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Article 0 Comments Britain’s government is considering providing financial support for carmaker Jaguar Land Rover’s suppliers after a shutdown caused by a cyberattack was extended until October, a government source said on Thursday. The luxury carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors has three factories in Britain that together produce about 1,000 cars per day. The company is losing at least 50 million pounds ($68 million) a week, according to the BBC, with many of its 33,000 staff told to stay at home. A parliamentary committee said some small suppliers had told them they had, at most, one week left before they ran out of cash. Read more: Jaguar Land Rover Cyberattack Fallout Spreads to Suppliers JLR said in a statement that as part of a “controlled, phased restart of our operations” some of its systems were back online and it was working to clear a backlog of payments to suppliers as quickly as possible. It did not comment on the BBC figures. Government Says it Has Two Priorities Secretary of State for Business and Trade Peter Kyle and Minister for Industry Chris McDonald visited JLR on Tuesday and talked to the CEO about how the company can work towards restarting...
Article 0 Comments Poland’s largest insurer PZU has appointed Bogdan Benczak as its new chief executive, filling a role that had been led by an acting CEO since the dismissal of his predecessor in August. The appointment, effective September 25, is conditional on Benczak receiving approval from the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). Until then, he will serve as acting CEO, the state-run company said late on Wednesday. Bogdan Benczak Benczak succeeds Tomasz Tarkowski, who had been serving as acting CEO since Andrzej Klesyk left the role in August. At the time, Poland’s Ministry of State Assets said the change was needed to align management with ownership objectives and an ambitious growth strategy. The leadership change comes as the Polish government plans to merge PZU with the country’s second-biggest lender by assets, Pekao, in a deal that would create a financial group with a market value of over 100 billion zlotys ($27.30 billion). Benczak, a lawyer, previously worked at PZU from 2008 to 2015, including as head of its Lithuanian operations, before moving to positions at insurers ERGO and Gjensidige. He returned to the PZU Group in February 2025. (Reporting by Marta Maciag; editing by Anna Pruchnicka) (For International People...
/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.
By Stephen Applebaum and Alan Demers — As we live in an era of technological boom, it is increasingly difficult to separate hype from reality. With so many breakthroughs in medicine, space exploration and even autonomous driving, it is not advisable to bet against even the boldest of efforts. So, perhaps humans will indeed live on Mars one day. In recent times, the nay-saying against hype is generally about when it will happen, and less about if it will happen. The P&C insurance space has seen its share of hyped concepts, including blockchain and virtual reality, but none matched the recent exuberance for AI – and for good reason. Insurance practices are all about information gathering and validation, whether for underwriting, claims or risk management. Actuarial mathematical sciences are applied for trending and pricing. And a host of other internal functions and external processes are just a few ways to describe insurance at-a-glance. All of which may benefit from AI tools and agents near-term and into the future. Insurance talent shortages, high costs of insurance for consumers and businesses, changing risks, demand for loss prediction and prevention are just some of the bigger challenges in which AI may come to...
Article 0 Comments A federal appeals court says a Vermont Christian school can participate in the state’s sports league, overturning a previous ruling that upheld a ban on the school after it forfeited a high school girls basketball game against a team with a transgender athlete. In a Sept. 9 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit granted Mid Vermont Christian School a preliminary injunction to rejoin the Vermont Principals’ Association — also known as the state’s executive council that governs school sports — as the legal battle continues in court. “We conclude that plaintiffs are likely to succeed in showing that the VPA’s expulsion of Mid Vermont was not neutral because it displayed hostility toward the school’s religious beliefs,” the appeals court wrote in their decision. In 2023, the Quechee-based private school forfeited a game because officials believed the opposing teams’ transgender player jeopardized “the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.” In response, the VPA ruled that the school had violated the council’s policies on race, gender and disability awareness, and therefore was ineligible to participate in all state-sponsored games and other events including debate tournaments and science fairs. Alliance Defending Freedom,...
/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.
Article 0 Comments Hong Kong is facing a night of destructive winds and drenching rain as Super Typhoon Ragasa tracks toward the financial hub, potentially becoming the most damaging storm since Mangkhut in 2018. The typhoon is packing top sustained winds of 220 kilometers (137 miles) per hour, according to the Hong Kong Observatory, which is equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale. The system was 340 kilometers southeast of the city as of 4 p.m. local time. Ragasa has caused major flight disruptions, and suspension of school classes and business activities across southern China after skirting northern Philippines on Monday. The weather bureau has issued its third-highest storm warning, and is assessing the need to raise it further, potentially to the highest level. The current storm warning level in place is dubbed signal No. 8, while the most severe alert, known locally as a T10, means hurricane-force winds are present or expected. The weather will be “persistently adverse” on Wednesday, with gale- to storm-force winds prevailing, the Hong Kong Observatory said. Ragasa has forced some conferences and forums scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday online, including a gathering on fixed income and currencies, while several delegates...
/ ThinkAdvisor provides financial advisors, registered investment advisors and wealth managers with comprehensive coverage of the products, services and information they need to guide their clients in making critical wealth, health and life decisions.
Toronto, ON (Sept. 29, 2022) – Foresters Financial™ is proud to introduce Advantage Max[1] to the Canadian market, a powerful new participating whole life insurance product designed to help maximize protection with strong cash value growth. With a compelling 6.25% dividend scale interest rate,[2] Advantage Max gives Canadians a robust solution for long-term financial security, backed by Foresters reliable dividend-paying history. Structured for long-term value, it combines permanent life insurance with tax-deferred cash value accumulation accessible through flexible certificate loans. “Advantage Max is more than just a new product, it reflects Foresters unwavering commitment to helping Canadians protect what matters most while planning for the future,” said Andrea Frossard, Chief Commercial Officer at Foresters Financial. “We designed it with real families in mind, those who are thinking not only about protecting what they’ve built, but also about creating a lasting impact for generations to come. It’s a solution rooted in value, trust and long-term growth and we’re incredibly proud to bring it to market at a time when certainty and purpose matter more than ever.” Key highlights of Advantage Max: Up to $20 million in coverage, with no initial paramedical or lab work ordering required for coverage up to $1...
