Articles by Jerry Theodorou

The R Street Blog on Insurance Journal presents the work and viewpoints of the free market think tank R Street Institute in Washington, D.C. Jerry Theodorou is the director of the Finance, Insurance and Trade Policy Program. He develops and advances effective free market public policy solutions to complex issues where federal and state governments have intervened. Prior to R Street, Theodorou was a Director of insurance research at Conning in Hartford, Conn. In his 12 years at Conning, a leading insurance asset management and research firm, he was highly sought after for his insights and publications on a broad range of matters impacting property and casualty insurers, and was in strong demand as keynote speaker at conferences. Prior to Conning, Theodorou worked for the global insurance giant American International Group (AIG) in a variety of global underwriting, operations and strategy roles, including close to a decade of expatriate managerial assignments in Europe and the Middle East.

Russian invasion leads to its insurance market isolation

Any major event or upheaval that affects the economy, the environment, technology, health or law somehow touches insurance. War is no exception. The repercussions of Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine are already being felt in numerous corners of the …

Insurance Companies – Heels or Heroes?

The insurance industry is far from the economy’s most-admired sector. A Forbes survey found insurance ranking low in popularity in the public eye. Three main reasons are responsible for insurers’ relatively poor rating. First is the intangible nature of the …

Insurance Issues in 2022 – What to Expect

Unusual loss trends in 2021 called on the property & casualty insurance industry to play its role as the economy’s financial first responder. A look back at the most extreme loss patterns of 2021 sets the stage for the insurance-related …

Unusual Weather We’re Having, Ain’t It?

A scene in The Wizard of Oz finds Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion and Scarecrow in a poppy meadow with snow coming down. The Cowardly Lion says, “unusual weather we’re having, ain’t it?” If Bert Lahr, who played Lion in the …

Insurance leaders agree on challenges facing the industry

The 15 largest publicly-traded property and casualty insurers and reinsurers are all facing similar challenges as the year comes to a close. According to R Street’s review of Q3 2021 earnings calls, the top three difficulties are social inflation, climate …

A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall

The torrential rain buffeting northern California and the Pacific Northwest is the result of two converging phenomena: an atmospheric river and a bomb cyclone. While the exceptionally heavy downpours may extinguish wildfires in the region, the violent rainfall is a …

Biden Tax Plan Hits Global Reinsurance

The bills for the Biden administration’s multi-trillion dollar American Jobs and American Families plans are expected to be footed by additional revenues generated by The Made in America Tax Plan. A headline feature of the plan raises income taxes on …

Credit-Based Insurance Scores – The Battle Heats Up

Earlier this month, the Colorado Senate passed a bill prohibiting insurance companies from using any external consumer data and information source, algorithm or predictive model for insurance premium calculation found to be unfairly discriminatory. Two weeks prior, on April 28, …

Bricks Without Straw?

You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Exodus 5:7-8a Washington’s Gov. Jay Inslee’s emergency …