Core systems

Health insurers fared poorly in annual ASCI customer satisfaction survey, rating only marginally better than airlines, newspapers and the government.

A FINRA survey finds “a significant disparity” in the general financial literacy of Americans on a state-by-state basis.

The payment stems from a derivative suit filed by investors against executives and directors.

Fitch affirms all AXA entities; S&P lowers credit rating on Manulife Financial, rates Berkshire Hathaway’s senior notes; A.M. Best comments on Aetna; Moody’s affirms WellPoint, Munich Re.

The modern-day searching and buying patterns used by consumer for insurance are shifting, and insurance companies cannot rely on traditional channel strategies to reach them, according to a study released by IBM today.

Towers Watson survey says insurers are increasingly employing predictive modeling as rates continue to be weighed down by excess capacity.

The measure advanced Monday evening, with 45 Democrats and 37 Republicans voting to invoke cloture.

Virtualization and solid state disks are the next most important in terms of overall impact going forward, study says.

Insurers, banks, credit unions and more affected by partnership.

Claiming that the “dispute is not simply about regulating the business of insurance,” federal judge blocks implementation of key provision of health care reform.

Korea’s largest non-life insurer’s goal is to use predictive models to enhance fraud detection processes.

CSC has launched a four-stage, pragmatic program for financial services firms to use cloud services to gain flexibility and agility in their computing environments. CSC says it is leading financial services firms to the cloud, without jeopardizing high-performance, security and compliance requirements. The staged approach is described by CSC as progressing from early use of low-risk, horizontal shared services to deployment of ancillary applications, and then a cloud-enablement of mission-critical applications, all in parallel with the introduction of unique, cloud-only functions.

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) held a special interim election during a conference call. Louisiana Insurance Commissioner James Donelon was elected NAIC VP and Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith was elected NAIC secretary-treasurer.

For younger employees, the possibility of an enjoyable retirement is dwindling.

Gartner research points to increased investment, though many still won’t see ROI.

Top companies in our survey grind down costs by consolidating IT and rationalizing processes. They’re growing faster as well.

Insurers that outsource the IT and administration of policies underwritten years ago can improve customer satisfaction, lower costs, and even reduce capital requirements.

Financial legislation requires surplus lines producers to participate in a national database for licensing and renewals.

The highest-priority initiatives continue to be policy admin and BI, with claims, agent portals and commissions also of importance.

The top 25 life/health insurance writers continue to set the pace for the larger U.S. industry, which saw a 2.6% increase in nine-month net premiums written to $424.2 billion. The increase is the first since year-end 2008, according to A.M. Best, which released its list of Top 25 U.S. Life/Health writers today.