Core systems

Political strife continues to plague the measure authorizing extensions.

Why should insurers use social networks? Celent provides three principle reasons.

FDIC Chair Sheila Bair says that if this law had been in place before 2008, there would have been no chance AIG could have been bailed out.

After more than 100 hours of interviews with insurance execs, SMA unearthed 10 common initiatives regarding market recovery and future changes.

Actuaries say insurers need to develop additional analysis techniques in face of scoring bans.

Aite Group report notes IT offerings, not domain expertise, as differentiation.

Aon says the number of organizations seeking improved performance and decision-making with ERM has risen dramatically since in the wake of the financial meltdown.

Survey results raise questions about bancassurance being the preferred channel, as insurance Web sites and aggregators gain ground.

Bill that extends flood insurance, COBRA subsidies, may go to vote later this week.

A.M. Best affirms Aflac, and Moody’s affirms Genworth.

The health insurer reveals an additional 521,761 members are at risk following the theft of 57 hard drives last year.

If workers’ comp premiums continue to moderate, it will be a clear sign that comp insurers are beginning to increase premiums, notes MarketScout.

Senators expected to vote soon on measure that could restore funding for lapsed program.

The iPad may help in achieving mass adoption of electronic signatures in the agent channel.

Report says proposed changes to USDA program would tighten margins for participating companies.

IIABA’s new senior director for government affairs, Ryan Young, brings Republican representation and Capitol Hill experience.

In its first report profiling IT service vendors for the insurance industry, Boston-based insurance consultancy Celent concludes that the most successful partnerships insurers have with IT service vendors those that are not just about replacing staff or lowering costs. Though a cost-minded insurer may find significantly lower expense from a good relationship with an IT service vendor, many find these engagements save costs in one area while requiring unexpected expenditures in others. The best partnerships, Celent says, are those that are long-term, strategic engagements in which a vendor is leveraged to bring in new expertise, add both technology and domain knowledge to the business, and is relied on as a true partner.

The composite rate for property and casualty coverages in the United States was down 4% for March 2010, according to According to MarketScout, a Dallas-based electronic insurance exchange that underwrites and distributes product lines to a 35,000-member agency network across the United States. The composite rates for February 2009 and 2010 were down 8% and 5% respectively.

Anomalously warm tropical sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic portend an active hurricane season according to forecasters at Colorado State University.

The latest results collected from Northwestern Mutual’s Optimism Barometer, an online measurement tool, indicate a distinct upward trend in positive outlooks among Americans, despite the near-term challenges of the current economic climate. Most notably, recent data has revealed a 60% year-over-year jump in people who scored at the highest end of the optimism scale.