September 10, 2020
Century 21 Stores, an iconic New York off-price department store chain, filed for bankruptcy with plans to shut down, becoming the latest victim of the retail industry carnage that’s accelerated during the pandemic. The retailer will hold going out of …
September 9, 2020
Look around the corner, what do you see? Answering that question is the most important part of my job as an author, speaker, advisor and VC investor. It’s a role that requires a hint of arrogance, since peering around the …
August 26, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to reduce global macroeconomic resilience by about 20% in 2020 from 2019 levels as stimulus packages deplete countries’ fiscal and monetary buffers around the world. At the same time, the combined global protection gap for …
August 20, 2020
Hong Kong-based insurer AIA Group Ltd. on Thursday reported a 37% fall in new business for the first half of the year, as the COVID-19 pandemic dented sales of its insurance products in its main markets of Hong Kong and …
August 19, 2020
The construction industry may emerge from the pandemic strong or relatively unscathed compared to other segments of the economy. But it also faces its share of challenges in managing exposures, delays, added costs and shutdowns in this COVID-19 world. Construction …
August 17, 2020
As bad as the coronavirus pandemic has been for many insurance lines, personal automobile profits have soared thanks to reduced driving, as quarantines and shelter-at-home restrictions took hold across the United States earlier in 2020, Fitch Ratings said. “Commercial [insurance/reinsurance] …
August 17, 2020
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the global insurance industry rose in the first half of 2020 with 201 completed deals worldwide, up from 197 in the second half of 2019, according to Clyde & Co’s “Insurance Growth Report” mid-year update. …
August 13, 2020
Like all pandemics, COVID-19 is not an accidental or random event, Frank Snowden argues in his magisterial history “Epidemics and society: from the Black Death to the present.” “Epidemics afflict societies through the specific vulnerabilities people have created through their …
August 12, 2020
Australian authorities detained at least two cargo ships for alleged labor violations related to demands from seafarers to be sent home, some of whom have spent more than a year at sea. The ships, which are or will be carrying …
August 11, 2020
Companies risk losing more than 40% of annual profit once a decade in a world threatened by trade wars, cyber attacks, pandemics and climate change, according to McKinsey & Co., which estimates the COVID-19 crisis could top $5 trillion in …