Federal News

A quick, and as yet incomplete, survey of re/insurance industry leaders indicates that the main concern they will have to deal with in the coming year isn't climate change, or Solvency II, but the insurance industry's ancient bugaboo, the soft market.

The U.S. property-casualty sector’s net income reached $29.9 billion for the first nine months of the year, a $12 billion increase fueled in large part by realized capital gains.

A.M. Best Co. said the improved results came despite an ongoing challenging operating environment marked by competitive market conditions, elevated catastrophe losses, the economic downturn and historically low investment yields.

For the January-September period in 2009, the sector had $17.2 billion in net income.

The 2010 Atlantic hurricane season, which ends Tuesday, was one of the busiest on record but had little impact on the United States, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Monday.

Nineteen named storms formed in the Atlantic basin during this year’s hurricane season, which tied with 1887 and 1995 for third-highest on record. Of those, 12 became hurricanes—tied with 1969 for second-highest on record. Five of those reached major hurricane status of Category 3 or higher.

The battle with state insurance regulators over implementation of the surplus lines modernization law has begun as several insurance trade groups voiced strong objections to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ proposal.

In a letter sent today to the head of the NAIC task force crafting an interstate agreement, six trade groups said the model law proposal “continues, by contract,” the burdensome system Congress sought to eliminate through the new law.