Agency Management

Members of corporate boards increasingly recognize that financially ailing carriers can topple directors and officers liability coverage towers, but they also need to structure strong programs in the event their own firms enter bankruptcy.

The property and casualty industry posted a $1.3 billion first-quarter loss--the worst result it has recorded in more than 20 years of surveying consolidated results, the Insurance Services Office reported.

A longtime Allstate agent and veteran of the Florida House of Representatives has announced his candidacy for Florida chief financial officer in a race likely to see some focus on the state's fractured insurance market.

The American Insurance Marketing & Sales Society (AIMS) has named James P. Gosselink president of the association for 2009-2010.

Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings said it has named Jose Diaz Devesa as chief executive officer of Willis Venezuela, effective immediately.

Wachovia Insurance Services, Inc. has been re-named Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA, Inc., San Francisco-based Wells Fargo bank said.

Wholesale insurance broker Crump Group Inc. said its Ascensus division has agreed to acquire CUNA Mutual Group's IRA Services division. Terms of the deal were not released.

The key to being a good salesperson is the ability to make cold calls, and building and sustaining relationships is not enough to make an independent agent a successful salesperson, a research study has found.