Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. announced in late March that is leaving the annuities and life insurance industry and seeking a buyer for its independent broker-dealer Woodbury Financial Services. The Hartford, Conn.-based insurance provider plans to return to its traditional focus on mutual funds, property and casualty insurance, and group benefits. Hartford Financial officers said that both companies will do better as separate entities. Woodbury Financial Services employs 1,600 representatives who sell individual life insurance and retirement plans. Selling Woodbury Financial Services could generate $2 billion to $3 billion for Hartford and free up $2.5 billion to $4 billion in capital over several years, according to a client note sent by Credit Suisse. Hartford Financial’s move comes under pressure from shareholders and as the annuities market in general struggles to be profitable. Hedge fund manager John Paulson, who is Hartford’s largest shareholder, requested in February that Hartford Financial stop dealing in property and casualty insurance. Doing could make the values of its shares jump by 40 percent to 60 percent, he said. Paulson, who owns an 8.5 percent stake in Hartford Financial, issued a statement welcoming the decision to sell Woodbury Financial Services, but said it was just a first [...]

May 20-- Warren Buffett doesn't buy Google. Atop his shopping list last week was a cluster of Southern newspapers in an industry that is-- as Buffett himself said during this month's shareholders meeting of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., his $200 billion company-- declining. In fact, he agreed to put $142 million in newspapers, buying the Winston-Salem Journal and all but...

May 20-- GREENSBORO-- From the outside, the little white building at the corner of Church Street and Wendover Avenue looks like a coffee shop. Either way, it's the only such business in Greensboro. And so far, owner and Nationwide sales agent Joe Fowler says it's doing well.

NEW YORK, NY, May 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Navigators Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:NAVG) today announced that Stanley A. Galanski, President and Chief Executive Officer, will participate in the Chief Executive Leadership panel at the London Insurance Day Summit being held at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel in London on Wednesday, May 16 at 10:55a.m. (GMT).

Gold prices have been increasing rapidly over the last four years and investors sought shelter from the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The sluggish global economy has provided few lucrative investments, which has keep gold prices high as investors wait for better economic news. Gold’s price reached an all-time high of $1900 an ounce last year as uncertainty about the debt ceiling in the United States and the debt crisis in Europe wreaked havoc on global markets. Even though both crises have now been resolved, gold prices remain at elevated levels relative to the last twenty years. On the bright side, bad news for financial markets could mean great news for investors in precious metals. If oil prices continue to rise, inflation is likely to rise along with it. The easiest way for investors to hedge their portfolios against inflationary risks is by buying gold. This could make gold prices rise even higher in the future. Gold investors are set to make huge profits even as the rest of the economy looks gloomy. Gold prices could fall if large deposits of the metal were found, but supply pressures on gold price are unlikely to be significant in the near future. Gold [...]

FORT WORTH, Texas, May 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hallmark Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:HALL) ("Hallmark") today reported first quarter 2012 net income of $0.2 million compared to a net loss of $11.2 million reported for first quarter 2011. On a fully diluted basis, first quarter 2012 net income was $0.01 per share as compared to net loss of $0.56 per share for the first quarter of 2011. Total revenues were $83.0 million for the first quarter 2012 as compared to $77.4 million for the first quarter of 2011.

SINGAPORE& NEW YORK---- The Depository Trust& Clearing Corporation’ s Global Trade Repository announced today its intention to expand its operations into Singapore by establishing an Asian-based global data centre to ensure regulators have seamless access to data for systemic risk mitigation in over-the-counter derivatives markets.

MetLife, America’s largest life insurer, must pay almost $500 million to end a multi-state investigation of unpaid claims for policyholders who are deceased, according to the company and state regulators. The investigation was prompted by the use of Social Security’s “Death Master” file, where people who have died recently are listed. Several states claimed that while insurers used the list to discontinue making payments to annuitants who had died, they simultaneously failed to determine if any life insurance policyholders were listed. How payments will be made According to a MetLife spokesman, the agreement consists of $438 million in payments made to beneficiaries and policyholders and $40 million in settlement costs. The company reported that $188 million will be made in the current year and the balance over the following 17 years. The agreement requires the company to restore the value of accounts that were adversely affected by MetLife’s inaction, follow state unclaimed property laws, and pay 3 percent compounded interest on funds that had been retained unlawfully . To help people trace their policies, the company has created an online system, and it is also contacting older policyholder who may have bought insurance without providing a date of birth or [...]

Hartford Insurance announced in April that it would start offering a 5% discount to EV owners throughout the U.S. by the end of the year...

STAMFORD, Conn., May 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Independence Holding Company (NYSE:IHC) today reported 2012 first-quarter results. As previously reported, IHC paid a special 10% stock dividend to shareholders of record on February 17, 2012. All per share amounts reflect such stock dividend. This press release contains both GAAP and non-GAAP financial information for which reconciliations can be found at the end of this release.

GUANGZHOU, China, May 18, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CNinsure Inc. (Nasdaq:CISG) (the "Company" or "CNinsure"), a leading independent insurance intermediary company operating in China, today announced that the board of directors of the Company (the "Board") has appointed Mr. Yunxiang Tang as an independent director of the Board and Mr. Yongwei Ma has resigned from the Board following the expiration of his tenure. The appointment and resignation became effective on May 17, 2012.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 4, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Enstar Group Limited (Nasdaq:ESGR) filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the SEC earlier today, reporting its earnings and financial position for the three months ended March 31, 2012.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maiden Holdings, Ltd. ("Maiden") (Nasdaq:MHLD) will participate in the 11th Annual JMP Securities Research Conference on Wednesday, May 16th in San Francisco, California.

Annuities are not something that were often talked about in the mainstream media just five years ago. At that point in time, most people were perfectly happy to continue to allow their stock market investments to continue to grow. All of the media was happily covering what was going on with those ever increasing stock prices. That was until the market started to crash. As the panic took off in full swing, many were forced to learn about new types of investments that would be safer on their portfolio. Some started to research the annuity as a possible safe haven for their money. As it turns out, the annuity is an excellent type of investment for cautious investors looking to save a lot of money for a future date. Many retirement plans sock a lot of the money placed in them into annuities. Despite the fact that the stock market crash has faded and it appears that the economy is getting stronger, there are still plenty of people who are looking at the annuity a second time. They want to know what this type of investment could do for them as part of a larger investing strategy. Even just having [...]

Fort Lauderdale, FL May 20, 2012. Fort Lauderdale resident Bob Malloy wanted to be involved in a business which could improve people’ s diets while reflecting his own active lifestyle.“ People are more health conscious today,” he noted.“ Schools and workplaces are setting the example by providing better snack options. Malloy has a long history working in the health...

The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner issued the following news release:. The $40 million settlement, which involves at least 23 states, is based on concerns raised by insurance regulators over the extent of MetLife's efforts to investigate and pay life insurance benefits. Under the terms of the settlement, MetLife agreed to regularly...

STAMFORD, Conn., May 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Independence Holding Company (NYSE:IHC) today reported 2012 first-quarter results. As previously reported, IHC paid a special 10% stock dividend to shareholders of record on February 17, 2012. All per share amounts reflect such stock dividend. This press release contains both GAAP and non-GAAP financial information for which reconciliations can be found at the end of this release.

Columbia, SC May 20, 2012. InsuranceForTechs.com, a division of Sadler& Company, Inc., provides a full range of insurance policies custom-designed for technology professionals including General Liability, Professional Liability, Workers' Compensation, Umbrella, Property, and Crime. General Liability and Professional Liability coverages start out as low as...

NEW YORK, May 8, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmTrust Financial Services, Inc. (Nasdaq:AFSI) ("the Company") announced today that it will present at the 11th Annual JMP Securities Research Conference to be held in San Francisco, CA on Wednesday, May 16, 2012. Barry Zyskind, AmTrust Chief Executive Officer & President and Ronald Pipoly, AmTrust Chief Financial Officer, are scheduled to present at 10:30 AM PDT.

About $35,000 of Hee's total came from people and entities, including several in Florida, linked to companies in the physician-dispensing medication business, according to campaign spending records and Joe Paduda, a mainland consultant who works for workers' comp insurers. Paduda in February blogged about Hee's fundraising prowess and that he was chairman...

NEW YORK, May 10, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Independence Corp. (Nasdaq:AMIC) today reported 2012 first-quarter results. This press release contains both GAAP and non-GAAP financial information for which reconciliations can be found at the end of this release.

MARIETTA, Pa., May 7, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Donegal Group Inc. (Nasdaq:DGICA) (Nasdaq:DGICB) was named to a list of 100 Most Trustworthy Companies, ranking the company among firms that have consistently demonstrated transparent and conservative accounting practices and solid corporate governance and management as determined by GMI Ratings, an independent financial analytics company, and reported by Forbes.

Shareholders recently sued MetLife, alleging the company became the target of multiple state investigations because it avoided paying death benefits that it owed to beneficiaries. According to the lawsuit, MetLife’s share price declined when the company had to increase its reserves in connection with the actions taken against it by the states. The lawsuit claims that various insurance companies, including MetLife, withheld over $52 million dollars in life insurance benefits they should have paid to beneficiaries. The state investigations focused on the way the companies used the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File, which is a public database of death notices. MetLife and the other companies allegedly used the database in a selective, self-serving way, consulting the database to determine when its annuity holders had died, so that it could stop making annuity payments, while at the same time not consulting the database to find out when life insurance policyholders had died. This allegedly enabled the insurance companies to avoid paying death benefits to the survivors of the life insurance policyholders, in some cases for as long as 40 years. The states investigating MetLife, along with the other insurance companies alleged to have engaged in similar wrongful acts, include New [...]

May 20-- Student health insurance at the University of New Mexico could increase by up to 30 percent next school year. The expansion in health insurance coverage mandated by President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act is causing a rise in premiums in most student insurance plans around the country, student health and counseling director Beverly Kloeppel...

ATLANTA, May 14, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Atlantic American Corporation (Nasdaq:AAME) today reported first quarter 2012 results, which included a 21.5% increase in operating income for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to $762,000 compared to $627,000 in the first quarter of 2011. As a result of the increase in operating income and a $1.0 million increase in realized investment gains, net income in the first quarter of 2012 increased to $1.7 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, compared to $0.5 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2011. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2012 increased to $34.6 million, an increase of 23.2% from 2011 first quarter revenue of $28.1 million. Premiums for the first quarter of 2012 increased 20.7% to $30.7 million from $25.4 million for the comparable quarter in 2011. The increase in premiums for the 2012 first quarter was primarily attributable to strong premium growth in the life and health business, particularly in the Medicare supplement product.