Hollmer is a former Carrier Management editor and writer and veteran industry journalist based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
September 23, 2014
Two insurance rating entities see slowing rate increases for the surplus lines segment in the coming months as competition grows. Moody’s Investors Service said that the U.S. excess and surplus lines sector is experiencing growth and strong profitability, thanks to …
September 17, 2014
German insurance giant Allianz said it will absorb the commercial lines business of its U.S. subsidiary Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. into one of its own global divisions. Meanwhile, after days of declining to comment, Allianz has acknowledged it is considering …
September 9, 2014
Commercial insurance prices continued to moderate in the 2014 second quarter. This time, they inched up 3 percent in aggregate, versus a 4 percent increase in the first three months of this year, a new Towers Watson survey concluded. Thus …
August 18, 2014
An investment group from China will buy a big stake in in Ironshore Inc., a billion-dollar insurance holding company led by former AIG executives that filed plans for a $100 million IPO in June. Fosun International Ltd. has agreed to …
August 14, 2014
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.’s property/casualty arm performed solidly in the 2014 second quarter, despite the Polar Vortex and major storm activity that hampered earnings over the first six months of the year. The Ohio-based privately-held mutual insurer booked more than …
June 4, 2014
Environmental groups said executives of coal, oil, gas and other “fossil fuel” companies could be held liable and risk lawsuits if they support groups that deny climate change and resist policies to fight it. In the current legal environment, however, …
May 22, 2014
The chairman of crucial U.S. House subcommittee said a bipartisan bill of its own that will renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, will be unveiled in June. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, disclosed as much on May 20, in …
May 15, 2014
Tower Group International has fired PricewaterhouseCoopers as its accounting firm, six months after announcing it would restate previously filed financial statements for 2011 and 2012 due to “inadvertent mistakes.” The move comes in the wake of Tower’s disclosure late last …
April 28, 2014
For W.R. Berkley Corp., sobering results from its global reinsurance division were a blemish on an otherwise successful 2014 first quarter, during which the Greenwich, Conn.-based company enjoyed overall gains in net income, gross premiums written and returns on equity. …
April 15, 2014
Insurance industry lobbying groups are hopeful that the bipartisan legislation introduced in the Senate on April 10 to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, will have a better chance for passage than some of the earlier House attempts. …