October 13
“TO CONVERGE, OR NOT TO CONVERGE,” That is the Question for Regulators and Legislators: And the answer may prove vexing on this increasingly dramatic financial services stage.
Whether “’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune….” is besides the point for financial services decision-makers. The question here is whether there are “noble minds” pondering this question as respects current efforts to devise global capital standards for insurers. I’ll leave the answer to you the reader after […]
Shared Histories
It is so gratifying to share common history and opinion. Art Moll was a friend to so many of us and to the industry itself that, when we ran his column in “Looking Back” several letters and e-mails followed with sentiments we all share. We present one of the most thoughtful here below. As always […]
A Golden Opportunity!
Welcome to my 50th Insight Column! I guess that makes it some kind of golden anniversary. But I look at it more as having been provided with a golden opportunity. For the past two and a half years my column has been addressing the natural tension between insurance regulators and regulatees, particularly where regulated entities […]
Short Takes on Sundry Topics II: The $750 Million Comma; Assault & Battery Exclusions; A Written Contract Required to be an AI; Theft By Tenant—Is It Covered?; & Certificates of Insurance Legislation
My “possible topics” basket is still overflowing and new items come in all the time, so here’s another round of Short Takes. The $750 Million Comma BP is claiming that an exclusion in a contractor’s policy is ambiguous because a comma is missing in its agreement with the contractor. The missing comma may cost insurers […]
Morph to Thrive and Not Just Survive
Independent agents have existed for a long time and will continue to exist, maybe in smaller total numbers but evolved into very large agencies and smaller “boutique” or specialized agencies. No matter the size or nature of the agency, in order to grow organically all independent agencies will have to expand on the value that […]
Life Insurance Industry Convenes in Cooperstown for Annual Legislative & Regulatory Conference
From September 22 through 24, approximately 170 life insurance executives, state and national policymakers, firms that provide services to the industry, and their guests convened at The Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown, NY, to engage each other in discussion on a range of life insurance-related issues on the state, federal and international levels. The occasion […]
Email Marketing Myths That are Killing Your Agency’s Campaigns!
As an email marketing aficionado, nothing infuriates me more than misleading ‘facts.’ NOTHING! And I don’t mean the ‘email is dead’ kind of articles that emerge every so often (just to set the record straight here, email marketing is very much alive) but rather articles suggesting that email marketing is only for the big corporations, […]
Text in the City
As someone who has travelled quite extensively throughout the country on both business and pleasure, so many times I have been driving around and said, “Don’t people in this city know how to drive?!?!” Whether it is because of those who are texting and driving, or aggressively driving, or just trying to get home, it […]
When an SIR Isn’t
In this case the California Court of Appeal was asked to once again apply the well-established principle that any limitation on the coverage provided by a liability insurance policy must be expressed and consistent with the reasonable expectations of the insured. Simply put, people who write insurance policies should say what they mean and do […]
