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LLOYD'S PROFITS DOWN

Lloyd's pretax profits in the first half of 2008 fell by 47 percent compared to last year, according to the insurer's interim report. Pretax profits for the period ending June 30, 2008 totaled £949 million ($1.88 billion), compared to £1,807 million ($3.48 billion) last year.Lloyd's Chairman Lord Peter Levene said that the results came as no surprise "with profits heavily influenced by falling investment income and increased cost of claims."

STATIONS SURVIVE IKE

Hurricane Ike failed to knock out new hardened weather stations while 10 of the 11 National Weather Service stations failed, according to Risk Management Solutions and WeatherFlow. The new stations successfully recorded wind speeds at seven locations in the Houston/Galveston area during Ike. Owned and operated by WeatherFlow, the stations support the WindX and Paradex parametric indices, which allow reinsurers to transfer risk to the capital markets based on wind speeds rather than insured losses.

SITE HELPS CONSUMERS

A new Web site dedicated to helping consumers understand multiple lines of insurance has been created by the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters Society. Located at insurancehelp.cpcusociety.org, the site will also contain cost-saving and safety tips. Content will include articles created by the CPCU Society, as well as information on lowering car insurance costs; tips for teen and senior drivers; fire, flood and lightning safety; and water damage prevention.

SALARY DATA RELEASED

The Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. has released a salary survey of risk management positions at U.S.-based companies. The survey found the average base salary for a chief risk officer or vice president of risk management is $170,683; a director of insurance and risk management is $118,200; an insurance manager's is $93,200; and a risk management analyst is $64,100. Online surveys were completed by 2,180 RIMS members at 1,490 organizations between the beginning of May and the end of June.

CA COMP BILLS VETOED

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed two bills that would have modified workers' comp legislation, with one increasing permanent disability payments and the other adding various qualifications to apportionment calculations. Supporters said the measures would ensure that workers with permanent disability injuries are justly compensated and not unfairly denied benefits. Opponents said the bills would have rolled back workers' comp reforms and increased costs.

MODELING TOOL CREATED

Benfield launched a modeling tool that allows reinsurers to better quantify their risks in line with rating agency and solvency requirements. Developed by Benfield's ReMetrics team, the Curve for Risk Analysis Fitting tool, or CRAFT, enables users to fit loss severity distributions to loss experience data, thus creating a more accurate impression of a company's financial risk profile.

--Compiled by staff from news and wire reports

November 1, 2008

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