Articles by Andrea Wells

Microbrewers Make Their Mark The craft beer industry has been chipping away at the U.S. domestic beer market throughout the past decade. And the pace of growth in this specialty niche is not expected to stop anytime soon. By 2020, …

The key to long-term survival for many businesses is having a woman in charge. That’s according to Cornell University researchers who say that businesses survive longer under female ownership “We find that female-owned businesses consistently out-survive male-owned businesses in many …

More than half of all insurance companies responding to a recent survey say they plan to increase staff in 2014. Although hiring for the most-in-demand positions may prove difficult. That’s according to the latest Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study …

This issue of Insurance Journal brings you the 8th Annual Agency Salary Survey results. Nearly 2,000 agency owners, producers and agency staff responded to this year’s exclusive survey, all wanting to know who’s worth what in today’s independent agency system. …

Exclusive Survey Shows Compensation Up, Benefits Up With a Cost For the second year in a row, salaries and total compensation rose in independent insurance agencies across the nation. More agencies are offering health insurance and benefits offerings seem to …

The world is a risky place for business travelers but it might be a little safer when it comes to terrorism and political violence risk at least in some countries. According to the recently released Aon Risk Solutions 2014 Terrorism …

Much has changed in the insurance industry throughout the past 20 years. What hasn’t changed so much is the type of claim to strike the private company and nonprofit directors and officers (D&O) sector. What has changed is the coverage …

Tie-In Sales. The odd evolution of personal lines insurance has now come full circle in many states. Years ago insurance companies limited agents to only writing auto if the agency also placed the insured’s homeowners with them within a reasonable …

The chronic gap between the incomes of the richest and poorest citizens is seen as the risk that is most likely to cause serious damage globally in the coming decade. That’s according to more than 700 global experts contributing to …

In the days of ole, insurance professionals knew at a glance the type of business that best fit into the excess and surplus lines market. Today, the definition of a traditional E&S account has become somewhat blurred, according to one …