The following month, in July 2025, the foundation marked the 20th anniversary of the Garee Lee Smith Scholarship Program, established in memory of one of Heffernan’s earliest employees. Since its inception, the program has distributed more than $865,000 in scholarship funds. In 2025, the foundation expanded the program from five annual awards of $5,000 each to 12 awards of $10,000 each.
Author: Awais
In the current market environment, cedents choosing to sponsor catastrophe bonds can benefit from more favourable economics than with traditional reinsurance covers in some risk layers, rating agency AM Best has said.AM Best has published a detailed new report on catastrophe bonds and insurance-linked securities (ILS), describing the ILS market as having grown from niche to established, with cat bonds in particular becoming “a core component of reinsurance programs rather than an opportunistic tool.” Across ILS, AM Best is projecting further growth for 2026, but believe this could be at a slower pace than we saw last year. The main…
Anthropic on March 9 filed a lawsuit to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist, escalating the artificial intelligence lab’s high-stakes battle with the U.S. military over usage restrictions on its technology. Anthropic said in its lawsuit that the designation was unlawful and violated its free speech and due process rights. The filing in federal court in California asked a judge to undo the designation and block federal agencies from enforcing it. “These actions are unprecedented and unlawful. The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its…
In its full-year 2025 earnings report, released February, Principal said its Specialty Benefits segment posted a full-year operating margin of 16%, a 170-basis-point improvement over 2024, driven by what the company described as strong underwriting experience. In the fourth quarter alone, the segment’s operating margin reached 17%, supported by favorable results in group life, group disability, and group dental.
Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias launched a campaign in July 2025 to prohibit these practices, describing them as discriminatory, according to BestWire. Giannoulias’ office said insurers currently rely on factors such as credit scores, ZIP codes, and age, which may have little connection to driving risk.
Hannover Re has sponsored a second successful renewal of its landmark parametric cloud outage catastrophe bond, this time securing $35 million in retrocessional cyber reinsurance protection covering cloud outage events with a Cumulus Re (Series 2026-1) issuance, Artemis can report.We’ve learned from our sources that this new parametric cloud outage cyber cat bond issuance was completed last week and the coverage comes into effect soon for Hannover Re, with inception due on or around March 15th we understand. Recall that, Hannover Re secured $13.75 million of retro protection from the first Cumulus Re (Series 2024-1) parametric cloud outage catastrophe bond…
Allstate’s fourth-quarter net income applicable to common shareholders doubled to $3.8 billion from $1.9 billion a year earlier. Chair, president, and CEO Tom Wilson praised recent Florida legislative tort reform as “really good work,” adding, “We’d like to see everybody take this on.” Allstate is reducing rates by 7% for more than 171,000 Florida drivers.
The lawsuit alleges that senior Christian Brothers transferred members with a known history of physical and sexual abuse from the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John’s, N.L., to Vancouver College and St. Thomas More between the mid‑1970s and early 1980s, where further abuse is alleged to have occurred. Six Christian Brothers, including Edward English, were moved to the two schools after abuse at Mount Cashel was reported to authorities in Newfoundland in the 1970s. Several of those transferred were later convicted in connection with offences at the orphanage. The Christian Brothers order itself is not a defendant in the B.C.…
In states that have long refused to expand Medicaid to more low-income adults, people in the program aren’t subject to new rules under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act requiring them to prove they’re working in order to get and keep coverage. That’s not stopping Florida lawmakers from trying to adopt Medicaid work requirements anyway. It’s the only legislative body in a nonexpansion state to even consider it so far. “You need to go to work if you want your friends and neighbors to pay for your health care,” said state Sen. Don Gaetz, the Republican sponsor of a Medicaid…
With severe convective storms (SCS) having emerged in recent years as a significant catastrophe peril in the United States, SCS-focused cat bonds may offer a compelling opportunity for both re/insurers and insurance-linked securities (ILS) investors as the frequency and exposure of the peril continues to expand, according to Acrisure Re.In a recent report released by the reinsurance brokerage, analysts note that over the past decade, severe convective storms have accounted for half of global insured losses from secondary perils, with hail representing most of those losses. “In the United States, the frequency of loss‑generating SCS events has shown a persistent…
Live Nation Entertainment has reached a proposed settlement with the U.S. Justice Department in an antitrust case targeting its dominance in the live‑events industry, according to a court hearing on Monday. In the same hearing, it was disclosed that Live Nation is also in talks with state attorneys general to secure a broader, global resolution of related state‑level antitrust claims. Shares of the California-based company are up about 6%. Live Nation, Ticketmaster and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The development throws the case into chaos in the middle of what was to be a…
Authorities searched through rubble and debris in southern Michigan on Saturday after suspected tornadoes tore through the region and killed four people, including a 12-year-old boy, during powerful storms also blamed for two deaths in eastern Oklahoma. First responders from multiple agencies in the Union Lake area near Union City looked for more possible victims and worked to clear roads, authorities said. Photos and videos posted on social media showed flattened homes and downed trees in a lakeside neighborhood. The National Weather Service said an initial assessment confirmed that an EF3 tornado with winds of at least 150 mph (241…
A viral image from the March 1 shooting in downtown Austin — an autonomous vehicle blocking an ambulance from reaching the scene where a gunman fatally wounded three people and injured 15 others — has put a spotlight on driverless cars as they hit the streets in more major Texas cities. A video widely circulated on social media shows a Waymo vehicle blocking the street as paramedics try to reach the scene of the shooting at Buford’s, in the city’s nightlife district on West 6th Street, forcing the ambulance driver to seek another route. “This is why we should not…
Insurance Business is looking for the top-performing BDMs in the country