What coverages does your company need to face terrorism risks?

Last week’s attacks across the city of Paris not only shocked the world but reminds us that no area is truly safe from a senseless terrorist attack. The coordinated attacks across the city left 100 people dead and 350 others fighting to survive. Not even a week later over 100 were taken hostage at a hotel in Mali, and it was discovered that the Russian airliner crash last month was the aftermath of a bomb. As events such as these continue to escalate, it is becoming more apparent that the risk facing the global insurance industry has been altered and that many business owners don’t understand the risks they may face in the event of a tragedy.

Your business need to evaluate whether TRIPRA is the right protection against an increasing frequency and severity of political violence and terrorism throughout the world. Is TRIPRA enough? What alternative coverage exists and do I want to pay for it?  Religious and political violence, Sabotage, Kidnap and Ransom, Civil war, insurrection and chemical biological or radiological contamination are not covered by TRIPRA.

Nonprofits benefit when partnering with an insurance broker

Nonprofit companies carry with them some complexities that are often overlooked. They have different structures and allowances than a traditional for profit company, and are therefore open to a variety of different risks. These risks can harm the business if not properly dealt with and mitigated before they arise.

Our team has always been specialized in helping companies with complex risks, by providing technical expertise. This past year, we have partnered with a larger brokerage with over 50 years of experience in the nonprofit area. The Gallagher Religious & Nonprofit Practice is now helping us support this sector with an unmatched industry expertise that can benefit our clients, along with the leverage a global presence.

Insurance unicorn cut in half

Unicorns, private, VC-backed firms with valuations over $1 billion had been growing by leaps and bounds this year.  But, now those valuations are under pressure.  The most dramatic of these in insurance is Zenefits, an online health insurance broker.  Press reports today say that Fidelity cut its valuation for Zenefits by 48% from its May round, still a unicorn but a much smaller one at a reported $2.34 billion.  That cannot be making shareholders happy.

The report also says that turnover is high and telephone sales representatives in Arizona are being paid $30,000 per year. No surprise at those low wage levels.

New risks involved in Title III changes to JOBS Act

The 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act was passed in order to provide startups access to cost-effective investor capital by easing various securities regulations. This was the first step in enabling ordinary investors to participate in equity-based crowdfunding. The second step, Title III, was approved on October 30th by the SEC, but will not take effect until 180 days after they are published in the Federal Registrar.

Current SEC rules permit only accredited investors to participate in crowdfunding. An accredited investor is someone who earns greater than $200,000 per year, or whose net worth is over $1 million without taking into account their place of residence.

Insurer steps into drug pricing controversy

Insurance will play a huge role in the developing drug pricing controversy.  Healthcare commentator, Ezekial Emanual, opined in yesterday’s New York Times that new drugs, particularly PCSK9 inhibitors for cholesterol control, are entering the market at prices well above their utility as measured by the extremely clinical, but widely used,  “Quality-adjusted Life Years” measure.  Now, of course, Amgen (a PCSK9 maker) may not agree with Emanuel’s calculations and that represents just one of the problems.

Emanuel fairly raises the question of whether the drug/healthcare industry will self-regulate the issue.  The alternative, “death panels” from the government, are highly unlikely based on prior debates. 

Addressing environmental to facilitate real estate deals

Low interest rates and great pricing in the mid 2000s lead to a real estate explosion. With dust now settled from the boom, buyers and investors are looking back and focusing on the transactions that took place, and one common threat continues to pop up — pollution and environmental liability. Pollution liability ends up costing investors and shareholders a large sum and can even prohibit transactions from reaching the closing table. The assets purchased during the real estate market boom are being investigated and what shareholders are finding is that these investments are full of pollution and environmental risk problems. In response, lenders, carriers and attorneys have implemented resources, one specifically being pollution legal liability insurance (PLL), which will protect against pollution liability exposures.

Life science companies face increased risk of cyber exposure

Cyber hackers frequently target life sciences companies due to the amount of sensitive data that they possess. Vulnerabilities within the industry often include outsourcing information technology services, limited data storage protection, and inadequate IT policies and procedures. A PwC survey was recently conducted and revealed that almost 50 percent of pharmaceutical and life science organizations have experienced a security breach in the past year; and the biggest threats to these two industries are sophisticated viruses such as Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) and malware exploits.