3+ day, 3+ hour ago   (513+ words) OPTIS Partners recorded 695 North American agent and broker transactions in 2025, down 12% from 2024 and 24% below the previous five-year average. Private equity-backed brokers completed 10% fewer acquisitions, while activity among publicly traded brokers dropped 27%. The number of identifiable buyers also fell for a…...

2+ day, 19+ hour ago   (513+ words) OPTIS Partners recorded 695 North American agent and broker transactions in 2025, down 12% from 2024 and 24% below the previous five-year average. Private equity-backed brokers completed 10% fewer acquisitions, while activity among publicly traded brokers dropped 27%. The number of identifiable buyers also fell for a…...

3+ day, 4+ hour ago   (355+ words) Large commercial accounts posted their first price decrease since the end of 2017 in the second quarter of 2026, according to WTW's Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS), as an eight-year run of sustained rate increases continued to unwind across the commercial…...

3+ day, 4+ hour ago   (535+ words) Brokers working on large data center developments may need to arrange the transition from builders’ risk to operational property coverage much earlier, as phased projects blur the point at which construction ends and normal operations begin. The immediate insurance question…...

4+ day, 17+ hour ago   (619+ words) Most employees have mental health benefits they never use, but according to Kerry Brooks, assistant vice president of absence and disability management at Lincoln Financial Group in Radnor, Pennsylvania, the bigger opportunity for benefits brokers isn't redesigning plans, but becoming…...

4+ day, 21+ hour ago   (983+ words) Employer costs for health benefits in the private sector rose six percent in the 12 months to June 2026, more than double the 3.1 percent growth in wages and salaries over the same period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Employment…...

4+ day, 11+ hour ago   (394+ words) The International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) has published new guidance highlighting an often-overlooked risk for marine cargo insurers -- non-compliant wood packaging material, the pallets, crates and dunnage used to ship goods internationally, and the disruption that follows when regulators…...

5+ day, 10+ min ago   (1231+ words) As employers across the US grapple with exploding pharmacy costs driven to a significant extent by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, a growing number are turning to health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) as a cost-containment tool. Chris Byrd, pictured, a benefits industry executive…...

5+ day, 9+ hour ago   (242+ words) Chancellor John Healey delivered his first major speech since taking over the Treasury in July, using an address at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry to set out a growth agenda ahead of the October Budget. He pledged to "draw…...

6+ day, 8+ hour ago   (627+ words) Property catastrophe rates across Asia-Pacific fell 10% to 20% at January renewals, and combined ratios for major regional reinsurers stayed below 100% in 2025. On the surface, the APAC reinsurance market looks stable. Fitch Ratings, in its Asian Reinsurance Monitor, argues the surface is…...