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Climate change could risk trillions in U.S. assets: Report

November 22, 2009 – 3:49 am

The joint report, released by German insurer Allianz S.E. and the World Wildlife Fund, said the planet’s atmosphere is close to dangerous temperature thresholds, or “tipping points,” that could cause devastating environmental and economic consequences.

According to the report, a sea level rise of 20 inches by 2050, as predicted by climate scientists, could jeopardize roughly $7.4 trillion of U.S. assets. About $1.4 trillion worth of U.S. coastal-area assets are at risk due to storm surge from a one-in-100-year event, the report said.

The report ranked Miami, New York, New Orleans and Boston among the U.S. cities with the greatest asset exposure by mid-century due to global warming effects.

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How to Become a Combat Medic in the Army

November 20, 2009 – 12:41 am

Becoming a combat medic in the Army is something that is widely misunderstood. Many people visualize something like an EMT or nurse stationed at some hospital somewhere around the world. While certainly there are those types of positions, your chances of landing those are slim during a time of war. Also, those positions often go to the soldiers who have been serving for quite some time. New soldiers rarely are put in hospitals during war time. Becoming a combat medic or 91Bravo in today’s military is relatively easy if you qualify for the Army and you are an intelligent person.

The first step to becoming a combat medic is to sign up for the Army. A

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Beauty Shop and Salon Insurance

November 19, 2009 – 6:48 pm

Beauty Shop and Salon owner / operators should talk to an agent about a business owners policy to cover their business.  Commercial Insurance can design a salon insurance package for hair salons, barber shops, day spas, nail salons, tanning salons and more.  Business Insurance plans can be designed to cover business property, general liability and more.  A salon insurance package for a beauty shop and/or salon should at least cover all property, equipment and protect the owner from small and major disasters such as fire or sewer / drain backup.  T

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U.S. life reinsurance segment stable: Best

November 19, 2009 – 12:06 am

The report by Oldwick, N.J.-based Best, which is dated Nov. 23, states that while reinsurers “certainly were not insulated from the fallout of the economic downturn, direct writers generally were impacted more severely.”

“Direct writers maintain significant exposure to separate-account risks through variable product platforms,” according to the report. “U.S. life reinsurers deliberately have avoided underwriting these products because of their complexity, tail risk related to market exposure and pricing considerations, including the costs of hedging.”

Life reinsurers also are less dependent on investment income and achieving higher yields because they have less exposure to interest-sensitive lines of business, according to the report.

However, life reinsurers do “need to remain vigilant in their own capital management practices,” says the report. And their balan

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Adventure Travel Insurance

November 18, 2009 – 8:01 am

With winter approaching, forests and mountains will replace the beauty of fall with blanks of snow to create scenery worth venturing out into the cold for. Whether you’re just out for a casual hike or a mountaineer enthusiast, you never know when your trip into the wilderness will take a turn for the worse. Adventure travel is a great experience that brings you closer to nature, but it can quickly turn deadly if an accident occurs or if an unexpected storm puts you in harm’s way.

No matter where you’re travelling or what activities you’ll be doing, adventure travel insurance can offer you protection against unexpected expenses and evacuation efforts that include: helicopter, ambulance, and medivac. You mig

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Solvency II rules could result in less long-tail capacity: Fitch

November 17, 2009 – 5:10 am

The Committee of European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Supervisors—the Frankfurt, Germany-based group that advises the European Commission on the new regime—recently published details of its latest set of Level 2 advice on Solvency II that it has given the Commission. This latest advice and subsequent third and final round of consultation on the planned regime represented a significant strengthening in the capital requirements compared with the framework directive that was adopted in May.

A quantitative impact study, QIS4, was carried out to assess the likely impact on insurers of the directive on the ultimate capital requirements, according to insurers.

Lyuba Tarnopolosky, director, insurance at Fitch in London, said Tuesday in at a meeting in Frankfurt that the risk charges, which are based on standard deviations—a measure of volatility based upon a set factor that is multiplied by premium volume—for property/casualty risks, had been significantly enhanced.

Ms. Tarnopo

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