News
Nationwide to Acquire Allstate Employer Stop Loss Business for $1.25 billion
Nationwide, one of the largest providers of insurance and financial services products in the U.S., announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase The Allstate Corporation's (NYSE: ALL) employer stop loss segment for $1.25 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions.
"As Nationwide continues to focus on our mission to protect people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care, this acquisition is a strong fit," said Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker. "We are extending our protection solutions to meet the needs of business owners today and into the future."
This acquisition will further strengthen and diversify Nationwide Financial's portfolio, expanding the company's ability to sell stop loss insurance to small businesses. Stop loss insurance protects employers who self-fund their health insurance plans from excess losses.
"Acquiring Allstate's employer stop loss segment will broaden Nationwide Financial's portfolio, meeting the needs of small businesses, allowing us to serve more customers and positioning us as a leading provider in the stop loss industry," said John Carter, president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Financial. "This represents a significant investment in the stop loss market, adding experienced talent with proven business results, protecting over 13,000 small businesses and complementing our existing offerings in the market while accelerating our opportunity for growth."
This new business will lay the foundation for Nationwide to continue to add capabilities for significant growth in employer benefits.
Research
Pet insurance premium set to go through the woof - Business Insurance
The pet insurance market is set to grow faster than a Great Dane puppy.
In 2024, the market accounted for $10.8 billion in premium and is expected to reach $38.3 billion by 2035, growing at a compounded annual rate of around 12.2% between 2025 and 2035, according to a report released Thursday by the Canadian market research company Metatech Insights.
Pet insurance provides financial coverage for veterinary care and medical expenses incurred by pet owners, and the market growth is a “sign that more pet owners prioritize their pets’ health and well-being” along with a surge in pet ownership, Metatech said in its report.
Commentary/Opinion
The Perfect Storm in Home Insurance
The Issue:
The Los Angeles fires, perhaps the costliest weather-related event in U.S. history, started just a few months after Hurricane Helene which ranked among the top 10 costliest hurricanes to batter the United States.*
And while hurricanes and wildfires command the most attention, severe convective storms — those traditional hailstorms that generate tornadoes and severe winds — have become more frequent and more severe and are depleting the financial resources of insurers and reinsurers for the so-called normal events.
Add to that high inflation and supply chain problems making it more expensive to rebuild and replace property — among other notable factors — and the result is an insurance system that is being stressed in ways it had not been before, essentially breaking down in a number of states.
If insurance companies are able to charge higher premiums to cover rising costs, then the question is whether consumers can actually afford them.
The Facts:
Getting home insurance has become increasingly difficult and expensive in many parts of the United States. The average home insurance premium in the United States rose by 33% from $1,902 in 2020 to $2,530 in 2023 — a 13% increase over and above what is accounted for by inflation — according to a new working paper by economists Benjamin Keys and Philip Mulder.
Telematics, Driving & Insurance
Cambridge Mobile Telematics and ATSIP Launch $1 Million Road Safety Demonstration Program - Cambridge Mobile Telematics
Cambridge Mobile Telematics (CMT), the world’s largest telematics service provider, and the Association of Transportation Safety Information Professionals (ATSIP) announced the launch of a $1 million demonstration program to address critical safety challenges and better inform strategies to save lives on our roadways. The program provides ATSIP members with access to advanced insights on road safety to use in conjunction with traditional traffic records to identify high-risk areas and develop targeted crash prevention strategies.
ATSIP members, including State TRCC representatives, Tribal Communities, and ATSIP TRCC Affiliate Members, are eligible to apply. The selected awardees will use CMT’s new road safety platform, a state-of-the-art tool for analyzing roadway risks and crash-prone locations. This initiative will enable TRCCs to integrate predictive risk analytics with traditional traffic records to develop more effective safety measures.
“TRCCs play a critical role in collecting and analyzing traffic records data to improve roadway safety,” said Tara Casanova Powell, CEO of ATSIP. “By integrating telematics with traditional traffic records, states can identify patterns, target high-risk locations, and implement solutions that reduce crashes and save lives.”
InsurTech/M&A/Finance💰/Collaboration
Howden Said in Talks to Buy Insurance Broker Risk Strategies
Howden, one of the world’s largest closely held insurance brokers, is in talks to acquire Risk Strategies, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
[Ed. Note: Howden in talks to acquire $8bn+ Risk Strategies for US retail entry according to Insurance Insider US
The talks to acquire Risk Strategies, which is ultimately backed by private equity firm Kelso & Co., are ongoing and there is no certainty a transaction will be completed, the people said, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information.
MOREps://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2025/01/31/810333.htm
Qumis Raises $2.2M Pre-Seed to Revolutionize Insurance
Qumis, the only lawyer-built AI platform designed to transform insurance knowledge work, today announced the close of an oversubscribed $2.2 million pre-seed funding round.
The round was led by Armory Square Ventures with participation from MTech Capital, Grand Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and BrokerTech Ventures. Strategic investors include Sean Harper, co-founder and CEO of insurtech unicorn Kin Insurance, and Tom Vander Schaaf, former General Partner at Edison Partners. Further, some of the round was funded by Qumis customers, reflecting the market’s confidence in the platform’s potential.
Qumis replaces outdated, manual processes like policy reviews and claims coverage analyses with intuitive AI-powered solutions. Qumis combines AI with deep legal expertise required to help insurance professionals read, interpret, and provide counsel on complex policies with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. Since its inception in 2023, Qumis already serves five of the 15 largest US insurance brokers, as well as leading specialty carriers and top insurance-focused law firms.
“At Qumis, we enable insurance professionals to work smarter, faster, and more confidently,” said Dan Schuleman, Qumis co-founder and CEO.
WATERLILY SECURES $7M IN SEED FUNDING LED BY BREWER LANE VENTURES, AS IT UTILIZES AI TO FORECAST AND PLAN LONG-TERM CARE
Waterlily, which uses AI to predict long-term care (LTC) needs up to decades before they happen, today announced the closing of a $7 Million Seed round led by John Kim, founding partner of Brewer Lane Ventures. The company also secured strategic investments from Genworth, Nationwide, and Edward Jones. In addition, Waterlily welcomed participation from key industry leaders including Tim Kneeland (former CEO of GE Insurance & Transamerica LTC), and others. Waterlily previously raised a $2.2M Pre-Seed round with notable investors including Scott Barclay (Managing Director of Healthcare at Insight Partners.)
Waterlily uses AI to help a family plan for long-term care needs with predictions, while estimating the costs. The accuracy and specificity of Waterlily's machine learning algorithms enable it to predict a user's likelihood of needing long-term care, the age at which their needs will begin, how their needs will progress over what time period, and how many hours or months of care specific family members, professional caregivers, or care facilities will provide.
The platform provides an overall personalized care plan - analyzed against personal financial data, insurance coverage, and health care trends to protect family savings and make sure loved ones have what they need to afford the cost of long-term care. Waterlily is being used by financial advisors, insurance carriers, insurance distributors, and independent insurance agents to help their clients build better plans for their long-term care, and to motivate behavioral changes.
"Traditional financial planning tools have just not kept pace with the long-term care complexity and uncertainty out there," said John Kim, Founding Partner at Brewer Lane Ventures. "Waterlily is addressing one of the single most critical gaps in financial security and is well-positioned to help millions of families needing better tools to manage the financial challenges of aging."
Financial Results
The Hartford Announces Outstanding Results For The Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024
Fourth quarter 2024 net income available to common stockholders of $848 million ($2.88 per diluted share) increased 11% from $766 million ($2.51 per diluted share) over the same period in 2023. Core earnings of $865 million ($2.94 core earnings per diluted share) decreased 7% from $935 million ($3.06 core earnings per diluted share) over the same period in 2023.
Full year 2024 net income available to common stockholders of $3.1 billion ($10.35 per diluted share) increased 24% from $2.5 billion ($7.97 per diluted share) and core earnings of $3.1 billion ($10.30 core earnings per diluted share) increased 11% from $2.8 billion ($8.88 core earnings per diluted share) over the same period in 2023.
- Net income ROE for the year of 19.9% and core earnings ROE* of 16.7%.
- Property & Casualty (P&C) written premiums increased by 7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, and by 10% for the full year, driven by Commercial Lines and Personal Lines premium growth of 6% and 12% in the fourth quarter, and 9% and 13% for the full year, respectively.
- Commercial Lines fourth quarter 2024 combined ratio of 87.4 and underlying combined ratio of 87.1. -Full year 2024 combined ratio of 89.9 and underlying combined ratio of 87.9. -Personal Lines fourth quarter 2024 combined ratio of 85.8 improved 15.4 points, and underlying combined ratio of 90.2 improved 9.3 points compared with the 2023 period. Full year 2024 combined ratio of 99.1 improved 8.4 points, and underlying combined ratio of 94.1 improved 5.2 points from the 2023 period.
Gallagher reports growth as insurance market expands | Insurance Business America
Primary renewal premiums rise, with commercial auto and umbrella lines seeing notable increases
Arthur J Gallagher & Co has released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2024, reporting continued revenue growth across its brokerage and risk management segments.
For the fourth quarter, total company revenues reached $2.68 billion, up from $2.39 billion in the same period in 2023. Net earnings for the quarter were $258.2 million, compared to a net loss of $39.6 million in the prior-year quarter. Adjusted net earnings totalled $491.2 million, an increase from $402.4 million in Q4 2023.
The brokerage segment reported revenues of $2.3 billion for the quarter, up from $2.05 billion in the previous year. Net earnings for the segment rose to $317.3 million, compared to $24.8 million in Q4 2023.
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People
Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp Names Ethan Tarby President and CEO
Tarby will lead the company’s Independent Agency Group, which manages more than $1.3 billion in premiums.
Plymouth Rock Assurance (Boston) has named Ethan Tarby as President and Chief Executive Officer of Plymouth Rock Assurance Corporation. Tarby had been serving as interim President and CEO since June 2024. The company has announced that he will lead Plymouth Rock’s Independent Agency Group, which manages more than $1.3 billion of personal auto, commercial auto, motorcycle and umbrella liability premium. Tarby will report to Andrew McElwee, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Plymouth Rock Company.
Tarby joined Plymouth Rock in March 2021 as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of the Independent Agency Group and has taken on increasing levels of responsibility within the organization over the past three-plus years. As CMO, Tarby was responsible for marketing and distribution in the independent agency channel across the six states in which Plymouth Rock operates.
Los Angeles Wildfires
LA Wildfires: A Tipping Point for the Insurance Industry? | Insurance Innovation Reporter
This may well be the tipping point for a complete transformation of the property insurance market and the federal and state agencies who need to become part of the solution.
Ben Franklin famously wrote, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” way back in 1735. His brilliance was also pioneering to prevent and fight fires some 300 years ago. So, what has changed in both fire prevention and insurance?
The LA fire response and insurance system is and will be deeply examined with prevention in the forefront for years ahead. It will be equally daunting to align all stakeholders; local and federal government, communities, fire fighters, insurers, regulators and others as part of the review and eventual rebuild. In the meantime, given the shocking destruction, a resounding chorus of how this happened and could have been prevented echoes a well-deserved call for scrutiny.
Given the enormously steep price paid to “cure,” the opportunity to invest in prevention is clear. And let’s not overlook the whole price tag in terms of; loss of life, environmental harm, long-term health effects on top of unimaginable economic devastation when reconciling total cost decisioning. MORE
2025 PREDICTIONS
2025 Claims Management: A Year of Transformation, Strict Regulations or Business-as-Usual?
Driven by technological advancements, evolving workplace dynamics, and an ever-changing regulatory environment, significant shifts have emerged in how workers’ compensation claims are managed. The pace of change is unlikely to slow, prompting the need for adaptation in claims handling processes.
This change is a contributing factor to the health of the workers’ comp industry, which is showing signs of improved efficiency, stability and improvement. For example, according to a new report from the National Council on Compensation Insurance, lost-time claim frequency declined by 8% in the past year, which is more than twice the rate of the long-term average decline. The report also found that continuous innovation will be pivotal to achieving positive claim results in the face of wage and medical inflation and getting injured workers back to work over the next few years.
By Jeff Gurtcheff