NEW HARTFORD — The recession, state taxes, and asbestos claims all took a bite out of 2009 earnings at Utica National Insurance Group, which reported a net loss from operations of $48.2 million.

SYRACUSE — DB&B Financial Services, the financial-services arm of Dermody, Burke & Brown CPAs, LLC, has spun off into a separate company.

DeWITT — The DeWitt–based Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) announced Feb. 10 it is prepared to proceed with a lawsuit against the New York State Insurance Department to stop a new producer-compensation regulation from taking effect.
IIABNY, headquartered at 5784 Widewaters Parkway in DeWitt, is a not-for-profit trade association that represents 1,800 independent insurance agents in New York.

It costs honest New Yorkers millions

Insurance fraud is an enticing enterprise for criminals throughout New York State, but you have to wonder just what some of the state’s fraudsters were thinking when they cooked up the scams that led to their eventual arrests.

BINGHAMTON — A “back to basics” approach really paid off at Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, which saw some areas of business quadruple during the recession.

Security Mutual has never been about offering flashy — and potentially risky — investment options, says Howell Palmer, COO and CFO. “We have conservative products,” he says. “They’re attractive and wrapped around the needs of our customers.”

CAMILLUS — Mang Insurance Agency prevents unruly and inebriated wedding guests, whose overzealous Macarena performance causes them to trip over speaker wires, from cashing in on their idiocy.

According to a Dalbar Financial Services study that tracks investor returns, from 1989 to 2008 the S&P 500 yielded an 8.35-percent return annually. But the average investor only earned 1.87 percent over the same period. This fact deserves restatement