Best's Review

'Cat' Fancier

Worth Repeating

Risks of Romance

According to Windy Catino and Mary Pat Cormier, partners, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP, the legal entanglements of office romance can get tricky for employers and their insurers. Catino and Cormier say there are a few ways employers and insurers can mitigate the risks: 1. Understand that any scenario in which a supervisor is engaged in an intimate relationship with a subordinate creates potential sexual harassment liability for the company. 2. Employers should have a written anti-har...

Asia It Budgets Are Up in 2009

Meetings

Aig's Lead Attorney: Expect an Appeal

Lloyd's Construction Consortium Awaits Economic Stimulus Boom

Starr Underwriting Agents Ltd's parent, CV Starr & Co, has joined with Talbot Underwriting Ltd and QBE Insurance Group to create the Starr Construction Consortium. The consortium, said Paul J. Smith, London-based global construction manager, Starr Underwriting, involves Lloyd's syndicates that are managed by the three partners. US legislation signed into law in February provides for a stimulus package of $787 billion. Employment, Smith said, will be boosted on construction sites and among...

World Briefs

Clarification

Senate Bill Would Reverse Sec's Decision to Regulate Annuities

A new US Senate bill adds to the backlash against the US Securities and Exchange Commission's December decision to reclassify indexed annuities as securities, not insurance products. The legislation would secure the place of indexed annuities and indexed insurance policies under existing state regulatory systems. The bill, S. 1389, sponsored by Sen Ben Nelson, a former director of the Nebraska Department of Insurance, is a companion to an existing House bill, H.R. 2733, sponsored by Rep Grego...

Career Wise

A question on how does the soft P/C market impact hiring decisions is answered. The state of the insurance marketplace plays a large role in companies' hiring decisions. While the property/casualty industry is currently in a soft market, insurers should consider all stages of the cycle when developing their human capital strategies. When the industry begins to emerge from a soft market, there is increased competition for marketing and underwriting professionals. While there is no consensus th...

People in Insurance

Apiw Insurance Woman of Year: Industry Needs to Attract Talent

Top 5 Tips On Branding

Aon Does Shirts for 'Man U'

Dental Plan Offers Flexibility Options

No-Lapse Pledge On Axa's Ul Line

Specialty Insurer Uses Social Media

Acadia Product for Self-Storage

Snapshot

Love, Labor, Losses

A decade ago, two female prison guards took a unique tack in their lawsuit against the California Department of Corrections. The pair claimed they were victims of sexual harassment under state law because of favorable treatment given to several other women at the facility, who were having affairs with a warden. Six years passed before the California Supreme Court reversed the case's earlier dismissal at the trial court level. The decision served as a benchmark in employment discrimination law...

Sea Change

When the world's top reinsurers and their clients gather for renewal discussions at Les Rendez-Vous de Septembre in Monte Carlo this year, they will be anxiously looking for evidence of stabilizing financial markets, while trying to read a mix of macro-economic conditions that could have profound underwriting implications. One key factor influencing negotiations for reinsurance renewals this year is definitely the supply and demand for insurance and reinsurance, said Thorsten Jeworrek, a memb...

Agency Valuation and Finance: What's My Agency Worth?

moderator In a roundtable discussion, several executives shared their views on the current climate for insurance agency mergers and acquisitions, including trends in pricing, terms and financing, and how agency principals can better position themselves. Optis Partners principal Tim Cunningham would say the market these days is a challenge at best. Unless a firm for some reason has a compelling reason to have to sell, he would not say that 2009 is a good time to go into the market. Philo Smith & Co ...

Caught On Video

Pervasive government surveillance of the kind portrayed in George Orwell's classic novel, 1984, has not become reality. Improved technology and lower costs are driving the surveillance surge. So far, little is settled in the area of camera surveillance, liability and the law, and guidelines and safe harbors are hard to find, said Sean Ahrens, security consultant with more than 16 years of experience in the field. Ahrens identified three liability issues that always deserve attention: when sur...

The Green Horizon

The renewable energy market is poised for significant growth in the coming decades, fueled by the federal stimulus package, state mandates and goals for renewable standards. Specifically, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has earmarked $16.8 billion for renewable energy and energy efficiency, along with $6 billion in US Department of Energy loan guarantees. For property/casualty insurers and producers, the renewable energy market presents an attractive opportunity, but it als...

Digital Exposure

As more companies push business online with the use of blogs, the costly prospect of defending copyright infringement claims and defamation actions is prompting some to adjust coverage. Nontraditional publishers who rely on commercial general liability may be more exposed to unprotected liabilities than they realize when it comes to online content, according to one broker. Blogs are typically short, written passages posted to the Internet that can include photos, videos or links to other arti...

Finding the Sunny Side in a Recession

Finding the silver lining is a challenge for many insurance agencies whose clients are going out of business or experiencing declining sales. Prospecting is no less frustrating because most businesses are only looking for cheaper insurance, not better. In this environment, it is difficult to motivate producers to go after new business when they need to retain what they have. Employee productivity can decline because service workers fear for their jobs or are worried about their personal finan...

Special-Needs Kids Need Special Plans

To make financial manageable, here is a five-step process that advisers can use to help clients make the critical decisions they face: 1. Identify the team. 2. Calculate financial needs. 3. Create a strategy. 4. Write a letter of intent. 5. Review your strategy regularly. This simple process gives families a place to start making decisions today that can help ensure the child's security for tomorrow.

Wild Things

As an excess and surplus lines agent who specializes in unusual risks, including exotic animals, Mitchel Kalmanson knows that wild animals can never really be tamed. These animals are not pets. They can be trained, but not tamed, said Kalmanson, the owner of the Lester Kalmanson Agency in Maitland, FL. The entire property is fenced and gated. The compounds where the big cats are kept have double fences, and the cats have areas about twice as large as required in which to romp. Kalmanson also ...

Benefit Performance

Earlier this year, Prudential Annuities and Transamerica Life both introduced enhancements to their guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits on variable annuities. But when the markets headed sharply, downhill last fall, companies suddenly had to re-assess their offers. Transamerica announced its enhancements in May, and Prudential's enhancements came in late February, just before the stock indexes' March 9 low. Prudential's move is evidence of the confidence it feels in the fundamental design...