Category Archives: Insurance

Earthquake Spike in Oklahoma Linked to Fracking

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A magnitude 5.0 earthquake that rocked Cushing, Oklahoma, on Nov. 6 damaged part of the city’s downtown district, but left no major damage to bridges or highways.

Early reports indicate the damage is not insignificant. A 16-block area in the hard-hit downtown has been sectioned off because of the danger posed by unstable structures and broken glass. No serious injuries or fatalities have been reported, however.

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Power in Cushing was out for less than an hour following the quake, and several gas leaks were taken care of.

The city, which has a population of 7,900, is noted as the world’s largest oil storage terminal and has experienced 19 earthquakes in just the past week, raising safety concerns. As of last week, the town’s tank farms held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The number of earthquakes in the area has also risen exponentially.

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During the first half of this year, 618 temblors of M2.8 or greater have shaken Oklahoma.

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Swiss Re noted in its September 2016 report The Link Between Hydrofracking, Wastewater Injection and Earthquakes: Key Issues for Re/insurers:

Since 2008 the number of magnitude 3.0 earthquakes per year has grown from roughly 2 per year to an average of nearly 3 per day. This now makes Oklahoma the most seismically active of the lower forty-eight states. It’s highly likely that this dramatic rise in earthquake occurrence is largely a consequence of human actions. Along with the increase in seismicity, Oklahoma has seen a growth in its oil and natural gas operations since 2008, specifically hydraulic fracturing (often referred to as “hydrofracking” or “fracking”) and the disposal of wastewater via deep well injection.

A number of states that have increased wastewater injection activity have seen increases in the number of induced earthquakes, the study said, but the reason for such a large increase in Oklahoma is still unclear. Because of the large amount of crude oil storage in the Cushing area, strong shaking is worrisome and has led some to proclaim that induced earthquakes are a national security threat.

According to AIR-Worldwide, it is not clear whether the occurrences of the small and intermediate size earthquakes being seen, and the stress changes from wastewater disposal could trigger larger and more damaging earthquakes. As a precaution, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission ordered four new Arbuckle disposal wells to be shut and 10 to reduce their volume by 25%. In Osage County, 32 wells will have reduced volume.

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Experts believe limiting injection volumes is helpful because of the link between high-volume injection and earthquakes, but Swiss Re’s report concluded that while, most companies participate in the suggested reductions following a detected earthquake, economic pressure to continue wastewater injection often prevails. “Changing regulations, and how the oil and gas industry respond, remain the biggest contributor to uncertainty of how the risk will change in the future,” Swiss Re said.

October Commercial Composite Rate Minus 2%

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For the first time this year, the composite rate—which includes all lines of commercial insurance—has decreased compared to the previous month. Octoberbarometer rates were down 2% compared to down 1% in June, July, August and September, according to MarketScout.

“Insureds and brokers should carefully examine the rates for coverage and/or industry classifications that are germane to their placements,” Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout, said in a statement.

By coverage classification, two large placement segments, commercial property and general liability, were down 2% in October compared to flat in September. Business owners’ policies were down 1% compared to flat in September, while commercial auto rates moderated from up 3% to up 2%. Among other lines, fiduciary, D&O, business interruption and surety were flat.
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By account size, medium accounts ($25,001 to $250,000 premium) adjusted from down 1% in September to down 2% in October.
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The industry classification for contractors and service companies was down 2% in October compared to down 1% in September. Energy adjusted to down 1% in October compared to flat in September, MarketScout reported.
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Insurance Allows NBA Stars to Spin the Wheel of Fortune

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There is probably no greater example of the term “human capital” than a high-priced athlete, whose body will always be in harm’s way and should be protected from a serious or career-ending injury, particularly if it prevents the next big contract from becoming a reality. Like any successful professional, whether a corporate CEO, high-end surgeon or celebrity TV chef, an athlete’s greatest asset is the ability to play their sport and work in their occupation.

A sport that seems to define these criteria is basketball. With the National Basketball Association, athletes’ contracts are guaranteed and relatively iron-clad. Those contracts are also about to head into the stratosphere thanks to a nine-year, $24-billion television deal signed by the NBA in 2014, which will cause the salary cap to rise higher than it ever has. The consensus is that the NBA’s salary cap will reach $108 million by the 2017-2018 season, up from $89 million for the 2016-2017 salary caps. The large increases will accelerate heavy free agency spending.

Thanks to this sugar daddy TV deal, everybody, from superstars to lower-tier players, now sees a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And to their credit, or at least to the credit of their influencers (such as agents, financial advisors and wives), they are beginning to also realize that this rainbow could very well be pitted with career-ending landmines. As a result, we are now seeing a large number of NBA players ramping up their disability coverage. It makes sense; buy peace of mind, and then seek an even bigger payout the following year. Sounds like a win-win when you are looking at life-changing money—the difference between signing for five years at $30 million or five years at $8 million.

Where the game has also changed somewhat is in the player’s ability to put player-friendly options on the table. For instance, Kevin Durant signed a two-year deal worth $54 million with the Golden State Warriors, with the deal containing a second year player option. This means year-two of the contract is completely up to Durant on whether or not he stays in California, looks to another big payday looming on the horizon, or is unhappy with the direction the team is taking.

Lebron James and numerous other players negotiated options into their contracts because they know the big TV money is coming.
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In the long run it is not only about protecting their careers but also safeguarding potentially lucrative endorsement deals, which can sometimes match the size of a playing contract.
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LeBron James remains the NBA’s big star in the endorsement world with estimated earnings of $48 million this season off the court, according to Forbes. And with coverage in place 24/7, a player the stature of a LeBron, or Stephen Curry, or Kevin Durant is not only protected if he blows out a knee driving to the hoop, but also if he gets rear-ended and suffers a neck injury driving to his kid’s middle school recital.

NBA players will continue to gamble their free-agency status for a grab at the brass ring (without, hopefully, falling off the carousel and blowing out a knee). But there are insurance products that are essentially a safety net to athletes who are in their walk year. In recent years there seems to be an increase in the number of players willing to take that risk off the table, so they can safely gamble that soon there will be even more money put on the table. Given the compressed career lifespan, disability protection can be critical for marquee players with considerable endorsement income.

A recent article in The Economist summed it up nicely: “As salaries in professional sports have soared over the past few decades, so has the price tag associated with the risks inherent in such strenuous physical activity. As a result, the economics of the business are now shaped by insurance markets just as they are by TV contracts or ticket sales.”

This means that players who opted to sign a one-year deal this offseason, or incorporated the player option into their contracts instead of looking for multi-year deals—in anticipation of a bigger paycheck down the road—will need to protect themselves if they want to see their part of the new TV money.

Examining U.S. Immigration’s Economic Impact

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In last night’s third and final presidential debate of the 2016 election cycle, immigration again emerged as a defining topic in discussion of both regulatory reform and the economy. With an increasing amount of immigration by highly skilled laborers—and, of course, the potential reputation impact on companies seen as giving more jobs to non-citizens or moving out of the country in pursuit of labor—changes in such policy have clear implications for risk professionals.

Last month, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released one of the most comprehensive studies to date on the economic impact of immigration in the United States. Overall, the researchers found that immigration over the past couple of decades has done more good than harm, creating positive impacts on the national economy and causing little lasting impact on the wages or employment levels of native-born Americans. “Immigration enlarges the economy while leaving the native population slightly better off on average,” the study said, also pointing out increases in innovation, entrepreneurship and technological change across the economy. “The prospects for long run economic growth in the United States would be considerably dimmed without the contributions of high-skilled immigrants,” the researchers reported.

Some of the study’s key findings and conclusions include:

  • When measured over a period of 10 years or more, the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. To the extent that negative impacts occur, they are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born workers who have not completed high school—who are often the closest substitutes for immigrant workers with low skills.
  • There is little evidence that immigration significantly affects the overall employment levels of native-born workers. As with wage impacts, there is some evidence that recent immigrants reduce the employment rate of prior immigrants. In addition, recent research finds that immigration reduces the number of hours worked by native teens (but not their employment levels).
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  • Some evidence on inflow of skilled immigrants suggests that there may be positive wage effects for some subgroups of native-born workers, and other benefits to the economy more broadly.
  • Immigration has an overall positive impact on long-run economic growth in the U.S.
  • In terms of fiscal impacts, first-generation immigrants are more costly to governments, mainly at the state and local levels, than are the native-born, in large part due to the costs of educating their children. However, as adults, the children of immigrants (the second generation) are among the strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population, contributing more in taxes than either their parents or the rest of the native-born population.
  • Over the long term, the impacts of immigrants on government budgets are generally positive at the federal level but remain negative at the state and local level — but these generalizations are subject to a number of important assumptions. Immigration’s fiscal effects vary tremendously across states.
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“The panel’s comprehensive examination revealed many important benefits of immigration—including on economic growth, innovation, and entrepreneurship—with little to no negative effects on the overall wages or employment of native-born workers in the long term,” said Francine D. Blau, Frances Perkins Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and professor of economics at Cornell University, and chair of the panel that conducted the study and wrote the report.

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“Where negative wage impacts have been detected, native-born high school dropouts and prior immigrants are most likely to be affected.”

Check out the April cover story from Risk Management, “Welcome to America: Why Immigration Matters for Business,” for more on the risk management implications of immigration into the United States.