Policy adminstration

Hartford, Conn. — After a month-long trial in federal court that included six days of complex deliberations, five former insurance company executives were found guilty last week of taking part in a plan to manipulate the financial statements of American International Group Inc. (AIG).

Washington — American consumers want more from their health care system than they're currently getting—greater online connection to health care providers and medical records, customized insurance coverage and wider access to emerging innovations such as retail clinics, a new survey from Deloitte Development LLC reveals.

Mississauga, Ontario — York Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., the personal lines insurance arm of Kingsway Financial Services Inc., became Canada’s first insurance carrier to implement true XML real-time inquiry this month, claiming they answered the call from independent brokers who said they need real-time carrier communication to remain competitive.

Springfield, Mass. - MassMutual's Retirement Services Division launched a new Web site as a vehicle to share insights and information discovered in its Center for Behavioral Research. The research will be published for the benefit of participants, plan sponsors and the financial professionals who serve them.

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.

Los Angeles — Farmers Insurance Group Inc., announced that Denise Ruggiero has joined Farmers as VP, legislative and regulatory affairs.

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.

Brookfield, Wis. — Dallas-based workers’ compensation e-transaction provider P2P Link, a business unit of Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., released P2P Direct, a new product specifically tailored to the workers’ compensation medical provider marketplace.

Dallas — Republic Companies Inc. acquired Four Corners Insurance Services Inc., a general agency based in Phoenix, Ariz. Four Corners specializes in non-standard auto insurance coverages produced through independent insurance agents in Arizona, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Washington, D.C. Philo Smith Capital Corp. served as Four Corners' broker in this transaction.

Chicago — In a commitment to client service excellence, Aon Corp. will integrate its worldwide risk and insurance brokerage operations into a single global business, Aon Risk Services, with more than 26,000 colleagues in 120 countries and more than $5 billion in revenues.

Baton Rouge, La. — New Orleans investment company owner David Voelker was named to the board of directors of Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Corp. (LWCC), a private, nonprofit mutual insurance company.

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.

San Francisco — Universal Warranty Corp. (UWC), a subsidiary of GMAC Insurance, Maryland Heights, Mo., introduced new technology and process enhancements, making its aftermarket finance and insurance (F&I) sales process completely electronic. The full set of solutions, Online Performance Suite, is the most recent addition to GMAC Insurance's portfolio of customer-centric products and services, and also has the potential to reduce time spent on every transaction by up to 20 minutes, according to the company.

West Des Moines, Iowa — The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) recently elected Jim Wallace to its Board during its recent Executive Roundtable held in Naples, Fla. Wallace is president and CEO at GuideOne Insurance, an insurers of churches and churchgoers.

New York – Consulting firm Oliver Wyman Group acquired Boston-based Celent LLC on Feb. 1, 2008. Oliver Wyman, a subsidiary of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos., has a staff of more than 2,500 people, operating in 16 countries, and specializes in the financial services industry, where Celent has positioned itself over the past eight years.