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London – Instability within the financial markets represent the biggest threat to the global insurance industry, according to a survey conducted last month by Lloyd’s of London. The survey asked 138 Lloyd’s underwriters to answer questions about working in the Lloyd’s environment, including the identification of those emerging risks that will most likely challenge the insurance industry over the coming year.

Brookfield, Wis. — Dallas-based workers’ compensation e-transaction provider P2P Link, a business unit of Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., released P2P Direct, a new product specifically tailored to the workers’ compensation medical provider marketplace.

Dallas — Republic Companies Inc. acquired Four Corners Insurance Services Inc., a general agency based in Phoenix, Ariz. Four Corners specializes in non-standard auto insurance coverages produced through independent insurance agents in Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Washington, D.C. Philo Smith Capital Corp. served as Four Corners' broker in this transaction.

Chicago — In a commitment to client service excellence, Aon Corp. will integrate its worldwide risk and insurance brokerage operations into a single global business, Aon Risk Services, with more than 26,000 colleagues in 120 countries and more than $5 billion in revenues.

Baton Rouge, La. — New Orleans investment company owner David Voelker was named to the board of directors of Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC), a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company.

Mayfield Village, Ohio — Progressive appears to take its name seriously. Adding yet another patent to its business innovation cache, the Ohio auto insurance company is using a unique claims processing method to take responsibility for its policyholders entire vehicle claims/repair process following a crash.

Pittsburgh — Computerworld magazine selected Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. as the top green-Information Technology Company for 2008 and WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis, came in at No. 12 on the list.

Washington, D.C .- The Securities and Exchange Commission furthered its eXtensible business reporting language (XBLR) initiative this week with the launch of its “Financial Explorer” on the SEC Web site.

Though 43% of recently surveyed European insurers expect compliance to cost them less than €5 million, they believe that many of their core risk management capabilities need to be enhanced.

Carriers find their enterprise risk management (ERM) capabilities are no longer a purely internal matter as their organizations come under increased scrutiny by regulators and raters.

The insurance industry is partnering with academia in the use of some rather unique efforts to actively address the anticipated shortage of IT talent.

Turnersville, N.J. — The Computer Measurement Group (CMG), a not-for-profit worldwide organization of IT professionals committed to ensuring the efficiency and scalability of IT service delivery to the enterprise through measurement, quantitative analysis and modeling, is making its conference proceedings from 1997 through 2005 available to the public.

Seattle — In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the role of lifestyle-based analytics (LBA) in health insurance underwriting, according to Seattle-based actuarial and consulting firm Milliman Inc. In some instances, proponents of LBA made overly optimistic claims about the use of consumer data as a predictor in the underwriting process. Milliman's Jonathan Shreve, author of the white paper “Lifestyle-based Analytics: A Practical Guide”, examined the appropriate and effective use of LBA as an advance in risk selection and classification.

San Francisco — Universal Warranty Corp. (UWC), a subsidiary of GMAC Insurance, Maryland Heights, Mo., introduced new technology and process enhancements, making its aftermarket finance and insurance (F&I) sales process completely electronic. The full set of solutions, Online Performance Suite, is the most recent addition to GMAC Insurance's portfolio of customer-centric products and services, and also has the potential to reduce time spent on every transaction by up to 20 minutes, according to the company.

West Des Moines, Iowa — The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) recently elected Jim Wallace to its Board during its recent Executive Roundtable held in Naples, Fla. Wallace is president and CEO at GuideOne Insurance, an insurers of churches and churchgoers.

Kansas City – The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has launched a public database containing the regulatory status of certain insurer-owned securities. The database is intended to assist market participants that advise insurance companies and investment professionals working for insurance companies. The tool shows whether a publicly rated security is subject to regulatory guidance other than as indicated by its credit rating assigned by one or more public rating organizations.

New York – Consulting firm Oliver Wyman Group acquired Boston-based Celent LLC on Feb. 1, 2008. Oliver Wyman, a subsidiary of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos., has a staff of more than 2,500 people, operating in 16 countries, and specializes in the financial services industry, where Celent has positioned itself over the past eight years.

Mobile units enable insurers to provide immediate lines of aid to those affected by recent tornadoes.

A pair of reports detail what the year ahead has in store for the insurance industry.

Cambridge, Mass. — A new Web site created by Liberty Mutual is generating acclaim for its ability to educate Generations X and Y about the value of renters insurance. Youcovered.com, is an online experience that has already received several industry awards including a "Best in Class" Interactive Media Award (IMA) and "Site of the Week" from Communications Arts since its debut in October 2007. It was also recognized as a finalist in the 2007 MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology exchange) Awards. The Web site was designed and implemented by Sapient Interactive, the marketing services group of Sapient.