The insurtech space has gone through a tough time. About 7 years ago, early insurance companies promised to disrupt the insurance industry through new technology, but today, most of these companies have been acquired or are floundering in the public markets. Fortunately, insurtech has found a new wave to ride in the past couple of years: “embedded insurance.” Insurer startups have had success helping third-party companies “embed” insurance products into their customer journeys to improve sales and retention – instead of buyers actively seeking coverage, insurance may appear as an add-on at the time of purchase customer journeys. For example.…
Author: ricardofrancois
A photovoltaic module company in Hefei City, Anhui Province, on February 20, 2024.Future Publishing | Future Publishing | Getty ImagesBEIJING – Trade tensions between Europe and Beijing are likely to escalate over China's growing ability to manufacture at lower costs in strategic industries, according to Jens Eskilund, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.“What we are seeing now is a slow train accident,” he told reporters at a press conference last week.“Europe cannot accept that the strategically viable industries that make up the European industrial base are priced out of the market,” Eskelund said. “Then trade becomes…
Donald Trump and his co-defendants have been in talks with the insurance giant Chubb for a $464 million appeal bond in the former president's civil fraud case, but the company backed out — days after raising eyebrows for granting Trump a bond in a separate case, according to Trump's lawyer.Chubb was one of more than 30 companies that refused to draft a bond that would temporarily halt the massive business fraud ruling, Trump's lawyers said in a suit before the New York Court of Appeals on Monday.Lawyers in that filing asked the appeals court to “stay” the judgment before New…
The People's Bank of China building in Beijing on December 15, 2022.Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAsia-Pacific markets rose as investors digested the Bank of Japan's historic shift in monetary policy and awaited the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision.The Bank of Japan on Tuesday raised interest rates for the first time in 17 years and scrapped its yield curve control policy, pushing the Nikkei index above the 40,000 level for the first time in nearly two weeks.Investors are also focusing on China, where the People's Bank of China is scheduled to announce key interest rates on one- and five-year…
Open Editor's Digest for freeRula Khalaf, editor of the Financial Times, picks her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.The UK must recruit half a million people to help it become a hub for clinical trials of the next generation of dementia drugs, the chief scientific adviser to a new government-backed initiative on neurodegenerative disorders has urged.Neuroscientist Ruth McKiernan said a large database of potential participants would make the country an attractive location for pharmaceutical companies to conduct tests, accelerating the UK's access to medicines and providing potential treatments for the nearly one million people with dementia.McKiernan will chair the scientific…
Stay informed with free updatesSimply subscribe to myFT Digest for Real Estate – delivered straight to your inbox.More than half of the UK's rented homes are in markets where average rents are more than £1,000 a month, underscoring how high demand among renters is impacting affordability.The number of rental homes falling into the top rent bracket has nearly doubled over the past five years, according to data from Zoopla. Rents have risen by 29 per cent since January 2020, with the average UK rent reaching £1,223. “The last two years have been characterized by a persistent imbalance between supply and…
Washington – Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Bonsall) on Tuesday urged Capitol Police to drop charges against the Southern California father who interrupted his State of the Union address by shouting his son's name and the place where he was killed in Afghanistan.Steve Nikoi, 51, the father of a US Marine who was killed in 2021 when US military forces withdrew from Afghanistan, was arrested on March 7 in the House chamber for interrupting President Biden's State of the Union address. He shouted the names of Marines killed in the suicide bombing, including his son, Marine Lance Cpl. Karim Nikoi, and the…
Director and Hollywood legend George Lucas is throwing his support behind him Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger in the bitter proxy battle between the company and activist investor Nelson Peltz.Lucas, who received 37.1 million shares of Disney stock as part of Disney's $4.05 billion purchase of Lucasfilm in 2012, is currently the largest individual investor in the company, multiple sources confirmed to CNBC.In a statement to CNBC, Lucas wrote:“Creating magic is not for amateurs. When I sold Lucasfilm a little over a decade ago, I was thrilled to become a shareholder in Disney because of my long-time admiration for its…
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 6, 2024 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla | Getty ImagesThe Federal Reserve has a lot to do at its meeting this week, but it may not end up doing much in terms of changing monetary policy expectations.In addition to issuing its interest rate decision after the meeting concludes on Wednesday, the central bank will update its economic forecasts as well as its informal forecast of the direction of interest rates over the next several years.With expectations swinging…
More than $100,000 in cash, luxury watches and a safe were stolen from Basketball Hall of Famer Paul Pierce's home in the San Fernando Valley last week.The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to the Times on Tuesday that officers responded to a burglary around 9 a.m. Friday at the Woodland Hills building where Pierce lives. “Unknown items” were stolen, according to LAPD, and no arrests have been made. TMZ first reported that Pierce's home was robbed on Friday while the 10-time NBA star was not home.The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment on whether the incident may be linked…