November 14, 2011
The number of market pessimists among Americas wealthy is slightly higher than optimists, according to a new survey.
Nearly half (47%) of the wealthy characterize the U.S. financial system as broken, while 84% believe the U.S. political system has serious flaws, the PNC Wealth Management survey found.
Pessimists (34%) now outnumber optimists (26%) when evaluating the prospects of their investment portfolios in the next six months.
The survey captures the anxiety and frustration of the economic and political environment that we are in, said Thomas P. Melcher, executive vice president and managing director of Hawthorn, the division of PNC Wealth Management that serves clients with $20 million or more in investable assets.
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November 10, 2011
Two more auto insurers have joined the growing ranks of companies declaring deep losses in recent months, with Infinity Property and Casualty announcing an 80 percent drop in profits and The Hartford reportedly breaking even during the third quarter of 2011.
Infinity officials said net earnings for July through September fell to $6.1 million, down from $30.8 million for the same period last year.
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November 9, 2011
UnitedHealth Group continues to see strong growth as its 2011 second quarter profits were 17 percent higher than 2010 numbers. Overall revenues for the quarter were $25.2 billion, an eight percent increase from the previous year.
Leading the health insurance company’s growth is its Optum businesses, which provide information and technology-enabled health care services. The three primary Optum businesses posted a 19 percent increase in revenues and had $1.3 billion in net earnings for the quarter. OptumHealth saw the largest percentage increase with second quarter revenues 46 percent higher than the year before.
UnitedHealthcare also experienced healthy growth.
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November 7, 2011
The November issue of Consumer Reports provides rankings of 830 private, Medicare, and Medicaid health insurance plans, an analysis that reveals wide variations in quality for some of the country’s largest insurers. This is a great time for the information to be released since many companies offer open enrollment in the fall.
The rankings are conducted by the nonprofit National Committee for Quality Assurance. “All the health plans in these rankings are exemplary,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane in a news release. “First, they measure their quality in painstaking ways that help them improve and that make comparing plans possible. Then they
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November 1, 2011
Winston Churchill once described the Soviet Union as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The same might be said of insurance in its varied forms.
You know you should have a comprehensive, cost-effective network of coverage, but what you need and how much can be confusing. Here are answers to 3 of the most commonly asked questions about insurance:
1. What sorts of insurance do I need?
Most people need to be concerned with insuring four areas: their possessions, their life, their health and their finances. Inspro Insurance can help you with all your insurance needs!
2.
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