Data security

Since the beginning of the decade, it's been pedal to the metal for AAA Life Insurance Co.. The organization, which offers term and universal life products, fixed annuities, and travel accident insurance to AAA members, has grown from 75 employees in 1999 to a staff of 400, supporting more than 800,000 customers and more than $1.1 billion in assets.As AAA Life's business began to accelerate at breathtaking speed, the organization's managers began to see some treacherous bumps and obstacles on the road ahead. The company lacked an enterprisewide system for watching and managing costs within the various business units. With relentless hiring and increasing costs of doing business, managers needed a clear, single view of where more gas needed to be applied to boost business, and where the brakes needed to be applied to curb spending.

New York - More than 90% of risk management executives are building or want to build enterprise risk management (ERM) processes into their organizations, but only 11% have completed such a task, according to a recent report issued by New York-based The Conference Board. The Board, in conjunction with Mercer Oliver Wyman, a New York financial consulting firm, surveyed 271 risk management executives from a variety of industries across North America and Europe.

Princeton, N.J. -- American Re-Insurance Co. was named "Best Overall Reinsurer in the U.S." in the 2005 survey of cedant perceptions about reinsurance and reinsurers conducted by Flaspohler Research Group, a Kansas City, Mo.-based business-to-business research. American Re received the same recognition in 2003, the last time this survey was conducted."We are enormously proud of the results of the Flaspohler Survey. Retaining our No. 1 ranking in the "best overall reinsurer" category clearly demonstrates that we continue to be judged as the best reinsurer in this market by our clients - by far the most important arbiters of our performance," said John Phelan, Chairman and CEO of American Re-Insurance Co.

Washingon, D. C. - Members of the PIA Insurance Technology Coalition met with Congressional staffers on Capitol this week to discuss data security/identity theft and its potential effect on the insurance industry.

Frisco, Texas -Skywire Software, an insurance and financial services software company based in Frisco, Texas, announced it has completed its acquisition of InsBridge, Richardson, Texas, a rating and underwriting applications software provider.

Brookfield, Wis., - Fiserv, Inc., a financial management and compliance software provider, released a software system designed to be compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The Nautilus SOX solution is a tool that uses document management technology for enterprise-wide compliance with the 2002 federal legislation, and similar provisions that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is expected to embrace for non-public insurers. The software provides an automated, searchable system for documenting internal controls and business processes to help ensure SOX compliance. With Nautilus SOX, users can create, collaborate, log, execute and conclude business transactions in a structured, efficient environment. It also provides users immediate access information regarding a process or project, including all outstanding issues, approvals, statuses, discussions and communications. The system's framework of pre-defined indexes and templates enables users to monitor and record all external and internal events affecting SOX compliance--from risk assessment to controls testing and remediation. Notifications and scheduled reviews can be set up to ensure that important deadlines are met, and the system can automatically route content between collaborating participants.

Orem, Utah - Xactware Inc. has introduced a collaboration tool that allows homeowners to review and approve their insurance to value calculations. This new tool, XactInfo, is a first-of-its-kind offering for the property insurance market, according to Xactware Inc., Orem Utah. Existing XactValue customers can automatically link into XactInfo for homeowner review and approval. XactInfo automatically sets up a personalized Web site for each homeowner and displays a copy of the information recorded about the home during the initial valuation such as total square footage, features and finishes. Homeowners can use the site to directly communicate with insurance agents and other interested parties regarding approval of existing information, and to provide updates as needed.

Springfield, Mass. - MassMutual Financial Group, Springfield, Mass., announced the acquisition of New York-based Golden Retirement Resources Inc., (GRR) a privately held firm that develops and distributes products and services for the retirement-income market. Comprising member companies with more than $350 billion in assets, MassMutual Financial Group is a global, diversified financial services organization providing life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning products, structured settlement annuities, trust services, money management, and other financial products and services. Under the transaction, MassMutual Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (MassMutual) purchased a majority interest in GRR (including all intellectual property), and intends to own the entire company by year-end. No financial terms were disclosed.

Dublin, Ireland - In response to the increasing in outsourcing of insurance company assets to third-party investment firms, Ireland-based Research and Markets released a Resource Guide that profiles the industry's most prominent global asset management firms, insurance companies, and key industry service providers. Included in the guide are industry rankings and comparisons, asset management firms, industry service suppliers, and corporate indexes. The names of major property and casualty, life and health, mutual property and casualty, mutual life and health, and reinsurance companies are also included, along with executive-level contact information. The Resource Guide also includes a full directory listing for industry consultants, technology and information providers, custodian banks, industry-related law firms, and industry associations.

Salt Lake City - GE Healthcare, a $14 billion unit of General Electric Company that is headquartered in the United Kingdom, and Intermountain Health Care, a Salt Lake City-based integrated health care system, announced the organizations' joint project to develop a new advanced electronic medication administration record, also known as an eMAR, which will better enable collaboration among a patient's care team.

Hartford, Conn. - Personal automobile and homeowners market leaders are employing a new mix of tactics as they compete for growth, according to two new publications by Conning Research and Consulting Inc., Hartford, Conn."Personal lines market leaders are more aware now than last cycle of the price points that damage profits," said Bruce Hale, analyst at Conning Research & Consulting Inc. "Modest price cuts are common in personal automobile, while the homeowners line is showing flat to minimal rate increases in most states. These measured actions are affordable for insurers because of recent strong profits. The aggressive competition is occurring in data modeling and branding. Market leaders are outsmarting their rivals in risk selection and staking a superior position in the mind of the consumer."

Over the past three years, publicly held companies in the insurance industry have become painfully familiar with the stringent requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) corporate governance law.A senior-level executive with Chicago-based global brokerage firm Aon Inc., confirmed that the company's audit fees skyrocketed 53%, from $10 million in 2003 to $15.3 million in 2004. And, with annual revenue of $800 million and income of approximately $73 million, RLI Corp., a Peoria, Ill.-based specialty insurer, absorbed Section 404 compliance costs last year of $1.9 million.

Think back to 1978. Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds had his 3,000th major league hit. The first test tube baby was born. Poland's Karol Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. Nearly 1,000 people committed suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. And Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David peace accord.In the same year, the P&C industry made its last profit from underwriting for 25 years. That's right: Not until last year did the industry's combined ratio again fall below 100-which means for more than two decades, P&C losses exceeded premium earnings.

Two primary trends are emerging that are impacting the state of underwriting in the P&C market. The first is the drive to reduce complexity. New technology is simplifying systems and reducing the amount of manual document-handling between carriers and agents. The second trend is an increased use of data-driven decision-making for more predictable underwriting results.This is the conclusion of research conducted by TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass.-based research and advisory firm to the financial services industry.

The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA), Durham, N.C., announced today that their members have elected Mark Robison as president for the fiscal year that will begin on July 1, 2005. Robison has risen through the ranks of IASA holding various management team, leadership and volunteer positions within the association during his many years of volunteering. Currently, he serves as vice president and treasurer of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, a Fort Wayne, Ind., a niche regional P&C carrier insuring America's churches and related ministries. Robison joined Brotherhood in January, 1994. Prior to joining Brotherhood, he worked as a manager for Ernst & Young, LLP serving insurance clients, and also within the firm's information systems consulting practice. Robison is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, a Fellow, Life Management Institute and holds the Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance designation from the Insurance Institute of America.

Washington - The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), a temporary program introduced after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has served its purpose and is probably stunting the development of the private insurance market, Treasury Secretary John Snow wrote in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee summarizing the agency's conclusions regarding TRIA.

Chicago - The third annual study conducted by Chicago-based Foley & Lardner LLP on the costs associated with corporate governance reform shows that the average cost of being public in 2004 increased 33 percent over 2003 for a company with annual revenue under $1 billion.

Washington - The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Alexandria, Va., says a proposal to establish an optional federal charter for insurance regulation is not the "best or right solution for regulatory reform in the industry." The association of 300,000 business owners reacted yesterday to a letter sent by 135 insurance, national and regional finance companies to the Senate Banking Committee in support of a charter. "The lack of a federal insurance regulator is especially troublesome," the letter stated. The group asked the Committee to consider the fact that, because insurance is solely regulated by the individual states, "there is no Federal regulatory agency to represent the financial regulatory interests of the U.S. insurance industry."

Oakland, Calif.-A review of hurricane trends by EQECAT Inc. shows a more than a one in three chance of large hurricane catastrophe losses in the United States in the current season, based on current forecasts by the National Hurricane Center (NHC)."Although the current season might not be as severe and unusual as the 2004 season, the potential for large losses in 2005 is likely to be troubling to insurers and reinsurers, which will have to cover the potential hurricane damage claims," says Tom Larsen, senior vice president of EQECAT.

Boston - At the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) meeting held here this weekend, the NAIC Property and Casualty Reinsurance Study group approved enhanced disclosure requirements for insurers that utilize reinsurance with limited risk transfer features, also known as finite reinsurance. The use of finite reinsurance has received considerable attention over the past several months, because of its misuse by some high-profile insurers. State insurance regulators, working in a coordinated fashion through the NAIC, have been evaluating existing relevant statutory financial reporting since last year. NAIC Property and Casualty Reinsurance Study Group approved enhanced disclosure requirements for insurers that utilize reinsurance with limited risk transfer features, also known as finite reinsurance. The use of finite reinsurance has received considerable attention over the past several months, because of its misuse by some high-profile insurers. State insurance regulators, working in a coordinated fashion through the NAIC, have been evaluating existing relevant statutory financial reporting since last year. The latest proposed disclosures would require an insurer to report to state insurance regulators any finite reinsurance agreement that has the effect of altering policyholders' surplus by more than three percent, or representing more than three percent of ceded premium or losses. Additional reporting requirements regarding contract terms and management's intention in entering the contract have been included to improve transparency. Study Group members also approved a standard attestation form to be signed by the insurer's CEO and CFO attesting that there are no side agreements and that risk transfer has occurred.