BestDay Audio for Thursday, Jan. 26: IUMI Chief Cites ‘Pretty Heavy’ Marine Losses

BestDay Audio Podcast for Thursday, Jan. 26: Ole Wikborg, president of the International Union of Marine Insurance, says the international marine insurance market "is going through some pretty heavy losses," and is under scrutiny as a result of change in the financial markets. Wikborg also talks about rising tensions in relation to fears that the Iranian government might interfere with the passage of oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz and the possible effects on the maritime insurance market of the Costa Concordia cruise liner disaster in Italy.

Recent episodes of BestDay Audio include:

— Wednesday, Jan. 25: Joe Waked, recently named chief executive officer of Confie Seguros, a national insurance broker focused on the Hispanic market, discusses growth opportunities in the nonstandard automobile insurance market, and why he'd like to see immigration reform in the United States.

— Tuesday, Jan. 24: Lance Ewing, vice president of national accounts for Chartis Insurance Co., and a past president of the Risk and Insurance Management Society, explores the myriad of challenges risk managers face when dealing with large-scale events such as this year's Super Bowl in Indianapolis, noting that there is a blueprint in place from past events.

— Monday, Jan. 23: Property/casualty financial impairments in the United States increased to 28 in 2011 from 21 in 2010, reflecting the state of the troubled U.S. economy, according to a new A.M. Best special report, titled "P/C Impairments Continue Climb; L/H Rate Remains Low, For Now." Senior Manager John Lafayette and Managing Senior Business Analyst Brendan Noonan said that the total number of U.S. impairments have been going up since the financial crisis started to take hold in 2007; however, life/health impairments dropped to two in 2011 from seven in 2010. On the property/casualty side, Lafayette and Noonan pointed to the distressed real estate market and high unemployment as contributing factors in impairments among title and workers' compensation writers.

— Friday, Jan. 20: Michael Fusselbaugh, senior vice president of renewable energy for the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co., explains insurers must find solutions to insure the various risks in 'clean' energy.

—Thursday, Jan. 19: Johan van Rooyen, general manager, Ping An Health Insurance Company of China Ltd., outlines the company's business development strategies.

The BestDay Audio Podcast is a daily wrap-up of insurance news plus additional content. To listen or subscribe, visit http://www.bestdayaudio.com. To hear individual audio interviews on an on-demand basis, visit http://www.ambest.com/audio.