"INSURANCE MARKETING & DISTRIBUTION" FROM THOMSON FINANCIAL MEDIA.

Thomson Financial Media (New York) will begin the publication of Insurance Marketing & Distribution with an issue in March. It will be published six times in 2001 and will be polybagged with Thomson's Insurance Networking magazine.

The new title will have a controlled circulation of 25,000 insurance executives, brokers and marketers involved in the property/casualty and life/health insurance industry sectors. Thomson said it is being launched in response to the changes taking place in the insurance industry, including difficulties in account retention, the effects of the Internet, increased competition, industry M&A's, globalization and new laws allowing other entities to sell insurance.

Taglined "pushing profitability to a new level," the magazine's mission is to provide coverage on how new forces stemming from competition, technology and regulatory change are "transforming the ways in which insurance products are positioned, marketed and sold," Thomson said.

Editorial will include information on new strategies, trends., and technology innovations. Proposed features stories in 2001 include stories on marketing tools, financial service convergence, rating marketing agencies and Internet marketing and Web branding.