Insurance Blog

In the wake of the global financial crisis and amid the unraveling of numerous financial scandals including Madoff, Stanford and Galleon, the 22nd International PLUS Conference in Chicago this week would be anything but dull. Add to the mix an opening day keynote by former President Bill Clinton and a forecast on the industry by I.I.I. president Dr. Robert Hartwig and you have the ingredients for a showstopper. In a speech that spanned major topics such as global warming, healthcare reform, and the struggling economy to name just a few, Clinton gave the crowd of professional liability insurance executives and media (seated in the back row of the conference hall) something to think about. A key theme to come from Clinton and one that is very pertinent for insurers is the interdependence of the world we live in. Interdependence brings both benefits and risks, Clinton noted: “Interdependence means being tied […]

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NBC’s Tom Brokaw will be the special guest speaker at the annual dinner of the New York division of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) being held on December 9 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City. Pierre Ozendo, chairman and CEO of Swiss Re America Corp and the 2008 honoree will serve as this year’s dinner chair. IICF will honor Brokaw’s commitment to philanthropy with a grant to the Youth Program of the International Rescue Committee, where he serves on the board of overseers. Proceeds from the event will provide significant grants to other children’s charities in the New York tri-state area such as Boys Hope Girls Hope and the Starlight Children’s Foundation. For Gala information, including ticket sales, please contact the IICF Benefit Office at 212-763-8593 or iicf@cmevents.net. According to a Conference Board survey, the insurance industry ranks among the top 15 contributors when it comes to […]

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A memorial service for Dr. William E. Bailey J.D., CPCU, special counsel to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) since 1986 and prominent industry spokesperson will be held September 26, 2009, at 11am at Trinity Church, 730 Main Street, Waltham, MA. Dr. Bailey died of cancer on Friday, Aug. 21. He was 68 years old and resided in Chelsea, MA, with his wife, Rene. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to the Scholarship Fund at Belmont Hill School, 350 Prospect Street, Belmont MA, 02478-2662, in memory of Bill Bailey, Class of 1958. “All of us will greatly miss Bill’s multitude of talents, perceptive intelligence, life-long dedication to learning, quick wit and boundless enthusiasm. We also remember with appreciation Bill’s outstanding work in disaster communications, having served as director of the first Hurricane Insurance Information Center following Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and working at the scene of […]

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It would be remiss of us to end the week without giving a resounding cheer to the 10 Chubb colleagues who hit the jackpot this week with a $216 million (or $140 million one-time payout) Mega Millions lottery win. Now what are the odds of that? The lucky 10 have been working in Chubb’s IT department in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey from seven to 30 years. We’re happy for their win. And finally a blog update: those of you who read us regularly will be aware that you can now sign up to follow us on Twitter. Just click on the Twitter button on the lower right-hand side to begin tweeting. Another way to follow the blog is via my network on LinkedIn – again click on the button on the right to join my network. 

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It’s time to make your Oscar picks and as you select a Best Picture among this year’s crop of nominated films another question you might want to consider is what is the riskiest movie of 2008? According to Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co, honors in this category go to “The Wrestler” a drama about Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a once popular pro wrestling star, now aging and down on his luck. As an insurance risk, the film wins “most risky production” primarily because lead actor Mickey Rourke did much of his own stunt work in the film. The physicality and quantity of the stunts – in one scene Rourke has a brutal wrestling match accompanied by glass shards, staples and barbed wire – made the film a major risk. Luckily adequate precautions were in place to mitigate the risk, including insurance. Among insurance coverages for films, cast insurance covers a range […]

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