Trending News & Highlights |
| A new Best's Special Report, discussed by AM Best Associate Director Jason Hopper, finds the 2025 net income for U.S. life/annuity industry rose to the highest level in the past five years.
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| To shake its negative outlook, the United States health insurance segment needs a cooling of growing medical cost and utilization trends, improved loss ratios and a return to overall operating profitability, according to AM Best analysts.
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| European managing general agents have shifted in recent years beyond offering just a single line of business as they've become a more crucial part of the insurance market, said Tim Lamm chief commercial officer of Wecoya Underwriting GmbH.
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| Ann Modica, director, AM Best, explores the potential spillover effects for the global economy, how it might impact monetary policy decisions, and which countries and regions are most vulnerable to these effects.
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| Planning for the transition to liquidation of PHL Variable Insurance Co. is underway, according to the rehabilitator, which is still seeking a buyer as part of the plan.
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| (Updates with comment from attorney for the former Weyerhaeuser employees starting in ninth paragraph.) A federal judge in Washington moved to dismiss a lawsuit filed by former employees at Weyerhaeuser Co. over a pension risk transfer transaction with Athene Holding Ltd., saying the deal did not violate terms of the Employee Retirement income Security Act of 1974.
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| Nationwide is expanding property/casualty business again after a multi-year effort to shift to products for commercial and personal lines policyholders with a "predict and prevent focus," according to segment President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Berven.
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| Kingstone Cos. Inc. is expanding to California with excess and surplus homeowners insurance, where Chief Executive Officer Meryl Golden said it will go toe-to-toe with many of the same competitors it already outperforms in downstate New York.
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| Marine and aviation insurance participants say a recent two-week ceasefire in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is welcome news as coverage remains available, but the situation remains fluid day-to-day, and events could change the market rapidly.
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| The U.S. government is doubling its Middle East shipping reinsurance program to $40 billion and named six underwriters in addition to lead insurer Chubb Corp. to back the facility.
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| Potential exposure to the Middle East conflict could reach $80 billion or more for underwriters as rates continue to soften in Asia-Pacific markets at April 1 renewals while India attracts a growing number of underwriters, according to broker Guy Carpenter & Co.
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| Zurich Insurance Group's Austria unit is expanding with the establishment of a branch in Poland as it enters the country's corporate insurance business.
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| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a higher-than-expected 2.48% net average rate increase for 2027 Medicare Advantage and Part D payments.
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| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are giving Elevance Health Inc. more time to correct alleged data reporting issues in its Medicare Advantage programs.
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| Illinois Mutual Life Insurance Co. swung to a $391,000 annual net loss in 2025 from an $8.5 million net income a year earlier as policy benefits outpaced revenue growth.
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| Penn Mutual Life Insurance Co. saw its net attributable income drop to $519.6 million in 2025 from $1.33 billion a year earlier as total revenue was down and policyholder benefits rose, according to its 2025 annual report.
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| Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota said it incurred a $353 million operating loss last year largely on unfavorable performance in federal and state health programs, notably Medicare Advantage and Medicaid.
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| A federal court is giving UnitedHealth Group Inc. until April 29 to respond to a discovery request for documents covering the insurer’s use of artificial intelligence when processing Medicare Advantage claims.
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| Mutual of Omaha Holding Co. recently completed a planned reorganization following state approvals.
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| Perils AG raised the insured loss estimate for European windstorm Goretti to €479 million ($559.1 million) from €467 million.
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| Greg Lindberg owes a group of insurers at least $1.65 billion in restitution for his wide-ranging insurance fraud and related crimes, according to a report from the special master assigned to the long-running fraud lawsuit.
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| Tarun Chopra, venture partner, InsurTech Fund, discusses how embedded insurance and artificial intelligence are changing distribution, fueling investment in cyber, parametric and climate solutions. He spoke with AM Best TV at the 2026 InsurTech NY Spring Conference.
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| The United States insurance industry shed 5,700 positions in March, which saw total nonfarm payroll increase by 178,000 jobs across the economy, according to preliminary figures from the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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| Julie Pearce, holding company specialist, Iowa Department of Insurance and Financial Services, discusses the need for strong governance and oversight as agentic artificial intelligence evolves. Pearce spoke with AM Best TV at the 2026 InsurTech NY Spring Conference.
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| The Louisiana House of Representatives passed bills that would change how the workers’ compensation reimbursement schedule is updated and eliminate the state’s Workers’ Compensation Advisory Council.
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| T&D Holdings Inc. rolled out a new strategy to achieve sustainable growth in the Japanese life insurance market amid "megatrends" including declining birth rates and an aging population.
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| China Reinsurance (Group) Corp. reported lower net profit for 2025 as the group said it evaluated its assets and liabilities based on the macroeconomic environment and market changes.
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Research |
A new AM Best analysis reveals that funds held to back individual annuity policies now account for over 36% of the U.S. life/annuity insurance segment’s overall reserves, which is up from 32% prior to the financial crisis of 2008. It illustrates a shift from traditional, defined benefit retirement and income protection approaches toward strategies more reliant on investment performance to drive yield. Over that same timeframe, a larger portion of these annuity reserves have shifted to companies with an AM Best Credit Rating that is nearly two notches lower, when viewed on a comparative, weighted basis.
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The U.S. life/annuity industry posted a 34% year-over-year increase in net income to nearly $40 billion in 2025, the largest total in the last five years, according to AM Best. These preliminary results are detailed in a new Best’s Special Report, titled, “First Look: 2025 Life/Annuity Financial Results,” and the data is derived from companies’ annual statutory statements received as of March 19, representing an estimated 93% of the total life/annuity industry’s premiums and annuity considerations.
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