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Downward pressure was effectively mitigated by the excess capital built up from several consecutive years of surplus growth prior to 2008, notes research.

As the health care debate drags on, time constraints may end up dashing efforts for broad-based reform.

Rising global temperatures will put the heat on insurance as flood costs rise, says new research from the Association of British Insurers.

A benefit-based approach to a data warehouse project can be boiled down to a list of bullet points.

Although not currently negotiating with firms that took bailout money, Kenneth Feinberg admitted that “egregious” situations may force the feds to recoup payments.

In its fourth annual program, INN recognizes Farmers Insurance for its enterprisewide “IdeaPoint” innovation.

Trillion-dollar losses projected if a medium-sized comet or asteroid strikes Manhattan.

While insurers wait and see what Washington does regarding the proposal to create a systemic risk regulator, experts say firms need greater transparency into decision-making process and an enterprisewide view of their risk.

Arbella Insurance Group upgraded, MassMutual downgraded and Pacific Life’s mortgage-backed securities ratings affirmed. Find out other actions from A.M. Best, Fitch and Moody’s.

A new report says substantial capital outlay will be necessary to fund health care co-ops or a public plan.

S&P places CMG Mortgage Insurance Co., not CMG Mortgage, on CreditWatch.

Bolstering its ranks with experts from within insurance companies, Novarica announces Martina Conlon, previous senior manager at Arbella Insurance, will join the research and advisory firm.

The company has decided not to sell AIG Star Life Insurance Co. and AIG Edison Life Insurance Co., but the future of Alico Japan remains to be seen.

The reciprocal insurance provider will use Maximum Processing’s Web-based, policy, billing, claims and reinsurance insurance administration system.

Congress grants the national flood insurance program another reprieve.

BERKSHIRE HOMESTATE LIVE WITH POLICY ADMINISTRATION

COMPLIANCE AND FRAUD SCREENING TECHNOLOGY

Key processes and underlying technologies enable the insurance industry's drive for enterprise risk management.

Social network analysis can help insurers understand networks often connected to criminal behavior.

To better manage risk, reinsurers are turning to increasingly sophisticated technologies and models.

Hard economic times are invariably busy ones for the foes of insurance fraud. Incorporating more unstructured data, carriers are fine-tuning predictive analytics for fraud detection.

SOA is the way many companies, including insurers, are now choosing to move forward due to its business agility, scalability and return on investment.

S&P contends that because macroeconomic conditions have impacted prime mortgage insurance books, it is placing the ratings for several mortgage insurers, including Genworth and United Guaranty, on CreditWatch with negative implications.

A new report, which shows insurers in Asia-Pacific are taking a closer look at the benefits of outsourcing, profiles three enterprisewide technology firms and six insurance technology firms.

With so many insurers currently pondering best practices for utilizing social media, examining strategies employed by banks may help.

The insurer will use software from FINEOS to manage claims in its employee benefits line.

Insurance Networking News (INN) and Celent, a division of Oliver Wyman Inc., announce that voting is currently underway for the 2010 Vanguards in Insurance Practices (VIP) awards.

Health insurers finally get peek at bill that contains yet another take on the public option, and are quick to react to its contents.

Forrester talked to 70 North American insurers about their hardware and infrastructure investment plans and found that they're very concerned about risks associated with cloud computing and virtualization.

Report says companies are investing in technologies to thwart enterprise risk.

Pulled off the sales block with a sale imminent, the unit now looks to rebuild and rebrand.

Survey attempts to resolve lagging registration by state insurance regulators.

Despite this year’s challenges, insurance companies will see opportunities in 2010, predicts LIMRA’s CEO.

NAU Country Insurance Co., PEMCO Mutual Insurance Co. and TRISTAR Risk Management are the latest insurers to select the enterprise content management (ECM) software suite.

Workers’ comp insurer to use Valen Technologies’ AuditRight predictive analytics solution to ensure premium to exposure accuracy.

FINRA's chair Tuesday called for the creation of a single repository of data on all trades on all markets so that the financial industry could be "surveilled by a unified single regulator."

Deep Customer Connections’ industry benchmark of carriers’ performance ranks their “ease of doing business.”

The revised bill, introduced late Tuesday, would give the Federal Reserve Board power to oversee systemically important companies, and beef up a proposed interagency council to advise the central bank.

Senator says he won’t provide 60th vote needed to bring legislation to floor.

S&P changes HUB’s outlook to negative, while A.M. Best affirms American Physicians Insurance Co.’s financial strength and issuer credit ratings.

Data quality and master data management, according to Forrester research, will become critical enablers to support real-time operational and decision-making processes.

Analyst and consulting firm SMA publishes reports that paint a rosy picture of insurers’ IT spend in the coming year.

Carriers have increasingly heard that ease-of-doing-business and technology are the deciding factors for agents when selecting insurers with which to work, but new research shows that unless carriers have a solid product at a competitive price, all the talk is meaningless.

Insurers watch as the bill to create a consumer protection agency, as approved last week, gave almost all authority directly to the agency's director.

OakBridge Insurance Services announces new offices in California and Minnesota, as well as two new hires.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office tells federal agencies what property/casualty insurers and reinsurers have been warning for months: Prepare for climate change effects.

The Hartford and the Connecticut Attorney General reach a settlement stemming from ongoing litigation against Guy Carpenter for orchestrating a series of alleged conspiracies with dozens of reinsurers that illegally inflated costs for insurers and consumers.

White House says it stands by health care reform legislation drafted by Senate Majority Leader Reid.

In a busy 2009, AIR Worldwide has modeled the risk profile for eight securities in North America and Europe, providing cover for such perils as tropical cyclones, earthquakes, extra-tropical cyclones, severe thunderstorms and wildfires.

State insurance office publishes pay-as-you-drive policies for insurers.

Firms says cloud computing and advanced analytics will be top investment priorities in 2010.

Reinsurers may reduce writings as a result, warns Towers Perrin