Tag: market

AM Best: Market dislocation drives growth for U.S. surplus lines (AM BestTV)

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date September 15, 2020
No Comments on AM Best: Market dislocation drives growth for U.S. surplus lines (AM BestTV)

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In this episode of ^AMBestTV, David Blades and Robert Raber, both associate directors, AM Best, said some excess and surplus lines insurers experienced a 15-year high in premium gains during 2019. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=surpluslines920 to view the entire program.

Blades highlighted the level of U.S. surplus lines business volume in 2019.

“The U.S. surplus lines premium volume increased considerably,” said Blades. “In particular, U.S. surplus lines companies that write more than 50% of their total business on a surplus lines basis increased their direct premium written by almost 15%, the highest level of growth since 2006. The entire surplus lines market, including business that is written by the Lloyd’s market syndicates, grew by 11.2% in 2019.”

Raber said the COVID-19-fueled economic shifts that have impacted the surplus lines market.

“The flow of new businesses definitely changed in two different directions,” said Raber. “First, there was a temporary decline in new business coming into the U.S. surplus lines market beginning in late March and into early April, as the stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders were implemented across the country. At the same time, rates are continuing to rise. AM Best’s expectation is that conditions are going to persist in the short term for the continuing rising of rates, as it continues to be a hardening market.”

Looking at the balance of 2020 and into 2021, AM Best anticipates this sector will continue to show resiliency.

To access the related market segment report, titled, “Expanding Opportunities Bolster Surplus Lines Growth and Operating Results,” please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=300916.

Recent ^AMBestTV coverage includes:

AM Best: Canada Property/Casualty Insurers Well-Positioned; Life Writers Face Volatility in 2020: Brian Lynch and Anthony McSwieney, senior financial analysts, AM Best, said 2020 has brought fewer property/casualty (P/C) claims, but has increased investment uncertainty in the Canada market: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambcanada920.
Hardening Market Driving Bermuda Captive Growth: Captive insurers old and new are writing more business during the hardening market, according to a panel focused on the Bermuda landscape: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambcaptives920.
Hard Market Driving Interest in Captives: The pandemic, economic downturn and higher insurance rates have increased interest in captive insurers, said panelists in a recent AM Best webinar: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambcaptiverecut920.
New Data Sources, AI Changing Commercial Underwriting: The “explosion of digital economy” and use of artificial intelligence is improving underwriting, according to the “Using New Data to Out-Select the Competition,” panel: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=carpedata920.

^AMBestTV covers exclusive AM Best and insurance industry information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the insurance, reinsurance and related sectors daily. Sign up for alerts of episodes at www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View ^AMBestTV episodes at www.ambest.tv.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Contacts

Lee McDonald
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com

Tags #AMBest, #Growth, AM BestTV, Lines, market, Surplus, Surplus#AMBest

Healthcare

Best’s Market Segment Report: COVID-19 taking its toll on Canada’s economy and insurance industry

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date September 8, 2020
No Comments on Best’s Market Segment Report: COVID-19 taking its toll on Canada’s economy and insurance industry

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Canada’s property/casualty insurance industry thus far has fared better than their life counterparts amid the volatile economic and market dynamics created by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a AM Best report.

In its Best’s Market Segment Report, titled, “COVID-19 Taking Its Toll on Canada’s Economy and Insurance Industry,” AM Best states that the country’s overall insurance industry remains well-capitalized. However, for Canada’s life insurance industry, top-line growth has been materially affected, as consumers reacted to COVID-19-fueled economic strain, and agents and life insurance representatives transitioned with varying degrees of success to a digital sales environment. Life insurers’ operating earnings also have been impacted because of the market dynamics and asset valuations, and earnings likely will be pressured by the prolonged volatility in the equity markets and low interest rates, leading to lower fee-based revenue as well. In April, AM Best revised its outlook on Canada’s life insurance industry to negative, owing to the significant disruption to the financial markets caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. AM Best remains concerned about companies with higher exposures to commercial mortgage loans, particularly in the hotel and retail segments, as well as office space, given that many companies have been cautious in returning to an office environment.

Canada’s property/casualty companies continue to show that they have the ability to remain profitable and meet the challenges presented by COVID-19, on top of those presented by increasingly volatile weather and climate conditions, fire and seismic activity, as well as economic volatility and competitive and regulatory issues. The personal auto insurance line remains a soft spot, however, as performance deteriorated again in 2019, and experienced a 10-point rise in the loss and loss adjustment expense ratio, reversing two years of improvement. All auto lines remain exposed to loss frequency brought on by factors such as distracted driving and more miles driven. In addition, inflation and a continual increase in loss severity due to rising repair costs are still affecting the auto lines. Early indications are that frequency trends will be down significantly in 2020, as shelter-in-place requirements, business closures, and remote working arrangements have caused a steep decline in miles driven across the country. AM Best maintains a stable outlook on Canada’s property/casualty segment.

To access the full copy of this market segment report, please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=300880.

A video presentation on this market segment report with AM Best Financial Analyst Brian Lynch and Senior Financial Analyst Anthony McSwieney is available at http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambcanada920.

AM Best will present its annual Insurance Market Briefing – Canada as two complimentary webinars on Sept. 9-10, 2020. “AM Best’s Canadian Outlook: In the Shadow of COVID-19,” will be held on Sept. 9, from 2-3 p.m. (EDT), and “Canada 2020 Hot Topics Panel Discussion,” will be held on Sept. 10, from 2-3 p.m. (EDT). For more information and for registration, please go to http://www.ambest.com/conferences/imbcanada2020.

Contacts

Raymond Thomson, CPCU, ARe, ARM, AIAF
Director—P/C
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5621
raymond.thomson@ambest.com

Anthony McSwieney
Senior Financial Analyst—L/H
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5715
anthony.mcswieney@ambest.com

Ann Modica
Associate Director, Credit Rating Criteria,
Research and Analytics
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5209
ann.modica@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Tags #Canada, Best Market Segment Report, Consumers, COVID-19, Economy, industry, Insurance, market, market#Canada

Business

AM Best addresses COVID-19’s impact on Canadian insurers in market briefing

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date September 2, 2020
No Comments on AM Best addresses COVID-19’s impact on Canadian insurers in market briefing

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AM Best’s Insurance Market Briefing – Canada will take place as two complimentary webinars on Sept. 9 and 10, 2020.

“AM Best’s Canadian Outlook: In the Shadow of COVID-19,” will be held on Sept. 9, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT). AM Best analysts will review the impact of COVID-19 on the Canadian insurance market and economy, including regulatory and monetary policies, the AM Best stress test results, innovation and other key issues and trends.

Panelists include:

Michael Adams, associate director, life/annuity, AM Best;
Ann Modica, associate director, economic & industry research, AM Best; and
Raymond Thomson, director, composite ratings, AM Best.

“Canada 2020 Hot Topics Panel Discussion,” will be held on Sept. 10, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. (EDT). AM Best analysts and market experts will examine significant industry issues, including the impact of COVID-19, latest innovation trends and regulatory/accounting issues that will influence the Canadian insurance market.

Panelists include:

Sridhar Manyem, director, industry research, AM Best;
Gordon McLean, senior financial analyst, property/casualty, AM Best;
David Sloan, chief executive officer, Canada reinsurance solutions, AON; and.
Ron Stokes, partner, Ernst & Young.

Attendees can submit advance questions during registration or by emailing webinars@ambest.com. Playback will be available to registered viewers shortly after the event.

Contacts

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Tags #Impact, #Outlook, AM Best, Analysts, Canadian, COVID-19, Economy, Insurers, market, Review, Review#Impact

Business

AM Best removes from under review with developing implications and upgrades credit ratings of Merit Life Insurance Co.

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date August 13, 2020
No Comments on AM Best removes from under review with developing implications and upgrades credit ratings of Merit Life Insurance Co.

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AM Best has removed from under review with developing implications and upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A- (Excellent) from B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a-” from “bbb-” of Merit Life Insurance Co. (Merit) (Austin, TX). The outlook assigned to these ratings is stable.

The ratings reflect Merit’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best categorizes as very strong, as well as its adequate operating performance, limited business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

The company’s balance sheet strength assessment is anchored by its Best’s Capital Adequacy Ratio, which is considered to be at the strongest level. Merit’s flagship Contingent Deferred Annuity (CDA) product guarantees individuals a stream of income (i.e., 5% of the greater of the account value on the issue or exercise date) for life if the value of the purchaser’s account is reduced to zero during their lifetime. Each annuitant’s assets are to be managed by their fiduciary investment manager and will have predetermined investment parameters created by the investment management firm and agreed to by Merit. The company’s general account investment portfolio is expected to be well-diversified with a favorable level of liquidity. Brickell Insurance Holdings LLC (Brickell) acquired Merit on Dec. 31, 2019. 777 Partners, one of Brickell’s primary investors, is committed to supporting Merit’s risk-adjusted capitalization and will be making additional capital contributions as necessary to support growth.

The company’s operating performance assessment is based solely on projections provided by company management and include assumptions around expense efficiency and the generation of specific levels of fee income. AM Best notes that prospective earnings will be derived primarily from fees earned on protected assets and will be subject to equity market fluctuations. The company continues to file for state approvals on the CDA product, but has not yet commenced sales. Due to its limited product offerings and distribution channels its business profile is considered to be limited at this time.

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper media use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best press releases, please view Guide for Media – Proper Use of Best’s Credit Ratings and AM Best Rating Action Press Releases.

Contacts

Kate Steffanelli

Senior Financial Analyst

+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5063

kate.steffanelli@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Manager, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5159
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Michael Adams
Associate Director
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5133

michael.adams@ambest.com

Jim Peavy
Director, Public Relations
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5644
james.peavy@ambest.com

Tags #Credit, #Ratings, #Upgrade, AM Best, Best Capital Adequacy Ratio, Business, Developing, Financial, Implications, market, Merit Life Insurance, Review, Review#Credit

Business

Majesco announces new and innovative updates for Majesco’s billing for P&C

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date July 23, 2020
No Comments on Majesco announces new and innovative updates for Majesco’s billing for P&C

These updates reflect the monthly updates for the last seven months that include next-generation capabilities needed to meet the demands of today’s digital customer

MORRISTOWN, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Majesco (NASDAQ: MJCO), a global leader of cloud insurance software, today announced the new and innovative updates for Majesco’s Billing for P&C, representing the monthly updates for the last seven months. Rather than providing periodic releases, Majesco provides monthly, automated releases to keep customers at the leading edge and enable them to rapidly respond to market changes.

Billing has become a key component of carriers’ customer engagement and digital strategies – recognizing the growing demand for new payment methods, billing plans, access to real-time billing information, electronic billing payments, and on-the-spot adjustments due to unprecedented market shifts such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Cloud-based solutions like Majesco Billing for P&C are helping insurers not only modernize and optimize their business, but also to create a new business for the future. Four of the top 10 P&C insurers in the US are using the market leading Majesco Billing for P&C.

“Billing can seem like a routine back end process, but it is one that touches every customer and done wrong, can have a tremendously negative impact on the customer relationship. It is a powerful signal of the kind of customer service that will be delivered by an insurer across all touchpoints,” commented Karlyn Carnahan, Head of Celent’s North American Property Casualty business. “Utilizing a seamless and flexible solution allows insurers to deliver on an important “moment of truth” while freeing up resources to continue to transform the customer experience in other areas.”

Some of the new and innovative enhancements for Majesco Billing for P&C to support digital customer engagement and operational optimization include:

Advanced Capabilities for Moratoriums – Enable carriers to serve their customers and ease financial hardships through automated processes that can otherwise be a very manual labor-intensive process, especially true in the context of ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The enhanced support includes leniency towards fees, late charges and collections etc. Additionally, on return to normalcy, the automated processes can automatically spread unpaid balances over multiple installments even going beyond policy expiry date based on customer preferences.

Expanded Payment Gateways – Leverage pre-built integrations for frictionless and secure ACH and Credit Card processing with payment gateways including Chase Paymentech, One Inc and CyberSource.

Automated Agency Payment Upload – Support for electronic upload of agency payments followed by automated payment allocation and reconciliation process. This enables the carriers to focus on collections and work on discrepancies instead of spending days and weeks on reconciliation through manual data entry.

Enhanced Data Extraction Utility – Mask and export production data to other non-production environments for analysis purposes while ensuring sensitive customer data is masked following data privacy and security compliance requirements.

Cohesive Event-Based Communication – Via messaging queues, enable asynchronous event-based communication between systems providing consistency, flexibility, reliability and scalability of processes.

Robust Open API Catalog and Gateway – Expanded API catalog with over 200 additional OAS3.0 Compliant APIs available to rapidly and dynamically integrate with other systems and Majesco Digital1^st® EcoExchange innovative partner solutions over an enterprise gateway servicing all APIs with enterprise monitoring and servicing feature for Majesco CloudInsurer® customers.

Extensive Performance & Scalability Gains – Majesco Billing for P&C is now certified for 100 million policies with 1000 concurrent users, providing extensive scale for large insurers.

“A new generation of insurance buyers with different needs and expectations, coupled with unprecedented market shifts, have created both a challenge and opportunity for next generation billing platforms,” said Manish Shah, President and Chief Product Officer at Majesco. “Today’s announcement continues the incredible momentum that we’ve built in enabling insurers, reinsurers, InsurTechs and MGAs to modernize and optimize the billing experience for their end users, while at the same time innovate with new billing options and capabilities, putting them at the forefront of digital business transformation.”

The latest enhancements underscore Majesco’s relentless innovation and commitment to helping their customers transform to a digital customer centric strategy that propels them into the future of insurance.

About Majesco

Majesco (NASDAQ: MJCO) provides technology, expertise, and leadership that helps insurers modernize, innovate and connect to build the future of their business – and the future of insurance – at speed and scale. Our platforms connect people and businesses to insurance in ways that are innovative, hyper-relevant, compelling and personal. Over 200 insurance companies worldwide in P&C, L&A and Group Benefits are transforming their businesses by modernizing, optimizing or creating new business models with Majesco. Our market-leading solutions include CloudInsurer® P&C Core Suite (Policy, Billing, Claims); CloudInsurer® LifePlus Solutions (AdminPlus, AdvicePlus, IllustratePlus, DistributionPlus); CloudInsurer® L&A and Group Core Suite (Policy, Billing, Claims); Digital1st® Insurance with Digital1st® Engagement, Digital1st® EcoExchange and Digital1st® Platform – a cloud-native, microservices and open API platform; Distribution Management, Data and Analytics and an Enterprise Data Warehouse. For more details on Majesco, please visit www.majesco.com.

Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of management, are not guarantees of performance and are subject to significant risks and uncertainty. These forward-looking statements should, therefore, be considered in light of various important factors, including those set forth in Majesco’s reports that it files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission and which you should review, including those statements under “Item 1A – Risk Factors” in Majesco’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as amended by its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to: the adverse impact on economies around the world and our customers of the current COVID-19 pandemic; our ability to achieve increased market penetration for our product and service offerings and obtain new customers; our ability to raise future capital as needed; the growth prospects of the property & casualty and life & annuity insurance industry; the strength and potential of our technology platform and our ability to innovate and anticipate future customer needs; our ability to compete successfully against other providers and products; data privacy and cyber security risks; technological disruptions; our ability to successfully integrate our acquisitions and identify new acquisitions; the risk of loss of customers or strategic relationships; the success of our research and development investments; changes in economic conditions, political conditions and trade protection measures; regulatory and tax law changes; immigration risks; our ability to obtain, use or successfully integrate third-party licensed technology; key personnel risks; and litigation risks.

These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as predictions of future events and Majesco cannot assure you that the events or circumstances discussed or reflected in these statements will be achieved or will occur. If such forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. You should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by Majesco or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified timeframe, or at all. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this presentation. Majesco disclaims any obligation to publicly update or release any revisions to these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law.

Contacts

Laura Tillotson

Director, Marketing Communications and Creative Services

+ 201 230 0752

laura.tillotson@majesco.com

Tags #Customer, #Innovative, #P&C, Billing, Business, Carriers, Cloud-based, COVID-19, Digital, Electronic, Insurers, Majesco, market, North American Property Casualty, Updates, Updates#Customer

Business

Dun & Bradstreet announces second quarter 2020 earnings release and conference call; participating in an upcoming investor conference

SHORT HILLS, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dun & Bradstreet Holdings, Inc. (“Dun & Bradstreet”) (NYSE:DNB), a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, today announced the date for the release of its second quarter 2020 earnings and its participation in an upcoming investor conference.

Second Quarter 2020 Earnings

Dun & Bradstreet will release second quarter 2020 earnings before the market opens on August 6, 2020. A conference call to discuss its results will follow at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time that same day.

Those wishing to participate via the webcast should access the call through Dun & Bradstreet’s Investor Relations website at https://investor.dnb.com. Those wishing to participate via the telephone may dial in at 833-350-1376 (USA) or 647-689-6655 (International) and enter the conference ID: 7189713. The conference call replay will be available via webcast through Dun & Bradstreet’s Investor Relations website. The telephone replay will be available from 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time on August 6, 2020, through August 13, 2020, by dialing 800-585-8367 (USA) or 416-621-4642 (International). The replay passcode will be 7189713.

Upcoming Investor Conference

Anthony Jabbour, Dun & Bradstreet’s chief executive officer, and Bryan Hipsher, Dun & Bradstreet’s chief financial officer, will participate in the Wells Fargo Virtual Technology Services Conference on Monday, August 10, 2020.

About Dun & Bradstreet

Dun & Bradstreet, a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, enables companies around the world to improve their business performance. Dun & Bradstreet’s Data Cloud fuels solutions and delivers insights that empower customers to accelerate revenue, lower cost, mitigate risk, and transform their businesses. Since 1841, companies of every size have relied on Dun & Bradstreet to help them manage risk and reveal opportunity.

Contacts

Investor Contact:
Debra McCann

973-921-6008

IR@dnb.com

Media Contact:
Lisette Kwong

973-921-6263

KwongL@dnb.com

Tags #Investor, #Risk, Analytics, Business, Conference, Dun & Bradstreet, Earnings, Global, market, Quarter, Quarter#Investor

Business

Retail investing continues its upward trend in Q2 as DriveWealth sees record retail investing activity

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date July 22, 2020
No Comments on Retail investing continues its upward trend in Q2 as DriveWealth sees record retail investing activity

CHATHAM, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--DriveWealth’s retail investing hit new highs in Q2 amid the ongoing global economic uncertainty due to the pandemic, with fractional share trades increasing 87% from Q1, according to new data released today by DriveWealth, a leader in global digital trading technology. Data from the DriveWealth platform indicates this surge in retail activity is evidence of a larger paradigm shift in retail investing.

Some of the key Q2 findings from DriveWealth’s proprietary data, which monitors investment activity by individual investors from across its network of global partners including Revolut, Stake and Hatch into the U.S. equities market, include:

A 214% increase in Q2 trading volumes compared to Q1
Trading activity doubled (100% increase) in Q2 compared to Q1
The number of trades placed per account increased by 33%

“In common with other brokers, we’ve seen record levels of retail account openings and trading activity following March’s market correction,” said DriveWealth Founder and CEO Bob Cortright. “While the correction has no doubt attracted many new entrants into the market, we believe that the pandemic and social distancing measures have also served to accelerate the move into digital financial services. Interestingly, account openings among investors aged 60-plus outpaced other age groups, highlighting the move towards digital is far from a millennial-only phenomenon.”

DriveWealth’s data also found a few notable trends regarding trading behavior. Around 70% of all trades on the DriveWealth platform were to buy shares versus sell and the average trade size was $211, up 56% compared to Q1.

Fractional share trades – where less than one share is purchased – also increased in Q2, with a 208% increase in fractional purchases by investors in Latin America compared to Q1. This compares to a 129% quarter-on-quarter increase in fractional trades in the U.S., a 108% increase in EMEA and 65% uptick in APAC.

“Given that single shares of frequently traded stocks such as Tesla and Amazon trade are priced in the thousands of dollars, it’s no surprise that fractional share purchases are proving popular among investors,” said DriveWealth President Julie Coin.

Most traded tickers

The report found that the most traded symbols traded in Q2 continued to be large, recognizable global brands and technology companies, while in the U.S. specifically, Vanguard ETFs proved popular.

Many of the most frequently traded stock symbols are those expected to benefit from trends associated with the global COVID-19 pandemic, including services facilitating the mass shift to working from home (such as Google and Zoom), home entertainment (Netflix and Disney), digital payments (Apple and Google) and online retail (Amazon and Walmart).

In addition to the big-name brands, non-U.S. investors were also investing in more volatile stocks that were featured in the News including Hertz, American Airlines and petroleum companies such as Callon and Oasis.

The top 10 traded symbols on DriveWealth’s platform in Q2 were:

U.S. investors	Non-U.S. investors
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF	Tesla
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF	Hertz
Amazon	American Airlines
Vanguard Extended Market ETF	Apple
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF	Callon Petroleum
Apple	Oasis Petroleum
Whiting Petroleum	Amazon
Hertz	Boeing
Tesla	Whiting Petroleum
Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF	Delta Airlines

The full report can be accessed on the DriveWealth website.

About DriveWealth

DriveWealth Holdings, Inc., wholly owns DriveWealth, LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC. DriveWealth, LLC is a licensed carrying and self-clearing broker offering digital brokerage solutions to broker-dealers, advisors and online partners worldwide through its proprietary investment platform. DriveWealth, LLC delivers access to the U.S. securities markets along with an array of digital products that power both emerging and established financial companies. For more information, please visit DriveWealth.com.

Contacts

Media:
DriveWealth
Will Hernandez

drivewealth@backbaycommunications.com

Tags #Brokers, #Q2, Bob Cortright, DriveWealth, Global, Investing, market, Millennial, Retail, Revolut, Services, Services#Brokers

Business

AM Best: India non-life market facing challenges (AM BestTV)

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date July 18, 2020
No Comments on AM Best: India non-life market facing challenges (AM BestTV)

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In this episode of ^AMBestTV, Myles Gould, director, analytics, and Yuan Tian, senior financial analyst, both of AM Best, said that competition, poor pricing discipline and investments challenge the India non-life market. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=india620 to view the entire program.

AM Best has a market segment outlook of negative on India’s non-life market. Gould addressed the key factors that are driving the negative outlook.

“Key factors underpinning the negative outlook include the competitive market conditions in core lines of business along with poor pricing discipline,” said Gould. “Furthermore, there is an unhealthy reliance on unrealized and realized gains from investment holdings, particularly emanating from typically high-risk investment strategies. In addition, a more recent dynamic is that of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to result in a level of volatility in top-line and bottom-line results of Indian non-life insurance.”

Tian highlighted the reasons for the imbalance in the non-life market operating results.

“The market has been quite a loss-making on the writing side,” said Tian. “So the insurance companies in this market have been relying on investment returns to generate overall positive operating earnings. The companies have been quite aggressive investing in high-risk asset classes such as equity, low-quality fixed income and real estate assets. Those asset classes have been generating quite good returns over the last years. However, during the pandemic, the stock market has fallen by over 20% in the first quarter. This has impacted the capital position and earnings of non-life insurers.”

To access the related market segment report, titled, “Market Segment Outlook: India Non-Life,” please visit http://www3.ambest.com/bestweek/purchase.asp?record_code=297272.

Recent episodes of ^AMBestTV include:

AM Best: Insurers Boost Private Equity Holdings 10% in 2019: Jason Hopper, associate director, industry research and analytics of AM Best, said that insurers have increased their private equity holdings by 10% year over year to $81 billion in 2019: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=privateequity620.
AM Best: Florida Personal Property Writers Challenged Even Without a Hurricane: Michelle Baurkot, director, and Chris Draghi, senior financial analyst, both of AM Best, said that Florida writers struggled to turn a 2019 underwriting profit even with the absence of a major hurricane: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=ambfloridareport720.
Insurtech Movement Joins Forces for Week of Presentations: The formation of the Northeast Insurtech Alliance, which is made up of innovation-focused executives from five organizations throughout the northeastern United States: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=northeastinsurtechalliance720.
AM Best: Workers’ Comp Writers Brace for COVID-19 Hit: Decreased premiums and unexpected claims could negatively impact workers’ compensation writers, said Sridhar Manyem, director, and Dan Mangano, financial analyst, both of AM Best: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=workerscomp620.

Contacts

Lee McDonald
Group Vice President, Publication and News Services
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com

Tags AM Best, AM BestTV, COVID-19, Global Credit Agency, India, Insurers, Investment, market, Non-life, Non-lifeAM Best

Local News

Local homebuyers more savvy as housing market recovers

Post author By Michelle Dryden
Post date August 7, 2012
No Comments on Local homebuyers more savvy as housing market recovers

Prof. Michelle Dryden is an experienced newspaper journalist who has a master’s degree in New Media Journalism from Full Sail University, and a bachelor’s degree in traditional journalism from Rider University.

EWING, N.J. – On the brink of Tuesday’s decision where the Federal Reserve would consider mortgage forgiveness to homeowners, there have been changes in local consumer spending and a rise in home prices.

Weidel Realtors of Ewing, believe that they will see a healing in the industry.

“Buyers are very savvy today,” said Robin Stewart, broker and director of sales. “Banks are more apt to giving mortgages,” she said.

However, Stewart cautioned that in about six months to a year from now, there might be more foreclosures. She said, “We think there will be an influx of foreclosures. We’ve only seen the brunt of it.”

The Federal Reserve is still waiting on more information to see if they should take further action to boost the economy, said Financial Times writers, Shannon Bond in New York, and Robin Harding in Washington. Even though mortgages are only a small portion of the economy, economists still consider home sales during economic slow downs.

Since home sales usually soar during the spring and summer months of March through June, this is just a seasonal outlook.

“We did see a big surge where sales doubled earlier this year as opposed to the same time last year,” said Stewart.

According to Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, the research group, “the monthly improvement may be due to homes in foreclosure and short sales accounting for a smaller proportion of total home sales.”

Stewart agreed. She explained that some banks required that homeowners pay back their short sales. She said that some banks, however, were claiming these as losses and offering 1099 forms to homeowners who will then pay taxes on these short sales.

Their article concludes that retail sales fell in June for a third month. According to the writers, this suggests that the “sentiment has been darkening.”

O’Sullivan advises that, “‘the confidence data continue to show weakness…”’

Stewart said, “People are not really trying to spend their money on retail because they don’t know what’s going to happen in this economy.”

Therefore, the economy is showing signs of weakness, but with the rise in housing prices there is the notion of confidence and recovery. Since the housing market numbers seem to be seasonal, economists are not convinced as yet.

Tags banks, confidence, economic, foreclosure, forgiveness, home, market, mortgage, prices, recovery, sales, salesbanks