August 21, 2008
Agent groups praised Liberty Mutual for fighting the battle in court and winning. In a twist to a scandal that has rocked the insurance industry in the past several years, a New York appeals court has ruled that contingent commissions …
August 21, 2008
Stock Prices: The soft market continues to have an effect on insurers’ stock prices. With the inability of insurers to grow in the current market, commercial insurers’ stocks are still falling, down 18 percent year-to-date. M&A Activity: On June 30, …
August 21, 2008
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) reported from its Paris office that its “ICC/Ifo global climate index in July fell for the fourth consecutive quarter in a row since sentiment became downbeat last summer, recording its lowest level since 2001. …
August 20, 2008
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Bermuda-based insurer International General Insurance Co. Ltd. (IGI) to ‘BBB+’ from ‘BBB’ and assigned them a stable outlook. S&P said the upgrade reflects …
August 19, 2008
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Catlin Speciality Insurance Co. (CSCI) and Catlin Insurance Co. Inc. (CICI) (together Catlin US). The two companies “are expected to represent the …
August 18, 2008
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a-” of SALAMA Islamic Arab Insurance Company (P.S.C.), which is based in the United Arab Emirates. The outlook for both ratings …
August 14, 2008
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that its ratings and outlooks on ING Groep N.V. (currently ‘AA-‘ – Stable – ‘A-1+’) and related entities are unchanged following the publication of the Group’s second quarter results, which showed a 25 percent …
August 14, 2008
Fitch Ratings has affirmed the insurer financial strength (IFS) rating of Exporters Insurance Company Ltd., a Bermuda-domiciled group captive insurance subsidiary of EIC Corporation Ltd. that focuses on writing credit and political risk insurance at ‘A-‘. Fitch also affirmed the …
August 14, 2008
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the U.S. commercial lines property/casualty insurance sector to negative from stable. Standard & Poor’s credit analyst John Iten explained that “our decision to revise the sector outlook reflects our concern over …
August 13, 2008
Zurich Financial Services Group reported $2.7 billion in net income for the first six months of 2008, a slight increase over the same period last year, and a 19.5 percent return on equity. Other highlights in the earnings report for …