BestWeek: Homeowners Defense Act Draws Mixed Reviews.

OLDWICK, N.J. -- After more than a decade of failed attempts to create a national catastrophe fund, legislation taking a somewhat different tack on homeowners' insurance issues now appears it may quickly be gaining traction in the U.S. House, according to an article in BestWeek U.S./Canada. Introduced just before the August recess, the Homeowners Defense Act already has seen its first hearing and could be set for a committee mark-up at some point in October.

Despite its building political momentum, the bill, H.R. 3355, continues to draw mixed response from those both inside and outside of the insurance industry. Some praise it for innovating the concepts of "liquidity loans" to state catastrophe funds, creating voluntary pool for residual market entities, and capitalizing itself by issuing catastrophe bonds. Others complain it would displace private markets or subsidize continued development in environmentally sensitive areas.

Partisans both in favor and opposed to the bill shared some of their thoughts during a recent joint hearing of the House Financial Services Committee's subcommittees on housing and capital markets.

And in BestWeek Europe:

This year the message from the annual Rendez-Vous reinsurance gathering in Monte Carlo was remarkably short and simple: Rates are softening and underwriting discipline needs to hold steady as the market peers into the void.

Also in BestWeek U.S./Canada:

Large U.S. health insurers' expertise in their core business line may give them a competitive edge over life insurers in a fast changing employee benefits marketplace, which includes group life insurance.

And in both editions of BestWeek:

The Best's Global Insurance Composite Index finished the week of September 13 up 9.01% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 176 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were KMG America, Citizens Financial Corp., Fairfax Financial, Infinity Property & Casualty, and Universal American Financial Corp.

The bottom five performers were American Physicians Capital, LIG Insurance Co., National Interstate Corp., Nipponkoa Insurance Co., and First American Corp.

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Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.