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SageView Picks Up Founders of $5B Retirement Group

SageView Advisory Group is acquiring two of the founders and managing partners of Retirement Benefits Group in San Diego, along with their team, SageView said Thursday. The RBG team is an institutional retirement plan consulting group with $5.2 billion in assets under advisement, which also includes a growing wealth management business with $63 million in assets under management, according to independent registered investment advisor SageView. RBG was founded in 2010 to provide customized retirement plan consulting solutions, executive benefits and retirement management services to U.S. companies. As part of the deal, RGB co-founders Tony Franchimone and Larry Deatherage will become managing directors at SageView and will be joined by retirement plan consultant Cory McCarthy, wealth advisor Winston Ventura and client services associate Rachel Hall, SageView said. “SageView’s centralized support teams in practice management, advisory services, marketing and business development provide the support we need to continue our growth and success serving retirement plan sponsors,” Franchimone said in a statement. “We will also be able to evolve our wealth management technology and operations with SageView.” The transaction is expected to close on June 30, according to SageView. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. The RBG purchase is the ninth that SageView has announced...

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Arizona Woman Alleges Sexual Assault by Bauer; He Denies Allegation and Countersues

Article 0 Comments An Arizona woman has accused former major league pitcher Trevor Bauer of sexual assault, alleging in a lawsuit updated this week that he held a knife at her throat and choked her until she passed out during a rape that left her pregnant in late 2020. Bauer was never arrested or charged and he has countersued, denying the allegations and accusing the woman of faking a pregnancy and trying to extort money from him. “Trevor Bauer categorically denies this woman’s unhinged allegations,” the player’s co-agents, Jon Fetterolf and Rachel Luba, said in a statement Wednesday. They said she had made several million-dollar demands against Bauer over two years, prompting him to file a criminal complaint against her. Scottsdale Police Officer Aaron Bolin confirmed Wednesday that Bauer filed a criminal complaint on Jan. 24 alleging the woman was trying to extort him, but detectives did not recommend charges to Maricopa County prosecutors. Bolin said there were also no charges recommended after the woman filed a complaint against Bauer on Dec. 20, alleging a sexual assault two years before. The woman’s accusations are laid out in a civil suit updated this week in Maricopa County Superior Court. She first...

Coalition Releases Security Vulnerability Exploit Scoring System 0

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Coalition Releases Security Vulnerability Exploit Scoring System

Coalition ESS uses AI to generate dynamic risk scores to help organizations mitigate their most critical risks faster San Francisco, CA (June 15, 2023) — Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, is pleased to announce the Coalition Exploit Scoring System (Coalition ESS), a unique vulnerability scoring system that helps risk managers mitigate potential cyber threats. Developed by Coalition Security Labs, the company’s research and innovation center, Coalition ESS is a security risk prioritization scoring system that leverages real-time monitoring and dynamic scoring to enable businesses of all sizes to efficiently understand which vulnerabilities to patch first. “In cybersecurity, timing is everything. Thousands of new vulnerabilities are published monthly, and it’s nearly impossible for IT and security teams to quickly understand and address them all. Defenders need a more efficient way to sift through the noise and prioritize which vulnerabilities to remediate,” said Tiago Henriques, Coalition’s Head of Security Research. “With Coalition ESS, they have an early source of truth to evaluate which risks to prioritize mitigating before an incident occurs.” Coalition ESS leverages artificial intelligence and large language modeling to scan the descriptions used within newly released CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and...

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New DOL Fiduciary Rule Coming in August

The Labor Department announced in its just-released regulatory flexibility agenda that a new fiduciary rule would be released in August. Lisa Gomez, assistant secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration, said in May that issuing a new fiduciary rule is a “huge priority” for Labor, noting that one should be released soon. “Things have changed so much in the retirement market and we are trying to acknowledge those changes, reflect how the system works best in this new world, reflecting on challenges there have been to the rule since 2016, and trying to come up with a proposal that will reflect all of that,” Gomez said at the Employee Benefit Research Institute spring policy forum in Washington. According to Labor’s reg flex agenda, the conflict of interest in investment advice rule would amend the regulatory definition of the term fiduciary “to more appropriately define when persons who render investment advice for a fee to employee benefit plans and IRAs are fiduciaries within the meaning of section 3(21) of ERISA and section 4975(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.”

NFP Acquires Rhodes & Williams Limited, Expanding Its Presence in Ontario 0

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NFP Acquires Rhodes & Williams Limited, Expanding Its Presence in Ontario

Acquisition increases NFP’s P&C capabilities and scale across personal risk and commercial line New York, NY (June 8, 2023) – NFP, a leading property & casualty broker, benefits consultant, wealth manager and retirement plan advisor, is announced it has acquired Rhodes & Williams Limited. With the addition of Rhodes & Williams, NFP expands its presence in Ontario and increases its P&C capabilities and scale across personal risk and commercial lines. The acquisition aligns with the company’s strategy of building a unified national platform that provides superior expertise and advice to clients, while reinforcing NFP’s people first culture. The transaction closed on May 24. “We’re excited to welcome the Rhodes & Williams team to NFP,” said John Haas, president, NFP in Canada. “We’ve worked diligently to identify the right partner to expand our presence in Ottawa, and we’ve found it in Rhodes & Williams. Their excellent reputation, relationships and results across the region will accelerate our growth and bring additional value to NFP’s clients in Canada.” Established in 1935, Rhodes & Williams specializes in commercial and personal risk lines P&C. They have grown to be one of the largest independently owned insurance brokerages in Ontario. The executive leadership team, including Trent...

Study Blames Climate Change for Summer Wildfire Rise in California 0

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Study Blames Climate Change for Summer Wildfire Rise in California

Article 0 Comments New You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! A study out this week shows that nearly all of the observed increase in summer wildfires in California over the past half-century is attributable to man-made climate change. An international team of scientists looked at data from record-breaking summer forest fires in California that show a fivefold increase in summer burned area in forests in northern and central California during 1996 to 2021 relative to 1971 to 1995. Higher temperature and increased dryness were already believed to be the leading causes of the wildfire increase, but the extent to which that increase was due to natural variability or anthropogenic climate change was unknown. The scientists developed a climate-driven model of changes in summer wildfires in California and combined it with natural-only and historical climate simulations. “We estimate that from 1971 to 2021, anthropogenic climate change contributed to a +172% increase in (burned area), with a remarkable +320% increase from 1996 to 2021,” the authors write. In the next decades, a further increase in average annual forest burned area is expected in thee range of 3% to 52% relative to the mean over the past two decades, “highlighting the...

Finding the perfect digital fit 0

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Finding the perfect digital fit

Last year, Breathe Life, a North American software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider for life insurers, raised north of $11 million in capital from private-equity investors and lenders. The objective, according to CEO Ian Jeffrey, was to increase the company’s capacity to engage with the large influx of carriers saying they needed help enhancing their online distribution and sales processes. Six months later, the company has officially been announced as a key pillar in the digital and brand transformation strategy of Teachers Life, a Canadian fraternal insurer historically focused on group insurance for education workers that now has plans for  growing in the individual space with innovative solutions for all Canadians. “I consider Teachers Life to be like an 80-something-year-old startup,” said Martha Turner Osborne, chief marketing and sales officer at Teachers Life. “Over the last 5-10 years, we’ve had a very innovative approach to how we distribute our individual products. As a case in point, Teachers Life became the first North American insurer 7 years ago to launch a digitally end-to-end quote and issuance platform for term life.” Because of those types of innovation, Teachers Life was able to transition into a work-from-home arrangement with little to no disruption in service when...

Manulife moves to promote COVID-19 vaccination 0

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Manulife moves to promote COVID-19 vaccination

While the number of Canadians eager to get their COVID-19 vaccine has been rising, many remain are still hesitant to do so. With that in mind, Manulife is taking steps to encourage more people to get protected against the novel coronavirus. Starting this spring, group benefit and individual insurance customers who are enrolled under the Manulife Vitality program will have the option to share proof that they received their COVID-19 vaccination. In exchange, they will be awarded 400 Vitality Points, which will count toward their progress in achieving new status levels and unlocking different rewards within the program. “The pandemic has had a significant impact on people’s health and mental wellbeing,” said Manulife Canada President and CEO Mike Doughty. “We have been standing with our customers in helping them navigate this challenging time.” A behaviour-focused program, Manulife Vitality encourages Canadians to get healthier through the use of rewards. Users who engage in simple activities like eating well and exercising are given Vitality Points; the more engaged a user is, the more points they earn and the more rewards they stand to get. Aside from giving out points under the new COVID-19 vaccine acceptance initiative, Manulife Vitality will be sending prompts...

Gore Mutual Selects FRISS to help fight and prevent fraud 0

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Gore Mutual Selects FRISS to help fight and prevent fraud

Oldest P&C insurer in Canada has selected FRISS as a key component in their major transformation program The two companies are already working together to detect claims with a high risk of fraud and enable a more efficient underwriting process Cambridge, ON (Mar. 23, 2021) – Gore Mutual, Canada’s oldest property and casualty insurer with over $500 million in premiums, announces their selection of the AI-powered FRISS platform as part of the company’s large-scale transformation. FRISS will enable real-time fraud detection and prevention in both underwriting and claims, and will also support the company’s special investigation efforts. Gore Mutual is currently in the midst of an ambitious transformation program that will take the organization from a mid-size, regional carrier to a national-scale insurer underpinned by best-in-class technology and operating models in only a few short years. Partnering with FRISS will allow Gore Mutual to further enhance their advanced anti-fraud capabilities. The real-time FRISS solution provides a unique combination of out-of-the-box risk and fraud indicators with powerful AI techniques such as predictive models, network analysis and text mining. These will enable Gore Mutual to take a firmer stance against insurance fraud while enabling more efficient underwriting and claims services for the...

Guidewire’s Industry-Leading Marketplace Raises Bar on Connecting Insurers with Innovation 0

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Guidewire’s Industry-Leading Marketplace Raises Bar on Connecting Insurers with Innovation

New Guidewire Marketplace introduces key enhancements allowing P&C insurers to easily browse and discover expertly curated app collections and innovative solutions San Mateo, CA (Mar. 22, 2021) – Guidewire Software, Inc., the platform P&C insurers trust to engage, innovate, and grow efficiently, is pleased to announce it has launched its new Guidewire Marketplace. With an all-new design and enhanced functionality, the Guidewire Marketplace now makes it easier for insurers to browse hundreds of apps and discover innovative solutions from leading P&C focused solution providers and insurtechs. “Digital convenience is at the forefront of customer expectations and is critical to creating meaningful differentiation for insurers, and insurtech companies are seeing an increase in the adoption of their solutions as the global economy continues remote operations,” said Karlyn Carnahan, Head of Insurance, Americas, Celent. “In order to address these increased expectations and remain successful in a competitive market, insurers are under pressure to transform their internal operations and embrace emerging technologies to attract today’s customers. The offering of a robust and user-friendly online marketplace, where insurers can easily browse and discover new apps is key to enabling innovation in this space.” “Whether you are an insurtech start-up looking to bring innovative solutions...