A View from the Press Box

Gary Sheffield beat me to the punch this month, hitting number 500 on April 17. But while not all of my 500 blog entries have been home runs, at least I didn’t need steroids to produce them! In any case, I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on what I’ve accomplished with this blog, as well as thank all of you for coming along for the ride. (more…)

A delegation of representatives from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of Japan visited NU headquarters here in Hoboken, N.J., yesterday, on their way to the Big I conference in Washington, and were most interested to hear how problems at AIG are impacting the U.S. and global markets, while also asking about health care reform and agency M&A activity. Read on for more details about our lively cultural exchange. (more…)

While attending the RIMS opening reception at Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando last week, I wondered whether it might be time to take on the industry’s lousy reputation once and for all with a bold, sanitized and most of all, entertaining exhibit highlighting how the industry works and all the good it does for society! We could call it “The Insurance Industry Experience.” (more…)

Here at the RIMS conference in Orlando, there are so few attendees walking through the Exhibit Hall that you can throw a bowling ball down the aisles and never hit anyone! It’s discouraging to see so many risk managers staying home this time around–and worse, so counterproductive, since gatherings of professional brainpower like these are more valuable than ever in such tough times. (more…)

In “Chicago,” while Roxie Hart becomes a celebrity after murdering her lover, no one notices her protective husband, Amos, who laments his lack of visibility in the classic show tune, “Mr. Cellophane.” Unfortunately, too many risk managers are suffering from the same identity problem, as the only time anyone notices them is when something goes wrong. (more…)

Everyone is looking over their shoulders these days, fearing the folks bearing pink slips, and risk managers are no exception. But let the dreaded bean-counters beware! Any organization that scales back loss control programs or risk management staff is only cutting off their nose to spite their face. Such shortsighted decisions will come back to haunt them for sure!

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Eliot Spitzer’s political rehab is in full throttle, as the disgraced former governor and crusading attorney general from New York says he told us so, commenting on the financial crisis in various online and print opinion pieces. The question is, should we care about what he has to say? I think we should. (more…)

In NU’s most recent online poll, 78 percent of those responding do not believe AIG will ever repay all the bailout billions the federal government and taxpayers laid out to rescue the troubled company. I fear our readers are probably right, and frankly Uncle Sam has no one to blame but himself for getting taxpayers into this black hole. (more…)