To reach his office in Galveston National Laboratory, where scientists study deadly pathogens such as the Ebola and Marburg viruses, director James Le Duc swipes his key card at the buildings single entrance, which is guarded 24/7 by Texas state police.
As he walks the hallways, more than 100 closed-circuit cameras watch him. Seven more locked doors stand between him and his destination. Entering a research lab requires another card swipe and, for labs housing especially dangerous microbes, a fingerprint scan.
To keep deadly viruses from escaping, each lab uses negative air flow and dedicated exhaust systems. Workers wear full-body air-supplied suits.
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Volatile capital markets and expanding regulations will challenge Canadian property and casualty insurers in 2012, but there are opportunities for success if insurers make the right moves, Ernst & Young says.
“To reposition strategically for growth and remain high performers, insurers have to focus on innovation, taking data analysis to new levels and using social networks to better understand the customer,” said Doug McPhie, Ernst & Young’s Canadian insurance industry leader. “Streamlining cost structures and using a variety of stress testing scenarios to get a better grasp on cash flow could also generate competitive advantages in this environment.”
To remain competitive in 2012, Ernst & Young suggests Canadian property and casualty insurers focus on the following five steps to remain competitive in 2012:
• Manage low interest rates and asset liability matching. S
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Grass Valley, Calif.-based Networked Insurance Agents has signed on with LexisNexis Risk Solutions Insurance Exchange, a significant step for LexisNexis into the West, the collaborative insurance placement platform said.
Networked Insurance Agents has roughly1,200 small- to mid-sized independent member agencies. Networked joined the LexisNexis to help the organization manage and maximize its mid-market commercial business submissions to its carrier partners, according to the companies.
The LexisNexis Insurance Exchange is a business and renewal submission placement platform that enhances the flow of application data between insurance carriers, agents and brokers.
LexisNexis Insurance Exchange simplifies the submission of small and mid-sized risks by agents and brokers to multiple markets.
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A New Brunswick court has found that a man who suffered a closed head injury in a 2005 auto accident – which resulted in a lack of concentration, an inability to process information quickly and mental fatigue – is unable to engage in any occupation or employment for which he is suited by education, training or experience.
The insurer in the case, Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company of Canada, paid the plaintiff Section B benefits of $250 per week under the terms of the man’s insurance policy until Dec. 31, 2007 for a period of 108 weeks.
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Esurance, the onlinel car insurance company now owned by Allstate, has launched a new ad campaign around the concept, Insurance for the Modern World.
The campaign – which includes television, cinema, in-flight, online video and streaming radio among other media – will debut on CBS during the 1:00 p.m. NFL game on Dec. 24.
Actor John Krasinski, star of The Office, does voiceover for the visual narrative that seeks to capture the reality of modern world and the interconnectedness of people’s real and digital lives. The campaign also features the Grammy Award winning song, Jam Man, from Country Music Hall of Fame guitarist Chet Atkins.
The campaign is focused on consumers who buy their insurance online.
One ad asks consumers how they decide if a car insurance company is trustworthy or not. Anoth
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