Articles by Mark Hollmer

Hollmer is a former Carrier Management editor and writer and veteran industry journalist based in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Business Interruption Cyber Risks Demand More Insurer Attention as 5G Dawns

Business interruption cyber risks demand more attention from insurers as globalization continues to worsen their impact, a panel of experts argued recently. BI coverage has drawn heightened attention in recent months due to the coronavirus pandemic and its ongoing disruption …

Bold Penguin Acquires RiskGenius in Commercial Insurance Technology Deal

Insurance technology firm Bold Penguin has acquired RiskGenius in a deal that the two commercial lines insurtechs said will help grow their reach more than they have been able to thus far on their own, Carrier Management reported. The main …

Next Insurance Attracts $250M in New Financing; Its $631M to Date Beats Lemonade

Next Insurance secured another $250 million in financing designed to fuel continued national expansion of its digital small business insurance offerings. CapitalG, Alphabet/Google’s independent growth fund, led the Series D round. But existing investor Munich Re Group also participated in …

InsureTech Connect Delays Virtual Conference Until October for Networking Signups

Four days before it was scheduled to go live, organizers of the popular annual insurance and technology conference, InsureTech Connect, announced they are postponing the now virtual 2020 conference by one month, ITC will now run from Oct. 19- Oct. …

ACORD’s Innovation Tools Experiencing Soaring Reinsurance Demand

ACORD, the standard setting body for the global insurance industry, is experiencing a massive jump in global reinsurance and other industry interest in its digital products and services, CEO Bill Pieroni said. The increase comes as reinsurers and carriers, already …

Investors Back Startups for Commercial Auto, Climate Risk, High Risk Homes

An insurtech managing general agency focused on commercial auto insurance has raised $16 million in new Series A financing, a climate-risk related platform has $4.2 million in new seed financing, and a home insurance reciprocal and MGA focused on catastrophe-prone …

Lemonade Cites Progress Despite Loss in Its First Public Earnings Report

Lemonade, an insurtech selling home, renters and now pet insurance, lost money in its 2020 second quarter, according to its first earnings disclosure as a public company. That’s not a surprise, as the strategy for the startup insurer that was …

Root Insurance Hopes Others Join Its Vow to End Use of Credit Scoring

Root Insurance pledged to eliminate the use of credit scoring from its car insurance pricing model by 2025, a move the insurtech said will help remove bias and discrimination from the process. “Eliminating credit scores is a major and necessary …

Investors Back Startups for Commercial Auto, Climate Risk, High Risk Homes

An insurtech managing general agency focused on commercial auto insurance has raised $16 million in new Series A financing, a climate-risk related platform has $4.2 million in new seed financing, and a home insurance reciprocal and MGA focused on catastrophe-prone …

CNA Reports Q2 Profit Despite COVID-19, Weather, Civil Unrest Losses

CNA Financial Corp. saw its 2020 second quarter net income sliced almost by half compared to the previous year due to “considerable catastrophe losses” from COVID-19, civil unrest and weather-related events. The Chicago-based commercial property/casualty insurer booked $151 million in …