Jerry Boylan, 69, was found guilty of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman’s manslaughter that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew responsible for maritime disasters. Boylan was the only person to face criminal charges connected to the fire. He could get 10 years behind bars when he`s sentenced Feb. 8. Relatives of those killed hugged one another and wept outside the courtroom after the verdict was read. They thanked the FBI case agent who led the investigation. Clark and Kathleen McIlvain, whose son Charles died at age 44, said they were relieved that there is finally accountability for their loss. “We are very happy that the world knows that Jerry Boylan was responsible for this and has been found guilty,” Clark McIlvain said. Boylan can appeal. His public defenders declined to comment as they left the courthouse. The verdict comes more than four years after the Sept. 2, 2019...

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401(k) Rollovers and Taxes: What to Know as New DOL Fiduciary Rule Looms

There are some cautions and considerations in determining if a rollover to a traditional IRA is the right course of action: Does the client have issues that require the extra creditor protection of a 401(k)? If so, then perhaps leaving the money in a former employer’s 401(k) or rolling the money to a new employer’s 401(k) might be a better option. If clients are changing jobs and plan to keep working once they reach the age where RMDs commence, it may make sense to roll their 401(k) to their new employer’s plan if it offers the option to allow employees to defer RMDs on money in the plan while still working. Are the funds offered in their former employer’s plan, or the plan offered by their new employer if applicable, low-cost institutional quality funds? Do these investments constitute a better option than what might be available via the IRA to be used for the rollover? Is the client eligible to take advantage of the rule of 55 allowing for penalty-free distributions before age 59 1/2? The Rule of 55 The rule of 55 as it pertains to 401(k)s and some other employer plans says that those leaving their employer due...

Chubb and SentinelOne® Partner to Enhance Cyber Risk Management 0

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Chubb and SentinelOne® Partner to Enhance Cyber Risk Management

Chubb leverages industry-leading security solutions to help policyholders enhance cyber defenses and help protect businesses from emerging threats New York, NY (Oct. 26, 2023) – Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded property & casualty insurance company, is collaborating with SentinelOne, a leader in cybersecurity, to streamline cyber risk management practices for U.S. and Canadian businesses. As part of the first phase of this collaboration, Chubb’s cyber insurance policyholders with over $100 million in revenue will have the ability to share their enterprise “health assessment or security posture” data with Chubb through SentinelOne’s endpoint protection and automated incident response solutions. This includes SentinelOne’s WatchTower Vital Signs Report app, which securely communicates an accurate profile of a policyholder’s cybersecurity posture and controls to Chubb to help streamline underwriting processes. The benefits for policyholders and their agents include providing potentially incentivized policy pricing subject to applicable insurance laws, streamlined policy renewals, and visibility and cyber threat protection through SentinelOne. Furthermore, subject to applicable insurance laws, these policyholders can also receive a discounted subscription to SentinelOne’s solutions empowering them to keep their systems and data safe. The collaboration with Chubb and SentinelOne is particularly timely as cyber threats continue to increase in sophistication and...

Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale Postponed Amid Legal Battles Over Endangered Whale Protections 0

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Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale Postponed Amid Legal Battles Over Endangered Whale Protections

Article 0 Comments NEW ORLEANS (AP) – An upcoming sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases was officially postponed last week amid legal fights over protections for an endangered species of whale. A federal appellate panel last week paused a separate appeals panel`s order that the sale be held Nov. 8. Oil industry advocates had pressed President Joe Biden`s administration to go ahead with the sale anyway. But the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it was postponing the event because of the legal uncertainties heading into a Nov. 13 appeals court hearing. The lease sale, called for in 2022 climate legislation that was part of the Inflation Reduction Act, was announced earlier this year. The available tracts covered a broad area of Gulf waters off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It was originally scheduled for Sept. 27. But BOEM announced in August that it was scaling back the amount of acreage oil companies would be allowed to bid on from 73 million acres (30 million hectares) to 67 million acres (27 million hectares). That followed a proposed legal settlement between the administration and environmentalists in a lawsuit over protections for an endangered whale...

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Dynasty to Help Life Settlement Firm Add Wealth Services

Abacus Life, a life settlement company, has picked Dynasty Financial Partners to help it start a wealth division. Abacus CEO Jay Jackson said working with Dynasty to provide financial planning and investment management services “is the natural next step forward for Abacus.” Shirl Penney, Dynasty’s CEO, said his firm is thrilled to be working with Abacus. “Jay and the team are well-positioned to hit the ground running,” Penney said. What it means: Traditionally, life insurers and life insurance agents often expanded by offering wealth management services. Today, providers of other, related types of financial services may be more likely to enter the wealth services market. The players: Abacus is an Orlando, Florida-based company that began helping life policy owners sell their policies in 2004.