BestWeek: Thinking the Unthinkable: How 'Mega-Cats' May Bruise Insurers.OLDWICK, N.J. -- A Category 4 hurricane plows ashore just north of Atlantic City Atlantic City, city (1990 pop. 37,986), Atlantic co., SE N.J., an Atlantic resort and convention center; settled c.1790, inc. 1854. Situated on Absecon Island, a barrier island 10 mi (16. , N.J., pummeling costly oceanfront vacation homes and swank casinos before it drives northward into New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of state and eastern Canada Eastern Canada (also the Eastern provinces) is the region of Canada generally considered to be east of Manitoba, consisting of the following provinces:
These are among the $100 billion scenarios that give insurance executives nightmares. As many as 40 insurers could be vulnerable to failure if a hurricane caused $100 billion or more in insured property losses in the United States, according to a statistical analysis by A.M. Best Co. in the June 5 BestWeek. A.M. Best's "2006 Annual Hurricane Study" assesses how the U.S. property/casualty industry might be affected by a potential, perhaps likely, $100 billion-plus insured property loss -- almost twice the catastrophe losses from last year's hurricane season. Also in the June 5 BestWeek, an A.M. Best special report points out greater acceleration in growth of net premiums written for the top 50 nonlife companies than for the top 10 in the United Kingdom. While the top 50 companies are taking greater market share, it is not at the expense of underwriting quality, A.M. Best said. Also featured is Best's Insurance Composite Index Composite Index A grouping of equities, indexes or other factors combined in a standardized way, providing a useful statistical measure of overall market or sector performance over time. Also known simply as a "composite". , which finished the week of June 1, 2006, at 1,112.34, up 10.19% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 134 insurance stocks. The week's top performers were FBL FBL Full Bell Lines (coin grading) FBL Fly by Light FBL FIATA Bill of Lading FBL Functional Baseline FBL Foundation for a Better Life FBL Federal Barge Lines, Inc. Financial Group Inc.; Alleghany Corp.; Affirmative Insurance Holdings Inc.; Independence Holding Co.; and UnitedHealth Group Inc. The week's bottom performers were Vesta Insurance Group Inc.; Quanta quan·ta n. Plural of quantum. Capital Holdings Ltd.; United Fire & Casualty Co.; Republic Companies Group Inc. and Argonaut Group Inc. BestWeek is published by A.M. Best Co. for insurance professionals, including home office executives, agents and brokers. To subscribe to BestWeek, please call A.M. Best's customer service department at (908) 439-2200, ext. 5742, or e-mail your request to customer_service@ambest.com. 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 www.ambest.com. |
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