A View from the Press Box

Like the proverbial skunk at a garden party, I spoiled a perfectly civil panel discussion among three mega-brokers on “leveraging innovation as a market differentiator” by asking what innovations were ahead to replace the billions their firms surrendered in contingency fees to settle bid-rigging allegations. Their responses showed there are indeed still hard feelings on the subject.

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Isn’t it ironic that the day after I post an entry on broker fee disclosure, Marsh comes out with plans for a new compensation scheme to offset the billion dollar loss they suffered by swearing off contingency fees to settle bid-rigging charges? Will it pass muster with buyers? And how long will Michael Cherkasky be able to hang on as president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies given his own startling admission of leadership failures?

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Independent agent groups, both local and national, are responding in public with restraint, but in private are no doubt upset and scared after hearing that the New York Insurance Department intends to require every retail broker to disclose to clients the value of all compensation deals with insurers. I think it’s about time.

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Controversies over disputed hurricane and flood claims, credit scoring, federal regulation and the industry’s profitability will be among the hot topics debated next week by two heavyweights—Robert P. Hartwig, president of the Insurance Information Institute, and J. Robert Hunter, insurance director of the Consumer Federation of America—in “The Battle Of The Bobs,” just one of seven sessions in the National Underwriter Company’s first “Virtual Conference & Expo,” Nov. 14 and 15. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for???

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Gary Wolcott, director of communications at the PIA Western Alliance, last week reported on my Oct. 31 “Meet The Press” blog entry in his association’s newsletter. Along with noting my musings following the PCI annual conference in talking about the industry’s poor image and how to improve it, he added a few keen insights from his own experience.

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Even though Al Gore has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the debate over whether man-made pollution is responsible for global warming and the Earth’s eventual self-destruction is far from settled. But that doesn’t mean property insurers shouldn’t be moving aggressively to offset the potential risks of climate change, no matter what the cause, according to a panel of experts at this week’s Property Casualty Insurers Association of America annual conference.

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