Best's Review

AM BEST'S MONTHLY INSURANCE MAGAZINE



Their Future Selves

Published: January 2023

Startups, insurtechs and investors pursue new opportunities with ready-to-go insurances shells.

AM Best TV & Audio: Munich Re Life: M&A, Tech, Distribution Changing the Look of Life Insurance Space: Also, professionals discuss the effects of Delaware’s new captive rules and examine how inflation is constraining emerging insurance markets.

AM Best Webinars: Panel to Hold Briefing on Reinsurance, Discuss Recent Renewals: Professionals also will examine the implications of video surveillance on liability and damage evaluation and explore what’s ahead for insurers.

App Store: The General: App Helps Make Car Insurance Choices Amid Inflation: The General hopes to reduce its own expenses allowing people to self-manage their car-insurance-buying experience.

At Large: Informational Scale and Scope: The Key to High Performance: Size doesn’t really help insurers do better, according to an ACORD study. Better underwriting and claims efficiency will help carriers successfully acquire, develop and retain customers in an evolving industry.

Best's Rankings: Best's Rankings: Florida Homeowners Writers, Selected Financial Indicators – 2023 Edition:

Best's Rankings: Best's Rankings: Largest India Insurers – 2023 Edition:

Best's Rankings: Best's Rankings: Largest MENA Insurers – 2023 Edition:

Best’s Rankings: Florida: Best’s Rankings: Florida Leads Nation in Homeowners Premium: The Sunshine State’s storm-prone location and litigation troubles are compelling carriers to re-evaluate their approach to the market, or retreat from it entirely.

Book Store: Author: Cyber Insurance Ineffective in Curbing Cybersecurity Losses: Josephine Wolff examines how insurers and others can make cyber insurance a more effective cyberrisk management tool.

Corporate Changes: State Actions and Name and Domiciliary Changes: Time Insurance, Progressive Property and Catlin Specialty are among the North American life/health and property/casualty insurers that have experienced a corporate change.

Executive Changes: AIG Extends CEO’s Employment for Five Years: SiriusPoint International president-CEO announces plans to retire, retired Chubb executive returns as chief culture officer and RenaissanceRe names chief underwriting and chief portfolio officers.

From the Editor’s Desk: A New Year, a New Look Online: new year, Best’s Review, Best’s Review online, Best’s Rankings, shell companies, insurance executives, India insurers, MENA insurers, insurtech, John Andre, innovation, Florida homeowners multiperil, Best’s Ratings, Lincoln Financial, lapse rates, conferences, meetings and conventions, cyber insurance, ransomware, global reinsurance brokers, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., Willis Re

India Insurers: India’s Regulator Unveils ‘Insurance for All’ Reforms: The regulator is seeking to “create a progressive, supportive, facilitative and forward looking regulatory environment” that will be more competitive, with more choices and affordability for policyholders.

Industry Events: Insurance Industry Events Swing Back Into Action: The insurance industry looks forward to a busy schedule of in-person events in 2023. The schedule includes Riskworld in Atlanta, Georgia, in late April/early May and InsureTech Connect in Las Vegas, Nevada, in late October/early November.

Industry Updates: Lloyd’s Markets Chief: Property and Specialty Lines See Dislocations Going Into 2023: The confluence of high inflation, rising interest rates, elevated catastrophe losses and uncertain capital flows is apparently without recent precedent, but Lloyd’s says its 2023 plan is on target in terms of attritional loss ratio, and operating expenses are on plan.

Innovation: AM Best’s Innovation Criteria: AM Best formally adopted its criteria procedure, “Scoring and Assessing Innovation,” in March 2020. The criteria procedure, along with the update to Best’s Credit Rating Methodology, outlines how AM Best explicitly considers an insurance company’s innovation efforts in its rating process.

Insurance Leaders: In Memoriam: Insurance Industry Leaders of 2022: Best’s Review remembers insurance leaders who died over the last year.

Insurance Leaders: New Year Brings New Look to Industry Leadership: Some of the insurance leaders who announced retirement plans in 2022 included Robert A. DiMuccio, chairman and CEO of Amica Mutual; Daniel S. Glaser, president and CEO of Marsh McLennan; David H. Long, CEO of Liberty Mutual; and Teresa L. White, president, Aflac U.S.

Insurance Marketing: Marketing Success Comes From Knowing Your Business at a Granular Level and Customers’ Evolving Needs: It’s also important for marketers to use their passion for the business and industry to recruit talent from outside the sector to bring diverse perspectives and skills to their firm, says Baldwin Risk Partners’ Rich Tallo.

Insurance Professional Resources: How Insurance Professionals Are Responding to Evolving Cyberthreats: Additional coverage includes new Marshall Dennehey director of marketing.

Insurance Professional Resources: Marshall Dennehey Hires New Director of Marketing and Business Development:

Life Insurance: Lincoln Financial Sees Lapse Rates Plummet for Over-75s: After years of venturing into areas that put some of their products in direct competition with investment vehicles, insurers are hard-pressed to predict policyholder lapses and surrenders, thanks to interest rate hikes and a looming recession.

MENA Insurers: AM Best: Opportunities Arise for MENA Reinsurers, Amid Divergent Economic Conditions: Longer-term prospects for the reinsurance market may transpire from growing product offerings in primary markets.

Preferred Publisher Program: In Other News ...: A roundup of news from publishers around the globe. Access to some sites may require registration or subscription.

Regulatory/Law: Two Words Play a Key Role in Opioid Litigation: In coverage litigation over the opioid suits, the issue is whether the damages the governmental entities seek to recoup are “because of” bodily injury.

Risk Adviser: Workers’ Comp Fraud Costly for Industry: Many carriers have added data analytics, artificial intelligence tracking and software identification to catch and prosecute fraudsters.

Shell Companies: A Shell of Their Future Selves: How Insurer Acquisitions Spur Faster Growth: Insurers and potential insurers purchase shell companies to expedite the process of expanding their businesses and becoming full-stack insurers, rather than starting from the ground up in each state.

State Rate Filings: California Grants Allstate First Auto Rate Hike in Nearly Five Years: Private passenger auto rate hikes slowed dramatically in 2020 in California and ground to a halt in 2021, AM Best state rate data shows.

State Rate Filings: California Private Passenger Filings by Rate Impact Greater Than 1%:

The Last Word: Dog’s Best Friend: More Humans Protecting Pets Through Health Insurance: The number of homes with pets is growing, and the number of pets that are covered by insurance has exploded.

Trending: Best’s Research: Trending Research Includes Reports on Commercial Auto and ID Theft/Personal Cyber Coverage: Other trending research includes reports on the U.S. homeowners line, title insurance and private flood insurance.

Underwriting & Loss Control: Maple Syrup Producers Concerned About Impacts of Climate Change: Best’s Underwriting Reports and Best’s Loss Control Reports provide insight into the lines of coverage, exposures and loss control for maple syrup producers.

Web Traffic: Visits to India Insurers:

What AM Best Says: AM Best: Numerous Pressures Create Tough Terrain for Personal Auto Insurers: Inflationary pressures, supply chain challenges and costly repairs of technologically advanced autos are combining to squeeze profit margins for U.S. personal auto insurers.