A fast-moving wildfire in the Oklahoma panhandle doubled in size as it pressed into Kansas while winds threatened to shift and raise fire risks across West Texas and New Mexico. The Ranger Road Fire had consumed more than 283,000 acres in Oklahoma and Kansas as of Thursday, nearly 20 times the size of the island of Manhattan. In all, more than 300,000 acres have burned in Oklahoma this week as temperatures soared roughly 15F (8C) above average and rock-bottom humidity dried out grasses and brush. Oklahoma officials had received 33 reports of fires and hotspots spanning nearly two dozen counties,…
Author: Awais
Higginbotham has hired Samuel Isaac Ritter, M.D., as medical director for employee benefits, adding a client-facing physician resource within its self-funded advisory work. As more employers move into self-funded plans, the questions landing on brokers are increasingly clinical: complex, high-cost claims, emerging therapies and shifting standards of care. Higginbotham responded by actively recruiting Dr. Ritter to work alongside its self-funded and population health teams, bringing a practicing physician’s perspective into those decisions. Ritter is an award-winning emergency physician at Baylor University Medical Center (Baylor Scott & White Health). He also brings experience advising large health systems at McKinsey & Company…
A debt-laden federal program is struggling to keep pace
The California FAIR Plan Association has raised the target size of its second catastrophe bond sponsorship again, with now $400 million of capital markets backed wildfire reinsurance protection sought from the Golden Bear Re Ltd. (Series 2026-2) cat bond issuance, Artemis understands.The California FAIR Plan Association came back to the catastrophe bond market for its second sponsorship earlier this month, initially looking to secure $200 million of multi-year wildfire reinsurance protection from the capital markets. That move came on the heels of FAIR Plan’s debut catastrophe bond that was issued in December 2025, when it secured the largest pure wildfire…
“As clients have become increasingly sophisticated and expect their insurance programs to reflect that, we’re seeing greater demand for speed, transparency, and certainty of execution, along with more nuanced program design. That includes mixed E&S and admitted towers, higher retentions, and clearly defined coverage intent,” he said.
The jointly funded project positions GE HealthCare to develop ultrasound technologies that non-expert users can operate.
Outside catastrophe experience, QBE’s underlying claims performance was broadly stable, with an ex-cat claims ratio of 59.8% (from 59.7%). The company noted that, stripping out risk adjustment and Crop, the ex-cat claims ratio rose to 54.9% from 53.0%, citing adverse experience in some portfolios, elevated large losses and business mix shift. That commentary is a useful reality check for brokers: even as premium rates moderate, loss trends and large-loss activity remain a live issue, and insurers are likely to keep scrutiny tight around risk selection, limits, deductibles and risk improvement evidence.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is aiming to issue its first catastrophe bond in the coming months, with the parametric deal expected to be around $120 million – $150 million in size, designed to protect both the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan against earthquake and flood risks over a three-year term.This issuance is part of the ADB’s Risk-Layered Disaster Relief Finance Program, which was approved in November last year. Notably, this will be the first catastrophe bond that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has issued, with the notes expected to come via one of its own securities issuance programs. This dual-pronged…
Elegant Reflections, LLC, a Houston-based contractor doing business as ER Contracting, filed the action against Evanston Insurance Company on February 17 in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas. The case, which is in its early stages and has not yet been ruled on, puts a spotlight on a question that matters to every insurance professional handling claims in Texas: what happens when statutory deadlines are missed?
A blast of mountain snow and flooding rain is falling over California, the last of a string of storms that brought much-needed moisture to the state yet triggered a deadly avalanche in the Sierras. Winter storm warnings stretch from the California-Oregon border to just outside Palm Springs in Southern California. Mountain peaks in the Sierra Nevada could see another two feet (0.6 meters) of snow into Friday, days after an avalanche killed eight people on a backcountry ski trip and left another presumed dead. The storm unleashing Thursday is “the last big flood of precipitation in a parade of systems…
The health IT firm is also cutting back on offices and “low revenue” products as it works to get up to date on its financial filings with regulators, executives said during a call this week.
The approved filings reflect an overall 6% average indicated reduction across the three Country Mutual auto affiliates. Resulting premium savings total $7.52 million and affect tens of thousands of Georgia policyholders said Commissioner John F. King, adding the reductions demonstrate Georgia’s competitive insurance market.
SageSure, the fast-growing catastrophe-exposed property specialist MGU, has now moved up to third in the Artemis catastrophe bond sponsor leaderboard, with just over $3.1 billion in risk capital outstanding across cat bonds for related underwriting entities, thanks to the closing of its largest $670 million Gateway Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance.As we reported earlier this month, SageSure successfully priced its largest ever catastrophe bond, securing $670 million of broad multi-peril reinsurance limit from the Gateway Re 2026-1 transaction. SageSure initially sought $765 million of protection with this new catastrophe bond offering when the deal first emerged back at the middle…
The water and power utility that serves the city of Los Angeles must face hundreds of lawsuits faulting its response to the massive 2025 wildfire that leveled one of the city’s premier seaside neighborhoods and caused tens of billions of dollars in damage. In a significant victory for fire victims, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner on Thursday concluded that a unique California law allows property and business owners to pursue claims that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power failed to supply enough water to fight the blaze that consumed the Pacific Palisades area. Related: Edison Is…