Best's Review Explores a New Insurance Frontier.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- As in all areas of exploration, where people go, insurers soon follow. Best's Review follows the industry as it boldly goes into the new frontier of space tourism.

In addition, the March issue investigates what you may not know about Gramm-Leach-Bliley; whether the life industry is calling it splits, as it divides over reserve requirements; and the small physical matter of nanotechnology, which may mean big insurance growth.

Best's Review is published by A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents, brokers and others who are affiliated with the industry, including bankers, lawyers and educators.

As space tourism shifts from science fiction fantasy to tangible reality--and at least four private companies offer high-altitude, weightless simulation flights--insurers have begun the difficult work of assessing shared risk and writing appropriate policies.

The March issue of Best's Review also exposes the changes, both good and bad, resulting from the passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley financial services modernization law. From ending the rancor between banks and insurers to saddling consumers with privacy regulation costs and inconveniences, GLB has had a wide range of effects.

The life insurance industry has divided over reserve requirements for certain universal life products with secondary guarantees. The conflict, erupting chiefly from arguments regarding the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Actuarial Guideline 38, pits stock companies against mutual companies, according to some.

Finally, Best's Review looks a little closer at some small technology that may soon cause big insurance growth. Nanotechnology advances have caused several to name this the next industrial revolution. For insurers, this field may bring a change in existing lines such as personal injury and property damage.

Of course, travel's vast expansion and technology's minute contraction are only a few of the stories in a Best's Review issue that spans celebrity body-part insurance, corporate comebacks, risks worth taking and more.

To read these articles and more, subscribe to Best's Review by calling the A.M. Best customer service department at [phone], ext. 5742, or e-mailing your request to [e-mail]. We also offer a digital edition of Best's Review with the same look and graphics as the original format, plus added click-through features. To subscribe to this electronic version, please visit http://www.bestreview.com/digital.

A.M. Best Co., established in 1899, is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit A.M. Best's Web site at http://www.ambest.com.