Core systems

Surveys of CEOs reveal attitudes and expectations of technology.

London - Reed Elsevier PLC, a London-based publisher and parent of the LexisNexis information service, will spend $3.6 billion cash for ChoicePoint Inc., a 1997 offshoot of Equifax, the companies report. The acquisition is subject to ChoicePoint shareholder and regulatory approval, is expected to close in the summer of 2008.

In a pair of studies, Celent queries CTOs and CIOs from America and Europe, respectively, to gauge IT spending priorities for the coming year.

Ronald Katz, the well-known telecom technology inventor, is calling the shots with several large insurers—but for how long?

Madison, Wis. — American Family Insurance has restructured its information services division, the company reports. The move comes as a result of a study of technology leadership organizations at Fortune 500 firms, a company spokesperson said, and reflects a growing trend in Tier 1 insurance companies—restructuring of IT with the goal of optimizing business strategies and operational performance.

Washington – Testifying before a hearing of the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, a representative of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) pushed for the passage of the Homeowners' Defense Act.

Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — The 2008 Global Outsourcing 100, the annual ranking of the world’s best outsourcing service providers, was released by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP), Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

London – Instability within the financial markets represent the biggest threat to the global insurance industry, according to a survey conducted last month by Lloyd’s of London. The survey asked 138 Lloyd’s underwriters to answer questions about working in the Lloyd’s environment, including the identification of those emerging risks that will most likely challenge the insurance industry over the coming year.

Mayfield Village, Ohio — Progressive appears to take its name seriously. Adding yet another patent to its business innovation cache, the Ohio auto insurance company is using a unique claims processing method to take responsibility for its policyholders entire vehicle claims/repair process following a crash.

Pittsburgh — Computerworld magazine selected Pittsburgh-based Highmark Inc. as the top green-Information Technology Company for 2008 and WellPoint Inc., Indianapolis, came in at No. 12 on the list.

Washington, D.C .- The Securities and Exchange Commission furthered its eXtensible business reporting language (XBLR) initiative this week with the launch of its “Financial Explorer” on the SEC Web site.

Though 43% of recently surveyed European insurers expect compliance to cost them less than €5 million, they believe that many of their core risk management capabilities need to be enhanced.

Carriers find their enterprise risk management (ERM) capabilities are no longer a purely internal matter as their organizations come under increased scrutiny by regulators and raters.

The insurance industry is partnering with academia in the use of some rather unique efforts to actively address the anticipated shortage of IT talent.

Turnersville, N.J. — The Computer Measurement Group (CMG), a not-for-profit worldwide organization of IT professionals committed to ensuring the efficiency and scalability of IT service delivery to the enterprise through measurement, quantitative analysis and modeling, is making its conference proceedings from 1997 through 2005 available to the public.

Seattle — In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to the role of lifestyle-based analytics (LBA) in health insurance underwriting, according to Seattle-based actuarial and consulting firm Milliman Inc. In some instances, proponents of LBA made overly optimistic claims about the use of consumer data as a predictor in the underwriting process. Milliman's Jonathan Shreve, author of the white paper “Lifestyle-based Analytics: A Practical Guide”, examined the appropriate and effective use of LBA as an advance in risk selection and classification.

Kansas City – The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has launched a public database containing the regulatory status of certain insurer-owned securities. The database is intended to assist market participants that advise insurance companies and investment professionals working for insurance companies. The tool shows whether a publicly rated security is subject to regulatory guidance other than as indicated by its credit rating assigned by one or more public rating organizations.

Mobile units enable insurers to provide immediate lines of aid to those affected by recent tornadoes.

A pair of reports detail what the year ahead has in store for the insurance industry.

Competitors from unlikely verticals, a reduction in IT staff, and the ability to clean up data stores and use them to garner business intelligence are but some of the challenges insurers will face through the year 2012.