Core systems

The insurance industry experienced decent top-line growth, fairly resilient margins and increased capital management in 2011. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods expects it to continue into 2012 and stocks will be traded more in line with fundamentals next year.

GlobalOptions will serve as the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) provider to Argo Group US Inc., an international underwriter of specialty insurance and reinsurance products to P&C markets, and its subsidiaries.

JEVCO Insurance Co., a specialty insurer, is in production with ClaimCenter, the claims management solution from Guidewire Software, a provider of core system software to P&C insurers.

Talend, an open-source software company, says BF&M Insurance, a Bermuda insurance group, has added ESB Enterprise Edition to its portfolio of Talend integration solutions.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) responded to the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) call for a national ban on the use of cell phones while driving by commending the attention being given to the issue of distracted driving. The association also asserts the fact that cell phones are only one source of distraction for American drivers.

Swiss Re predicts that 2011 will rank as the most expensive year ever for the insurance industry. The insurer's sigma team estimates total insured losses for the global industry from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters will reach $108 billion. This is more than double 2010’s losses, which were $48 billion.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) may be heading for another lapse, subsumed in high-stakes political brinkmanship.

A report issued by the consumer group Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School claims that carriers are planning to price-gouge buyers of insurance, particularly commercial lines insureds. The report, “Repeat Offenders: How the Insurance Industry Manufactures Crises and Harms America,” asserts that insurers are in collusion to create a hard market in which commercial lines insurers can target their customers with large rate increases.

After looking at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 2012 Top Safety Pick list—the longest ever at 115—it’s clear that automakers have made vast design improvements during the past year. Sixty-nine cars, 38 SUVs, five minivans and three pickups earn the designation for 2012. Eighteen of the recipients—10 of which are Honda/Acura models—are new to the winner’s circle. And again this year, every major automaker has at least one winner. At 15, Toyota/Lexus/Scion has the most winners for 2012, followed by General Motors with 14, Volkswagen/Audi with 13, and Ford/Lincoln and Honda/Acura each with 12.

Credit and information management firm TransUnion released end of third-quarter results of its proprietary Auto Insurance Risk Index, noting a slight increase of 0.03 percent after four consecutive quarterly declines. The index now registers 98.85, three basis points higher than Q2 2011; 31 basis points lower than a year ago at this time; and 73 basis points lower than its recessionary peak in Q2 2009.

Emergency Physicians Insurance Company RRG (EPIC) and Echo Ridge Partners have implemented iCatalyst, a policy and claims management system designed to streamline processes and improve customer service throughout an entire policy lifecycle.

From a catastrophe-loss standpoint, 2011 is more likely to be remembered for the variety and frequency of loss events rather than a singular catastrophe.

Professional insurance agents have what insurance customers are looking for, according to research results issued by the PIA Partnership. The PIA Partnership is a group of insurance companies that works collaboratively with PIA National to conduct research and develop tools and resources designed to benefit professional independent insurance agents. PIA is a national trade association that represents member insurance agents and employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance.

Amica Mutual received the top honor for overall excellence from InsuranceQuotes.com’s inaugural Insurance Quality Awards.

The insurance industry showed strong support for The National Transportation Safety Board after it announced yesterday that it recommends all 50 states and the District of Columbia pass legislation banning the non-emergency use of portable electronic devices by motorists while driving.

The National Transportation Safety Board said today that texting, emailing or using a cell phone while driving has been proven to be too dangerous to be allowed anywhere, and recommends that all states impose a total ban, except for emergencies. The recommendation would also apply to hands-free devices, the federal safety board said.

On the heels of reports coming out of Washington on the government’s scramble to protect the country’s power grid from cybercriminals, CSC reports the launch of an Insurance Cybersecurity Advisory Council for life insurance and annuity providers and property/casualty insurers. The goal of the council is to facilitate the development of best practices and technology strategies that effectively mitigate the risk of cyber attacks on the insurance industry.

The International Underwriting Association has established an enhanced lobbying presence in the Americas, the group reports.

More evidence of a hardening market has arrived via the most recent Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS) from Towers Watson.

For the second straight year, MetLife leads life insurers in annuity considerations through the first three quarters, ended Sept. 30, 2011. Prudential Financial and Jackson National Life Group round out the top three in the rankings released by SNL.