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Miami - To deliver on the commitment to promote ecosystem-based innovation and collaboration, Walldorf, Germany-based SAP AG announced that the industry value network (IVN) for insurance will join 13 existing industry-focused IVNs hosted by SAP. The IVN for insurance will bring together independent software vendors, system integrators and SAP to co-innovate with insurers to help them improve profits, customer relationships and their competitive position through effective applications and a flexible IT environment. Members of the IVN for insurance will initially focus on issues facing property/casualty insurers in the North American market in the areas of claims, customer service, sales and distribution, and underwriting and policy processing.Plans for the IVN for insurance currently include key innovative partners in the insurance industry: Adobe, CGI, IBM, MSG, Opentext, Planetsoft and Skywire. The partners and SAP will initially collaborate to bring together industry expertise, knowledge and capabilities in a multi-vendor ecosystem to address the high-value business needs of customers. Customers will be invited to participate in the second phase of the IVN.

New York — New York Life Insurance Co. was the No. 1 seller of fixed immediate annuities in the first quarter 2007, according to LIMRA International, U.S. Individual Annuity Sales Survey, Fixed Immediates, First Quarter 2007 results. (Fixed Immediates include Fixed Period Annuities.) New York Life's guaranteed lifetime income annuity sales rose 45% in 2006 on the strength of its product suite and distribution, and continued on that pace in first quarter 2007.

Baltimore, Md. — Metastorm, a provider of business process management (BPM) software for organizational agility, innovation and governance, announced the acquisition of Proforma Corp., the leading provider of enterprise modeling solutions for enterprise architecture (EA) and business process analysis (BPA). Metastorm says the combined company will deliver an integrated enterprise software platform that unifies business strategy and architecture, process analysis and optimization, and managed human- and system-centric process execution.

Jersey City, N.J. — Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO), Jersey City, N.J., is working with United States Department of Agriculture/Rural Development in a joint endeavor to provide communities with information regarding the Community Loan and Grant Programs that are available through USDA/Rural Development and the Rural Housing Service.

Salt Lake City - To help benefit administrators improve payment accuracy and prevent unnecessary losses associated with fraudulent claims, Sandy, Utah-based HealthCare Insight LLC (HCI) formed a strategic alliance with EZ-CAP, the flagship product of Longwood, Fla.-based MZI HealthCare LLC (MZIHC), a provider of health plan administration software.

The Hague and New York — AEGON and Merrill Lynch announced they will form a strategic business relationship in the areas of insurance and investment products. As part of this relationship, an AEGON company has signed an agreement to acquire Merrill Lynch Life Insurance Co. and ML Life Insurance Co. of New York for U.S. $1.3 billion in cash. The purchase price includes excess surplus of approximately $425 million. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, subject to customary regulatory approvals and closing conditions.

Austin, Texas — Lombardi Software Inc., an Austin, Texas-based business process management software provider, has been named a finalist for customer service excellence in the 2007 Greater Austin Business Awards. Lombardi is named as a finalist in the large company award category.

Denver - Colorado Casualty's appointed agents in Arizona and New Mexico are the first in the Liberty Mutual Group member's six-state territory to be equipped with Commercial IQ, the company's, Web-based technology for commercial lines quoting, binding and policy issuance.Commercial IQ is designed to deliver an automated underwriting process with expanded, yet simplified, eligibility criteria, and a sophisticated pricing system with multiple price points, which results in fewer referrals, less intervention, the best price up front and quicker policy issuance. Commercial IQ's "Quick Quote" feature enables agents instant access to a faster online quote with minimal entry of information, according to Liberty Mutual Group. Agents also can select the most appropriate product for a commercial risk using Commercial IQ's SmartNav, the pre-qualification tool that requires only a business class code and responses to a few basic eligibility questions to best meet customers' needs.

Boston — Karen Clark, former president and CEO of AIR Worldwide formed an independent firm—Karen Clark & Co.—to help companies better use catastrophe models as sophisticated tools for making important risk management decisions.

Brookfield, Wis., and Norcross, Ga. — Fiserv Inc., a technology solutions provider, and CheckFree Corp., a financial e-commerce services and products provider, entered into a definitive agreement whereby Fiserv will acquire CheckFree in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $4.4 billion. Under terms of the agreement, CheckFree shareholders will receive $48 in cash for each share of common stock.

Dublin, Ireland - FINEOS Corp., a global provider of enterprise software solutions for insurance, bancassurance and social insurance, has extended its relationship with IBM to enable the FINEOS Claims solution to now run on IBM System z. The IBM System z enablement will allow insurers that rely on mainframes at the heart of their enterprise infrastructure to run FINEOS solutions on their preferred platform, says FINEOS.

Los Angeles — Farmers Insurance Group received the "Sammy Award" and five other top awards at the Insurance Marketing Communication Association's (IMCA) Annual Meeting and Showcase Awards in Newport, R.I. The Showcase Awards are given for creative excellence in insurance advertising.

State College, Pa. — Optical Image Technology Inc. (OIT), creator of DocFinity workflow and document management software, announced a strategic business partnership with Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based DBSi. This alliance is expected to benefit customers and prospects of both companies through expansion of offerings in workflow and document management for DBSi and high-availability disaster recovery and managed hosting for OIT. Both OIT and DBSi support mission-critical enterprise environments within healthcare, financial services, technology and other market segments; the focus is on their clients being "always on" since disruption of services or inability to access information can have a notable impact on their clients.

Louisville, Ky. — SHPS Inc., a Louisville, Ky.-based health advocacy and health benefits solutions provider, expanded its partnership with Delta Health Systems, a Stockton, Calif.-based independent third-party administrator (TPA), to offer SHPS' integrated care management solution. The solution is designed to enable TPAs to integrate utilization management, case management, disease management and wellness programs into a seamless medical management experience.

Rock Hill, N.Y. - Irwin Siegel Agency Inc. (ISA), a Rock Hill, N.Y.-based specialty program underwriter for the social services field received the Daniel P. McMahon, CPCU Award for underwriting excellence.

Fort Myers, Fla. and Milwaukee — Sitkins Group Inc., a Fort Myers, Fla.-based consulting firm providing services relating to sales, management and operations for independent insurance agencies and Sitkins 100 has partnered with Zywave Inc., a Milwaukee-based provider of insurance technology services for insurance brokers, to allow for the marketing and promotion of Zywave tools to Sitkins 100 members.

San Angelo, Texas - Fletch Data LLC, a San Angelo, Texas-based electronic directory assistance and telephone appending provider signed an agreement to partner with Simi Valley, Calif.-based CDS Software to offer CollectOne customers access to Fletch Data's batch processing telephone database. Customers will be able to access Fletch's database through CDS' CollectOne software suite.

Bermuda and Bahrain — Scottish Re Group Ltd., a global life reinsurance specialist based in Bermuda, announced the sale of its Middle East Life portfolio to Arab Insurance Group (Arig), Bahrain-based reinsurance companies in the Middle East and North Africa.

New York – Deloitte & Touche USA LLP’s insurance sector has added industry veterans Rick Berry, Ann Connolly and Don McNees to the organization, further strengthening Deloitte’s capabilities in distribution and channel management.

Fairfield, Ohio — Ohio Casualty Group, now operating as Ohio Casualty, a Fairfield, Ohio-based regional company within Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, has been honored with the 2007 National Company Award of Excellence by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).