My selection of industri news

On their March 8 Business Insurance Report, Business Insurance Magazine has ranked Aon Global Insurance Managers as the number one company in the captive insurance industry. The captive management company, which is a subsidiary of Aon Global Risk Consulting, has a 24 percent market share as they manage 1,269 of the 5,211 total world captives. AGIM left its major competitors behind as Marsh finished with only 1,120 captives while Willis ended with 298. AGIM also remains the leader in Protected Cell Companies as it has 42 compared to Marsh’s 40 PCCs while HSBC and Willis which have 22 PCCs a piece.
AGIM is able to generate over $19 billion a year from total insurance premiums through the 30 worldwide locations wherein they manage insurance vehicles.

On March 23, Conseco, Inc. announced that company Director Michael Shannon has informed them that he does not want to be a candidate for re-election to the organization’s board of directors. The vote will take place on the annual meeting of shareholders set for May 12, 2009.
Shannon intends to give more time for other business interests he may have and it is obvious that the company will miss the skills and expertise he brought to the table. Conseco filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and Shannon was one of the people who helped the company get out of its financial rut. Shannon chaired both the compensation committee and the human resources department and he also served as a member of the governance and strategy committee.

The recently concluded American Brand Excellence Awards gave it highest honours to Southwest Airlines. The City Business Journals Network is the sponsor of the awards and the organization has 64 different publications as members. Southwest Airlines, one of the largest airlines in the United States, was praised for its ability to remain strong in the market despite the global recession.
There were also 6 other business awards given out at the event: Financial/Insurance, Alfac; Business Service, UPS; Telecommunications, Verizon Wireless; Retail, The UPS Store; Technology, Apple; Travel, Southwest Airlines. Votes were cast by over 1,400 managers and businessmen with small to medium-sized companies. The criteria were the company’s growth in popularity, industry leaders, forward thinking and value for money.

Financial services organization Conseco Inc. recently publicized its desire for lenders’ approval to amend its senior secured credit facility amounting to $911.8 million. If the deal is agreed it would loosen up the financial requirements of the struggling insurance company. In exchange Conseco is willing to pay for a higher interest rate for the loans.
The organization previously announced that they wouldn’t be able to file their financial statements for 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the March 17 deadline. Conseco blamed “unprecedented market conditions” for their failure to meet the deadline. The company has been struggling financially ever since it declared bankruptcy in 2003 and the current global financial condition is not at all helping them out. However their recent actions are proof that there is still hope for the company as its stocks rose by 60 percent after the announcement.