Friday, July 27, 2012

Futures Industry Head Seeks Study of Insurance Fund

The chairman of a futures industry trade group said on Thursday that serious consideration should be given to the creation of an insurance fund to protect futures customers, after two major scandals shook confidence in the market.
Michael Dawley, chairman of the Futures Industry Association and a Goldman Sachs managing director, said an organization like the Institute for Financial Markets should evaluate the viability of such a fund.Read more..
(Ref: Insurance Journal, July 27, 2012)


Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Insurance is Key as Investment Frontiers Open,..

Political risk insurance against conflict or breach of contract has become a key factor for investors seeking higher returns in developing markets in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Indeed, the euro zone economic crisis and low returns in other advanced economies are forcing investors to look for more lucrative places to park their money.“We are meeting investors that are finding their own markets quite constrained and are looking for new places to maintain their business activity at a higher level,” said Michel Wormser, chief operating officer of the World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).  
(Ref: Insurance Journal, July 25, 2012)

Friday, July 20, 2012

More hot, dry weather for U.S - farmers to claim insurance..

Midday weather updates on Wednesday indicate more hot, dry weather for the U.S. Midwest, where corn and soybean crops are rapidly deteriorating amid the harshest drought in more than half a century.
“It’s a little wetter for next week in the west and southwest but even if the rains fall they would only be 0.50 inch or less so not much relief and confidence is low in that forecast,” said Don Keeney, a meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.
Temperatures in the 90s to low 100s degrees Fahrenheit will blanket Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas, Andy Karst, World Weather Inc meteorologist, predicted. That will put even more stress on crops already deteriorating rapidly from the worst drought in 56 years. Read more...
(Ref: Insurance Journal, July 19, 2012)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

ACE Launches New Builders’ Risk Product..

ACE USA has developed the ACE Construction Risk coverage form for general contractors, developers and owners with ongoing construction needs. It can also be tailored to meet project specific requirements, addressing customers’ potential financial losses stemming from four-wall building projects as well as engineering-related civil construction, such as bridges, tunnels, pipelines, water treatment facilities and dams. Read more...
(Ref: Insurance Journal, July 18, 2012)

Friday, July 13, 2012

House Panel Balks at Senate Crop Insurance Reforms..

The U.S. House Agriculture Committee challenged two crop insurance reforms approved by the Senate, creating another farm-bill dispute with time running out to enact the new law. Besides disagreeing on crop insurance, the House would increase crop price supports by up to 40 percent while the Senate would end the subsidies. And the House would cut four times as much money as the Senate from food stamps for the poor. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal, July 12, 2012)

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

New Crash Avoidance Features Reduce Claims..

Advanced crash avoidance technologies include some clear success stories when it comes to preventing crashes, insurance claim analyses by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI) show.
Forward collision avoidance systems, particularly those that can brake autonomously, along with adaptive headlights, which shift direction as the driver steers, show the biggest crash reductions. Lane departure warning appears to hurt, rather than help, though it’s not clear why, and other systems, such as blind spot detection and park assist, aren’t showing clear effects on crash patterns yet.
“As more automakers offer advanced technologies on their vehicles, insurance data provide an early glimpse of how these features perform in the real world,” says Matt Moore, vice president of HLDI, an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). Read more...
 (Ref: Insurance Journal, July 10, 2012)