Articles by Ben Berkowitz and Roy Strom

Firms Shift Cybersecurity Responsibility to Frontline Employees

If your company gets hacked, it may very well be your fault, and if your bank account gets broken into by digital thieves, you might be to blame too. The question, though, is whether you’ll ever actually be punished for …

New Zealand Quakes Drive Insurance Market Changes

A string of earthquakes in New Zealand is sending tremors through the global insurance market with some companies delaying underwriting policies and others turning to capital markets to offset the risk of pile-on damage and costly claims. “Although there has …

Hacking Blitz Drives Cyberinsurance Demand

The recent string of sensational hacker attacks is driving companies to seek “cyberinsurance” worth hundreds of millions of dollars, even though many policies can still leave them exposed to claims. Companies are having to enhance not just their information technology …

Travelers to Post Q2 Loss, Limit Share Buybacks Due to Storm Losses

Travelers Companies Inc. is slowing down its share buybacks and will post a second-quarter operating loss because of more than $1 billion in catastrophe losses, the property insurer said Friday. The company also warned of worst-case scenario industry losses on …

AIG, U.S. Treasury to Sell Nearly $9 Billion in Stock

American International Group and the U.S. Treasury said Wednesday they will sell just under $9 billion in AIG stock, suggesting the government’s exit from its crisis-era investment will be more difficult than originally thought. The $9 billion figure is less …

AIG Shares Fall Further, Put Pressure on Treasury

Later this month investors will get a chance to buy into the revived American International Group, but dreams of a blockbuster sale have faded with the steady decline in AIG’s shares. The stakes are high for the U.S. Treasury, which …

Is Buffett’s Teflon Finally Wearing Off? Annual Meeting Coming Up

Aside from maybe the odd cheeseburger stain on his tie, nothing much sticks to Warren Buffett. Whether his underlings are convicted of helping insurance companies inflate results or a major company he helps oversee is sanctioned for accounting shenanigans, his …

Reinsurance Rates Up, But Few Agree How Much

Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the future. Going into 2011, brokers and analysts estimated it …

Insurer Sues Celebrity Heiress Paris Hilton Over Missing Jewels

Paris Hilton is holding $60,000 of jewelry that does not belong to her and should give it back, a new lawsuit contends. A German insurer, Allianz SE, has sued the celebrity socialite and heiress to the Hilton Hotels fortune, saying …

Reinsurance Rates Rising, But Few Agree Where, How Much

Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the future. Going into 2011, brokers and analysts estimated it …