Hurricane Season News

P/C Industry Must Strengthen Underwriting to Counter Weak Investments

The most recent reports of property/casualty insurers indicate a return to profits, thanks in large measure to a quiet hurricane season. But behind the rosy reports is a thorny problem — lower investment income. According to Dr. Robert Hartwig, president …

Mississippi-Based Hurricane Hunters Also Patrol Winter Skies

On a bitterly cold morning in Anchorage, Alaska, the Hurricane Hunters lift off to scout a weather track that may bring snow to the Northeast or flooding rains in California in the next five days. The winter mission of the …

Uneven Expectations

Economy to Recover in Some States Before Others The most recent reports of property/casualty insurers indicate a return to profits, thanks in large measure to a quiet hurricane season. But behind the rosy reports is a thorny problem — that …

Lloyd’s Analyzes New and Changing Risks

The start of a new decade is always a time to take stock in what the past has brought, and what the future may bring. As part of its “360 Risk Insight” series, Lloyd’s of London queried “a cross section …

RMS Forecasts Increased Growth for Insurance Linked Securities in 2010

A bulletin from Risk Management Solutions notes that the fourth quarter of 2009 was the “most active… ever for catastrophe bond issuance, reaching almost $1.1 billion in total volume, eclipsing the previous best fourth quarter by over 75 percent.” RMS …

Hurricane Forecasters Promise Earlier Warnings

The National Hurricane Center said this week it will begin issuing storm watches and warnings about half a day sooner in the biggest change to its warning system in decades. When a storm is approaching land, forecasters will now send …

Munich Re Analyzes 2009 Nat Cats; A Lot, But Few Big Ones

A report from Munich Re confirms that losses from natural catastrophes “were far lower in 2009 than in 2008 due to the absence on the whole of major catastrophes and a very benign North Atlantic hurricane season.” However, the reinsurer …

Swiss Re Forecasts Increasing Demand for Natural Catastrophe Coverage

Swiss Re has concluded that, despite the unusually quiet 2009 hurricane season, “overall natural catastrophe losses have increased significantly over time and are expected to grow further. “The premium for our book of natural catastrophe covers reached $1.8 billion. Due …

Forecasters Expect More Active Atlantic Hurricane Season Next Year

Colorado State University researchers are predicting a more active Atlantic hurricane season next year, with six to eight hurricanes, at least three of them major. Philip Klotzbach and William Gray predict 11 to 16 named storms in their latest forecast. …

S&P: Europe’s Insurers Weather Storm, But ‘Resilience Will Be Tested’

Europe’s insurance sector has “fared well relative to banks over the past two years,” a new report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services notes. As an example, the study – “European Insurers Withstand Global Economic Conditions, But Resilience Will Likely …