intheknow

>> Brotherhood Mutual announces successor to retiring President James A. Blum…Mark A. Robinson, senior vice president and treasurer of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, Fort Wayne, Ind., becomes the company’s fifth president in its 90 years of business following Blum’s retirement at the end of April. Robinson has been with Brotherhood Mutual since 1994.

>> Beacon Mutual Insurance Company completes five-month national search for new president and CEO…The board of directors for the Beacon Mutual Insurance Company, Warwick, R.I., has named James V. Rosati president and CEO. Rosati has been an investment banking partner with Riparian Partners in Providence since 2002, and has served as a member of the board of directors of the Providence Mutual Fire Insurance Company since 1993. Additionally, since 2003, Rosati has served as chairman of the board of directors of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

>> Donegal Mutual invests $3.5 million in Sheboygan Falls Mutual…The transaction calls for Donegal Mutual Insurance Company, Marietta, Pa., to add $3.5 million to the $6.5 million surplus of Sheboygan Falls Mutual Insurance Company, Sheboygan Falls, Wis. The interest-bearing surplus note would make Donegal Mutual a creditor of Sheboygan Falls Mutual, and allow Donegal Mutual to fill six of the 10 seats on Sheboygan Falls Mutual’s board of directors, giving it management control and sign a services agreement.

>> MMG Insurance announces lead underwriter promotion…MMG Insurance Company, Presque Isle, Maine, a regional, property/casualty insurance company, promoted Paul J. Kinney to lead underwriter. Kinney began his career with MMG as an associate underwriter for the commercial lines department in 2001.

>> Peel Mutual Insurance Company announces partnership with inter8…Peel Mutual Insurance Company, Brampton, Ontario, has successfully gone live with iter8 Incorporated’s leading-edge solutions to streamline electronic communication with its brokers. Implementing communic8, the company planned a multi-phase broker communication strategy that would allow the company to accurately transfer data from auto and residential lines of business systems to multiple broker management systems.

>> Enumclaw Insurance Group first to use rapid responder crisis management system…Prepared Response, Inc., a developer of crisis management planning and response systems, recognized Enumclaw Property & Casualty Insurance Company, Enumclaw, Wash., as the first insurance company nationwide to install the Rapid Responder® crisis management system to protect its main office and warehouse. Rapid Responder gives facility managers and security teams instant access to more than 300 facility data points, including floor plans, satellite and geospatial information, interior and exterior photos, emergency plans, hazardous materials locations, utility shut-offs, and evacuation routes, to ensure a fast and effective response during emergencies.

>> State Farm invests more than $3 million in youth-led projects…The State Farm Youth Advisory Board, in partnership with State Farm Insurance, Bloomington, Ill., announced Feb. 26 that it will award $3,054,715 for youth-led, service-learning – based projects to 44 organizations across the United States and Canada.

>> AIG names first chief diversity officer…American International Group Inc. announced Jan. 12 the appointment of Terri D. Austin as chief diversity officer, a new position providing oversight and leadership for the insurer’s diversity efforts worldwide.

>> Jewelers Mutual launches new security course on its website…A new security training course created by Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company, Neenah, Wis., allows jewelers to learn security tips by simply going online. Called Selling with Security, the new course is a tool for retail store owners and managers to train sales associates on how to make basic security habits a part of their normal routine of selling jewelry. Members of the jewelry industry attended a sneak preview of the course Jan. 13, prior to the Jewelers’ Security Alliance Annual Luncheon in New York City.

>> Letter to the editor expresses differing viewpoints on climate change…

January 29, 2007

Jon Gorman
Editor-in-Chief
INmagazine

Mr. Gorman,

In regards to the articles “It’s So Hot” and “It Is Here and It is Real” I thought I was reading another environmental rag spouting their propaganda, not a property and causalty magazine. Maybe your writers should do a little deeper research instead of re-writing what we hear every day from the main-stream media. Myself, I get my information from scientists at NASA and the National Climatic Data Center.

First off, the definition of global warming is the gradual increase in the temperature of the earth of 10 degrees over a century. A one degree increase like your article mentioned is well within the earth’s natural variation. The “4 degree increase in some regions” as mentioned, more than likely were taken in large cities, with large amounts of concrete, which no doubt will have an increase in temperature. No one ever mentions the regions that have had a decrease in temperature over the past century.

Next, the “Greenhouse Effect” does exist on earth. If it didn’t, our atmosphere would be like that of the moon, extreme daily temperature changes in which humans could not survive. When we hear the media speak of “Global Warming and Greenhouse Effect” what they really should be saying is “Enhanced Greenhouse.” This is the increase of man-made carbon dioxide, which in turn causes global warming. However, carbon dioxide is not the main greenhouse gas as we are led to believe but rather water vapor. That’s right, 90 percent of greenhouse gasses are water vapor (water droplets in clouds and evaporation of the earth’s water sources). Not much we can do about water vapor. The other 10 percent is made up of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane and a few other gasses. Carbon dioxide only makes up 6 percent of the atmosphere and only 3.5 percent of that is man made. Let’s put that into perspective. Computer models say a worse case, doubling of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, would increase the temperature about 1.5 degrees. As stated earlier, not much of a warming trend and all within the natural variation. By the way, one large volcanic eruption puts more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than 10 years of human activity.

Your articles talk about the billions this so called “Global Warming” could cost us in CAT losses. How about the billions we are already spending on reducing carbon emissions (real money out of yours and my pockets). Real scientist like MIT’s Richard Lindzen, the nation’s leading expert on atmospheric science (not Al Gore) say man-made carbon dioxide has nothing to do with changes in our climate.

Yes, there is no doubt our climate is changing and we have seen large CAT losses the past several years. Think about it like this. Our atmosphere has been around for more than one million years. We have been studying it accurately for around 100 years, and we think we can accurately predict its future and why it is changing. I don’t know too many actuaries that would be comfortable making a future prediction with those numbers. To say that humans can influence and then predict Mother Nature would be irresponsible. Anyone who has watched their local weatherman talk about computer models and the weekly weather forecast knows how wrong that can be.

I understand the need for CAT modeling by insurance companies but to blame CAT losses on global warming is incorrect.

Respectfully,
Teague Lottman
Coop Mutual Agronomist

Response...

As your letter to the editor helps to illustrate with well-researched and important viewpoints, there’s currently little agreement – scientific, anecdotal, or otherwise – in the climate change/global warming discussion. We wrote about the issue of climate change because it is an issue to which insurance companies are paying attention, and about which legislators and regulators have begun to focus.

Contributing Editor Lisa Floreancig’s goal was to use observations about recent severe weather and warmer-than-average temperatures as the basis from which to present the issue and set it in an insurance industry framework. The professionals with whom Ms. Floreancig spoke and interviewed are industry-leading experts in their fields…industry-leading experts with oftentimes opposing views.

Your points and suggestions are important and much appreciated in the ongoing dialogue. Thank you for your response, and we hope that you’ll continue to be involved in this discussion.

Sincerely,
Jon K. Gorman
Editor-In-Chief
IN magazine

See something you’d like to comment on? E-mail in@namic.org.

Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:00:00 AM. Modified: Thursday, June 28, 2007 3:54:01 PM.

Salary Survey: Discounts for Participation & Membership

(317) 875-5250 - Indianapolis | (202) 628-1558 - Washington, D.C.

Contact NAMIC | Press | Advertise | Sponsor

We are 1,400 property/casualty insurance companies serving more than 135 million auto, home and business policyholders, with more than $196 billion in premiums accounting for 50 percent of the automobile/homeowners market and 31 percent of the business insurance market. We are the largest and most diverse property/casualty trade association in the country, with regional and local mutual insurance companies on main streets across America joining many of the country’s largest national insurers who also call NAMIC their home. More than 200,000 people are employed by NAMIC members.