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Two-Thirds of CEOs View Sustainability as a Growth Opportunity: Gartner Survey 0

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Two-Thirds of CEOs View Sustainability as a Growth Opportunity: Gartner Survey

Gartner’s annual CMO Spend Survey reveals average budgets have fallen by 15% — to 7.7% of overall company revenue — as CMOs pursue growth in the ‘era of less’ Stamford, CT (July 6, 2024) – Sixty-nine percent of CEOs view sustainability as a leading business growth opportunity in 2024, according to a recent survey of CEOs and senior executives by Gartner, Inc. “As CEOs reset their long-term strategies, environmental sustainability remains one of the leading factors that will frame competition,” said Kristin Moyer, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Despite much corporate greenwash, recent economic conditions could have triggered a reversion to environmental, social and governance (ESG) cynicism and a refocus on profit at all costs. However, the overall commitment of CEOs appears unwavering.” The 2024 Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey was conducted from July to December 2023 among over 400 CEOs and other senior business executives in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East and South Africa, across different industries, revenue and company sizes. “Sustainability consistently remains a top 10 business priority, surpassing even productivity and efficiency this year,” said Moyer. “Leaders and investors know environmentally cavalier corporate behavior is a mid- to long-term risk to...

Deloitte Launches an AI and Data Accelerator Program With AWS, Aimed at Scaling the Next Generation of Artificial Intelligence Capabilities 0

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Deloitte Launches an AI and Data Accelerator Program With AWS, Aimed at Scaling the Next Generation of Artificial Intelligence Capabilities

Funding, combined with a new Innovation Lab, will deepen the organizations’ relationship to help global clients realize the value of emerging technologies like Generative AI by combining data, analytics and AI/ML capabilities with business intelligence New York, NY (July 11, 2024) – Deloitte is pleased to announce the creation of a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help clients around the world scale their Generative Artificial Intelligence, data and analytics and quantum computing capabilities by using AWS services, such as Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Q and Amazon Braket. Together, the two organizations will establish an Innovation Lab, helping clients explore future technologies like artificial general intelligence (AGI), quantum machine learning (ML), and autonomous robotics, and work together to help joint clients innovate and solve industry-specific issues using the capabilities that Generative AI has to offer. In addition, the two organizations will make funding available  to support customers taking successful proofs of concept (POCs) into production. The effort is aligned to Deloitte’s IndustryAdvantage™ initiative, a strategic $2 billion investment to co-innovate with eligible clients and alliances to develop industry-focused solutions. The Innovation Lab will allow Deloitte and AWS engineers to collaborate on building industry-specific solutions across...

Generative AI is set to be adopted by 85% of the software workforce over the next two years 0

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Generative AI is set to be adopted by 85% of the software workforce over the next two years

Three in five organizations see innovative work as the biggest benefit of generative AI use in software engineering; software professionals say generative AI will boost their comms with business teams Paris, France (July 10, 2024) – Generative AI (Gen AI) is expected to play a key role in augmenting the software workforce, assisting in more than 25% of software design, development, and testing work in the next two years. According to the Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report “Turbocharging software with generative AI: How organizations can realize the full potential of generative AI for software engineering,” a large majority (80%) of software professionals believe that, by automating simpler repetitive tasks, Gen AI tools and solutions will significantly transform their function, freeing up time for them to focus on higher-value-adding tasks. More than three quarters of software professionals are confident that generative AI has the potential to boost collaboration with non-technical business teams. While the generative AI adoption for software engineering is still in its early stages, with 9 in 10 organizations yet to scale, the report found that organizations with active Gen AI initiatives are already reaping multiple benefits from its adoption – fostering innovation coming first place (61% of organizations surveyed)...

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S&P 500 Climbs as 90% of Its Shares Push Higher

“We are now entering a new phase in which preemptive cuts (as opposed to reactive cuts driven by bigger rises in unemployment) can de-risk the forward growth outlook, he noted. “Provided the Fed is not moving too slowly to arrest the underlying weakening of the economy, this de-risking of the forward growth outlook favors market breadth and cyclical sectors.” One of the biggest questions about the market rotation of the previous session — which notably improved breadth — is whether or not it is a legitimate trend reversal of the last year and half — or yet another head fake, according to Dan Wantrobski at Janney Montgomery Scott. “We will say at the outset that as far as the technicals are concerned, it cannot be confirmed that yesterday’s action was the beginning of a sustainable longer-term trend,” he noted. “However, from a trading perspective, we do believe we can continue to see further rotation over the near term, as charts still point to the potential for mean reversion.” One of the highlights of this week is the big rebound in smaller firms — which have largely lagged the broader market and especially big tech names this year. Quincy Krosby at...

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People Moves: Leif Assurance Promotes Worden to Sales Manager

Article 0 Comments Robert Worden Leif Assurance, headquartered in St. Louis, promoted Robert Worden to sales manager. Worden will also serve as the commercial lines’ sales manager for Leif’s sister company, Powers Insurance & Risk Management. Worden has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry. He previously worked as the company’s construction risk advisor. Before joining Leif Assurance, he worked as senior vice president of insurance sales at Bremer Bank. 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. The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day. Get the insurance industry’s trusted newsletter

Is instant quoting the future of cyber insurance and broker-carrier relations? 0

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Is instant quoting the future of cyber insurance and broker-carrier relations?

By Aaron Davidson, CEO, Relay Platform — For better or worse, the cyber environment is a place of constant evolution. On one hand, that evolution means tremendous innovation. However, those leaps forward are unfortunately opening the world up to increased threats of cyberattacks. For businesses, this increase in cyber threats has resulted in a corresponding increase in the need for more comprehensive cyber coverage. However, as more attacks make headlines and businesses clamor for increased cyber coverage, premiums fluctuate wildly. In 2021, Aon predicted that cyber insurance rates would climb between 20% to 50% throughout the year. Now in 2023, premiums increases have slowed down, remaining around 20%. Regardless, these premium increases have caused a significant spike in requests from policyholders to shop for alternative quote options. To keep up, brokers will need to explore solutions that will allow them to not only manage but also grow their quote volume capacity and ultimately commissions. Instant Quoting: The Broker’s Ultimate Solution? API-enabled instant quoting is an electronic approach to quoting that reduces a broker’s time spent manually chasing quotes. But are instant quotes the broker’s North Star for thriving in this hardening cyber insurance market? Regarding the benefits of instant quoting...

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Wealth Firm Serving Doctors Lands $200M Investment, Buys RIA

What You Need to Know The investment will help fuel more deals and product development, the firm says. Earned Wealth, a tech-centered financial services firm focused exclusively on medical professionals, announced Thursday a $200 million private equity investment that it will use for product development and strategic acquisitions, starting with Thomas Doll, an RIA serving phyisicians and their practices. Growth equity investors Summit Partners and Silversmith Capital Partners led the capital commitment, with participation from existing investors Juxtapose, Hudson Structured Capital Management and Breyer Capital. The capital will support expansion of the company’s platform and offerings, both through product innovation and acquisitions, Earned Wealth said, noting that it serves more than 3,000 clients, with over $2 billion in assets under management. The RIA said it aims to create the first tech-enabled, integrated personal financial management platform offering wealth, tax, career advisory, insurance and other services designed for the needs of doctors. The firm said its advisors can guide decisions ranging from medical school loan repayment schedules and private practice buy-ins to medical group malpractice insurance coverage and optimal tax strategies during a practice sale.  “From the beginning, we’ve been firmly focused on building the premier go-to destination for doctors who are seeking to optimize...

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Fifth Third Bank to Pay $5M Fine for Illegally Forcing Car Insurance Onto Borrowers

Article 0 Comments Fifth Third Bank agreed this week to pay a $5 million fine for illegally forcing vehicle insurance onto borrowers who had coverage. Fifth Third also agreed to pay a $15 million fine for illegal sales practices. The Cincinnati, Ohio-based bank demanded borrowers pay for coverage they did not need or else face delinquency, additional fees, and repossessions, according to a statement from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The CFPB estimates that Fifth Third’s actions affected 35,000 harmed consumers, including about 1,000 who had their cars repossessed. “While consumers received coverage with no value, Fifth Third Bank profited,” the agency said. The CFPB found that in more than 37,000 instances, Fifth Third illegally charged fees that provided no value at all, and in some cases, a policy was duplicative of coverage borrowers already had on their vehicles. An investigation by the CFPB found that some cases involved the consumer obtaining the requisite coverage within 30 days of lapse and did not have the force-placed policy canceled in its entirety. Borrowers paid over $12.7 million in illegal, worthless fees. When the unnecessary or duplicative coverage was cancelled, borrowers were entitled to a refund of the illegally charged fees....

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People Moves: Society Insurance Names Brown to Board of Directors

Article 0 Comments Society Insurance, headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, elected Sherman Brown of Chicago as a director at its annual meeting of policyholders. Thomas Gross retired from Society’s board of directors after serving for 27 years. Brown is executive vice president of business services at the National Restaurant Association. He oversees business strategy, marketing, sales and daily operations for the company’s products and services, including the ServSafe program. 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. The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day. Get the insurance industry’s trusted newsletter

Markel Canada Unveils Official Markel Play Insurance Product & Services 0

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Markel Canada Unveils Official Markel Play Insurance Product & Services

Toronto, ON (July 9, 2024) – Markel Canada, a division of London-based casualty insurer Markel International and a subsidiary of Markel Group, is excited to announce the official launch of Markel Play, a comprehensive insurance product tailored for the sports, fitness, and recreation sectors. Building on decades of specialty insurance experience and deep expertise in sport, this bespoke insurance solution represents a significant leap forward in client-centricity and innovation. Markel has a longstanding history of providing specialized insurance solutions for sport and recreational organizations. Markel Play offers comprehensive protection for sports organizations and participants, including general liability, abuse liability, property, business interruption, instructor’s errors and omissions and participant accident insurance. To complete its robust insurance offering, Markel Canada has partnered with Sport Law and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. These partnerships have provided Markel Canada with in-depth knowledge of the challenges and risks faced by both amateur sport organizations and athletes, allowing the company to tailor appropriate policies, plans and protection for them. They also allow Markel to provide additional support for policyholders, including access to the Sport Law Safe Sport Policy Suite, Safe Sport policy implementation, waiver review and recommendations, up to two hours of bespoke risk management support, and...