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A.M. BestTV: 'First Monday' Review & Preview: Overarching Issues Threaten Positive Results in U.S. Property/Casualty Sector


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Lee McDonald
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lee.mcdonald@ambest.com


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - MARCH 02, 2015 04:14 PM (EST)
In this first of four "First Monday" episodes exploring the U.S. insurance industry, A.M. Best Group Vice President Anthony Diodato discusses the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) sector. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=fmpropertycasualty315 to view the video program. Other "First Monday' Review & Preview episodes will focus on the U.S. life/annuity and health sectors, along with major trends in the reinsurance industry. "First Monday" is A.M. Best's monthly program featuring commentary by the company's leading analysts.

In this episode, A.M. Best Group Vice President Anthony Diodato highlights positives in the P/C sector, including a second straight year of underwriting profitability. "A.M. Best estimates that 2015 will be another year of underwriting profitability," said Diodato. "If this materializes, it will be the first time in 40 years that the industry will have three consecutive years of underwriting profitability." However, Diodato said that there are some areas of concern bubbling under the surface that could disrupt these positive trends, including the prolonged low interest rate environment, persistent competitive market pressures and potential reserve inadequacies.

A.M. Best has a negative rating outlook on the commercial lines sector of the P/C industry, and a stable outlook on the personal lines segment.

Recent episodes of A.M.BestTV include:


  • Insurers Step Up Their Charitable Giving: A new McKinsey & Company survey shows that charitable giving by the insurance industry has risen by 15% since 2011: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=iicf215 .

  • National Insurance Crime Bureau Fights With Computers and Investigators: A small army of former police investigators at the National Insurance Crime Bureau help member companies fight fraud by weeding through thousands of suspicious claims every year: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=fraud215 .

  • New England Storms Test Insurers' Claims Handling: A briefing from A.M. Best concerning insurers that have large portions of their business in the New England region, where insurance claims are mounting due to a series of winter storms in that area: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=storm215 .

  • Insurers Respond to Growing Political Risk Exposures: Global turmoil is driving increased demand for increased political risk cove rage, spurring efforts to model the impact and forecast losses: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=political215 .

A.M. BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.