Monthly Archives: <span>October 2013</span>

Bolt Solutions Acquires Online Aggregator Superior Access (SAIS)

Bolt Solutions Inc., which provides property/casualty insurance online distribution and comparative rating platforms, has acquired Austin, Texas based Superior Access Insurance Services Inc. (SAIS), which it says is the industry’s largest online insurance aggregator. Founded in 1996 by independent agents, …

Buffett Looking For Acquisitions as Berkshire’s $40B Cash Pile Deemed ‘Too Much’

Warren Buffett, who aims to have $20 billion in cash at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc., isn’t investing fast enough to keep money from piling up. Berkshire will post a $4.3 billion third-quarter profit, according to an estimate from Barclays Plc, …

Wall Street Commuter Ferry Operator Settles Crash Claims

The owner of SeaStreak Wall Street, a commuter ferry that crashed in Manhattan’s financial district on Jan. 9, has settled more than 45 personal-injury claims for almost $1 million, according to a lawyer for the company. SeaStreak settled 40 to …

Safe, Happy Halloween From ‘World’s Leading Authority on Poisoned Candy’

I have a second, unpaid job. It’s seasonal. Each year during the last two weeks of October, I field a lot of calls from reporters. You see, I’m the world’s leading authority on poisoned Halloween candy. I acquired this distinction …

Aon Benfield’s Impact Forecasting Launches Riot Modeling Tool for Indonesia

Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, announced the launch of “its first tool to understand the financial impact of riots by developing an analysis of the threat within Indonesia.” The bulletin explained that the …

XL Group Posts $135.6 Million Q3 Net Income

The XL Group announced net income and operating net income of $135.6 million and $154.6 million, respectively, compared to net income and operating net income of $171.9 million and $188.0 million, respectively, in Q3 2012. The decrease was “primarily due …

Hyperion Insurance Head David Howden on U.S. Expansion by MGA DUAL

David Howden, the chief executive of the London-based Hyperion Insurance Group, founded the company in 1994, “as a business to take on wholesale products in the international market,” he explained in a telephone interview with the IJ. Howden, however, had …

Zurich Insurance Says ‘Confident’ on Profitability Measure

Zurich Insurance Group AG, Switzerland’s biggest insurer [3rd largest in Europe], said it is still “confident” its non-life unit can improve a profitability target with cost cutting after it announced in August it may miss the goal relative to peers. …

Swiss Re Sees Emerging Market Construction Boosting Premiums

Swiss Re Ltd., the world’s second-biggest reinsurer, estimates $43 trillion in infrastructure investments related to urbanization in emerging markets through 2030 may translate into $68 billion in premiums for insurance policies that cover construction risks. Rising income and asset ownership …

Rusbuldt on McKinsey 4: Trusted Choice, CAP as Part of Agents’ Internet Strategy

Bob Rusbuldt, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America – the Big “I”- takes issue with a McKinsey report that claims local independent agents will soon be extinct. In this fourth installment from an interview …