Core systems

Android and iPhone are starting to crush Blackberry when it comes to business use and consumer app development.

Insurers may want to keep an eye on trends in IT that will focus on development for social media and mobile devices, Gartner says.

Against volatile stock markets, insurers benefited from increases in investment income and improvements in capitalization, notes A.M. Best report.

Analyst firm expects agent channel to give way to non-traditional channels such as bancassurance and aggregators.

Despite barbarians at their gates, Moody's reports that P&C insurers remain financially sound.

Aetna president says company will seek new avenues for growth in response to new law.

Insurers, among others, warned the Financial Stability Oversight Council that designating companies as systemically important could do more harm than good.

USAA's banking arm is disguising new technology through old-fashioned, face-to-face service.

More IT spending will shift its strategic use to better understand customers and markets, improve products and increase sales opportunities, survey says.

A number of insurers have begun to release their financial results for Q3 2010. The following is a compilation of their announcements:

Study finds large employers "are reluctant to lose control over a key employee benefit."

After reporting a $2.4 billion net loss for the third quarter, Chartis, flagship property/casualty insurance arm of American International Group (AIG), says it plans to downsize two percent of its workforce.

Many employers are still undecided on what to do, according to a Willis Group Holdings study.

A new Celent report profiles 28 vendors serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa, noting that cost isn’t most important issue for insurers.

The insurance agency and brokerage system is stable, but challenges remain, notably for insurers in New York, according to Richard Poppa, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York who presented on a panel at the fourth annual SNL Insurance Brokerage Summit today.

Software promises to help drive variable and fixed annuity sales.

A.M. Best, Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor's announced ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Insurer Health Net is fined $375,000 following a large breach of personal health information in late 2009.

As a response to the economic challenges of the past two years, insurance companies are wrestling with rising claims, both legitimate and fraudulent, more competition for new customers, and new restrictions on investment activities that have reduced operational budgets, notes Mitratech, a provider of collaborative accountability applications including matter management and e-billing management automation.

Report says weak pricing environment may become the “new normal.”