Author: completebodyneeds

President Donald Trump this week criticized Texas for being anti-data centers, just days after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott paused industry-wide approvals until the companies provide the state with more information on things like power and water use. “I saw Texas the other day sort of is against data centers,” Trump said in a nearly hourlong sit-down interview with Punchbowl News released Friday. “I think it’s a mistake. And I’m not taking positions, I just think it’s a mistake, because there are other communities that want it. When a community wants it, it means a lot of money is going to…

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker this week signed legislation that gives the state’s insurance department authority to object rates it deems are excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. HB 4273 and SB 714 allow the Illinois Department of Insurance to review homeowners and auto insurance rates. If the insurance department determines via actuarial review that a filing is excessive, inadequate or unfairly discriminatory, the department would have 60 days to notify the insurer from the date of the filing. Insurance groups said the legislation may lead to higher home and auto insurance costs for consumers and fewer options for coverage. “Proponents of…

Old Republic International Corporation announced that John Paulk has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Old Republic Excess & Surplus, reporting to Ralph Sabbagh, President. In making this announcement, Craig Smiddy, Old Republic International’s President and Chief Executive Officer, noted, “In this role, John will be focusing on optimizing business performance and driving operational excellence across Old Republic Excess & Surplus. John brings over 20 years of executive experience, a deep understanding of the specialty E&S space, and a track record of leading high-performance teams. We look forward to Ralph and John working closely together to build Old Republic into…

Ignite Specialty Risk, the London-based managing general agent, has launched operations in Sydney, Australia, led by Lucinda Stormont-Sainsbury. “Australia is an important strategic market for Ignite and establishing our Australian operations marks a significant milestone in our international growth,” commented David Green, chief underwriting officer at Ignite. “We are making a long-term commitment to the market by investing in local leadership and building strong relationships with brokers, legal advisers and strategic partners,” Green added. Lucinda Stormont-Sainsbury Stormont-Sainsbury joins Ignite with 15 years’ industry experience, spanning underwriting, claims, private practice and in-house insurance law roles. Most recently, she served as senior…

A Broward County jury on Thursday exonerated the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett law firm, finding the large New York firm’s lawyers were not negligent in the downfall of Patriot National, the Florida insurance services firm that went bankrupt a decade ago. It’s too early to say if Patriot National owner Steven Mariano will appeal the verdict, said Bill Scherer, his lead attorney in the case. “We’re looking at our options. I don’t have many cases that don’t end up in the appellate court, but we’ll see,” Scherer told Insurance Journal Friday morning. “We felt there was plenty of evidence to…

Hackers launched a wave of sophisticated attacks on Wall Street firms in recent days, targeting information systems at major money managers, according to people familiar with the matter. Point72 Asset Management informed investors on Wednesday that it had been attacked, though the hedge fund’s initial indications were that no client information was stolen, according to one of the people, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information. The firm told investors it was still reviewing the incident, the person said. Attackers also attempted to infiltrate the information systems at other major hedge funds including Millennium Management, Two Sigma Investments and…

Allstate CEO Tom Wilson said the insurer has a “technology-drive strategy, not a strategy supported by technology.” Allstate CEO Tom Wilson And the next step in the strategy is the build of ALLIE – Allstate’s Large Language Intelligent Ecosystem. Speaking to analysts during a call to discuss second-quarter earnings, Wilson said ALLIE is not completely built or deployed, but it “should help us to reduce our expenses.” He stopped short of providing any predictions of cost savings or growth. “Jesse [Merten, president of Property-Liability] has already got a lot of work going on to take work out of agent offices,…

The 37-year old man suspected of starting one of the fires burning around Spokane, Washington told a detective that he planned the arson attack for Sunday to coincide with a “high winds” day, according to court documents. That blaze was one of three that destroyed roughly 700 buildings and forced 70,000 people to evacuate earlier this week. Aaron Farinacci, of Spokane, was arrested Monday. Police said he admitted to starting other fires in the area since last year, according to court documents. Detective Michael Drapeau said Farinacci waived his constitutional rights and decided to answer police questions. Related: Washington Man…

Second quarter 2026 underwriting income in American International Group’s (AIG) General Insurance segment increased nearly 10% compared with the prior year, to $686 million. Insurance financial results for Q2 included catastrophe losses of $210 million, and increase over the $170 million AIG absorbed during Q2 2025. AIG said catastrophe losses during Q2 include $75 million net losses related to the conflict in the Middle East. Q2 also included favorable net prior year development of $145 million versus $112 million in Q2 2025. The combined ratio for the General Insurance unit—which includes North America commercial, international commercial, and global personal—was 89…

German reinsurer Munich Re on Friday posted a 6% rise in net profit in the second quarter, defying expectations for a drop and lifted by low major loss claims. Net profit in the quarter of €2.211 billion ($2.55 billion) compares with €2.085 billion a year ago. Analysts had expected net profit of €1.786 billion. Major loss costs were “very low” at 4.9% of insurance revenue, compared with an expected 18%, Munich Re said. It said that it was sticking to its full-year profit target of €6.3 billion. It trimmed its insurance revenue forecast to €38 billion from €40 billion. ($1…