Business News: Travelers, Charles Taylor, IICF

Travelers Delegation Building Baseball Field in Puerto Rico

Travelers chief executive Alan Schnitzer is leading a delegation of 35 volunteers who are in Puerto Rico to build a baseball field.

The insurance company says the group is fixing up a field used by youth leagues in Yabucoa as well as an adjacent playscape.

The company says it reached out to local officials to see what they needed in the wake of the two hurricanes that devastated the island last year.

They were told by Yabucoa’s mayor, Rafael Surillo Ruiz, that one very big need was a place for children to play.

The company says it worked with a local nonprofit, All Hands and Hearts, to identify the field.

The company also is donating bats, balls, batting helmets, catcher’s equipment and gifts for the children who use the field.

Charles Taylor Acquires Aasgard Summit Extending Marine Claims Management to U.S. West Coast

Charles Taylor TPA has acquired Aasgard Summit Management Services, Inc. (Aasgard Summit), a provider of marine claims management and related technical services focusing on the U.S. West Coast states. The move strengthens Charles Taylor’s marine claims management capabilities in the U.S., an important component of the Group’s global specialist claims management services.

The acquisition secures Charles Taylor’s position as one of the largest U.S. providers of claims services to the maritime community. Aasgard Summit, with offices in Seattle and Hawaii, adds to Charles Taylor’s strong and growing presence in the strategic West Coast states, home to some of the U.S.’s largest ports and marine operators.

Aasgard Summit also adds specialized marine surveying capabilities to Charles Taylor’s existing global range of technical insurance services. Marine surveying has strong linkages and potential synergies with Charles Taylor’s existing marine claims management and marine adjusting businesses.

The deal follows Charles Taylor’s acquisition of Metro Risk Management in September 2017, which strengthened the Group’s workers’ compensation claims management capabilities in California.

IICF Raises MoreThan $400,000 at Midwest Division Blazing the Trail Benefit

The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a nonprofit organization working with the insurance industry to help communities and enrich lives, today announced that over $400,000 was raised for the IICF Midwest Community Grants Program at its 7th annual Midwest Division Blazing the Trail Benefit, on March 8 at the Radisson Aqua Blu Hotel in Chicago.

More than 350 insurance professionals and industry supporters joined with representatives of local Chicagoland nonprofit and charitable organizations in celebration of the industry’s ongoing commitment to philanthropy and community.

Since 2011, the IICF Midwest Division has contributed more than $2.2 million – along with 23,000 volunteer hours – to communities from Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, St. Louis and throughout the Midwest, supporting nonprofits in the area of health, education and safety, and making a real difference in these communities. This year an additional $28,500 was pledged at the Blazing the Trail Benefit by the Midwest insurance industry through a new text-to-give option.

Proceeds from this year’s Blazing the Trail Benefit will fund the following 2018 IICF Midwest Division Community Grantees:

Bernie’s Book Bank
DuPage Pads
Mutual Ground
Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society
Shelter, Inc.
SOS Children’s Villages
Sue Duncan Children’s Center
Youth Guidance