As the Asia-Pacific air travel market shows signs of recovery, Seattle’s aviation sector is poised to return to its pre-pandemic growth track. Before she took the role of managing director of the Pacific Northwest at Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL), Joan Wang spent 20 years developing travel from China, Singapore and Korea to the U.S. Now overseeing nearly 4,000 employees in the Puget Sound area, she has a chance to see that traffic from another direction. When she first arrived in March 2022, she was frequently the only one working in the Bellevue office. She sat down with the Business Journal to discuss how the airline plans to manage its resources and rebuild its network in the coming year. About Joan: Current position: Managing Director of the Pacific Northwest for Delta Air Lines Prior: Director of China Sales for Delta and country manager in Singapore, Korea and China for Qatar Airways Residence: Queen Anne. Born in Portugal, raised in Spain, and has lived in Swaziland, South Africa, Chile, Taiwan and Canada. Education: Bachelor’s degree in education from Boston College, dual master’s degree in arts and counseling psychology from Columbia University A typical day for Joan: Morning Wake-up alarm to […]

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Sponsored by Burns and Wilcox You can now listen to Insurance Journal articles! Following through on intentions to move its high net worth business to nonadmitted paper—and some to other capital providers—American International Group entered into a binding memorandum of understanding with Stone Point Capital LLC to form an independent managing general agency. AIG’s Private Client Group (PCG) business will move to this new independent platform, rebranded as Private Client Select Insurance Services (PCS). “As previously disclosed, AIG has been exploring structures that, over time, will allow PCG to be supported by third-party capital providers, including AIG and its innovative syndicate at Lloyd’s, referred to as Syndicate 2019. By partnering with a world-class private equity firm like Stone Point, we can maximize the strengths of this business and improve product offerings to better serve the high and ultra high net worth markets,” said Peter Zaffino, AIG’s chair and chief executive officer, in a statement on Monday. Zaffino first talked about moving AIG’s high-net-worth homeowners business out of the admitted market during a year-end 2021 conference call around this date last year. At the time, he noted the high frequency and severity of catastrophe losses on the book, indicating that […]

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40 + delegation includes dozens of startups, venture capitalists, technology incubators and public institutions JERUSALEM, February 14, 2023 –( BUSINESS WIRE )– OurCrowd , the leading venture investing platform and Israel’s most active venture investor*, welcomed a tech business delegation from Morocco to Israel today for this week’s OurCrowd Global Investor Summit . The Summit, which is the largest investor event in the Middle East, returns to Jerusalem on February 15, 2023, with more than 8,500 in-person participants expected from over 80 countries around the world, including delegations from Asia, Latin America, Australia, Europe, the US, the Middle East, and North Africa. The delegation from Morocco was organized by OurCrowd Arabia Head of Business Development MENA Youssef Seffar in cooperation with the Moroccan government. The delegation’s startups come from a variety of technology sectors that will present their solutions in the Moroccan Pavilion at the Summit. The startups include companies from a wide variety of industries, including fintech, AI, drones, Metaverse and Web3, solar energy, as well as technologies for physical fitness, training, human resources, and real estate. Among the startups are Chari, Icon.ma (Metaverse, AR/VR), Kekeli Technologies, OCP Maintenance Solutions, GRCC Me Time and Aerodrive Engineering Services. In […]

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MAKE IT AUTONOMOUS: The popular Kubota M5 can now be made driverless with the introduction of a retrofit kit from Sabanto. The first tasks available will be mowing and tillage. Courtesy of Sabanto Autonomy startup Sabanto brought its unique approach to agriculture by performing field operations for farmers as a as a service. That’s changing with the availability of a retrofit kit for the Kubota M5 tractor. Craig Rupp, founder and CEO of Sabanto, says the idea of bringing autonomous tractors to farmers to do fieldwork in those early days had a purpose. “The onus was on us to get it to work,” he notes. “With any farmer, if something doesn’t work, it’s going to get parked by the side of the field.” That launch approach allowed the company to work out the kinks of its driverless tractor system, validating its software and making sure it would run properly. The next step was to offer the upgrade to farmers as an addition to existing machines. Rupp says the company has always taken an agnostic approach to autonomy, working with a range of machines. However, the popular M5 tractor, a midsize ranging from 92.5 to 105.6 engine hp, is a […]

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Canopius Group has boosted its professional lines capabilities across the US and Bermuda with two new hires. Mike Butler, a long-time SVP from Argo Group , joins the global speciality reinsurer as head of management and professional lines, Bermuda. Jade Weaver, also from Argo Group, joins as an underwriter in management and professional lines. Butler will be reporting to Laurie Banez, head of casualty and head of management and professional lines, reinforcing the company’s professional lines capabilities across the US and Bermuda region. With nearly 25 years of industry experience, Butler most recently served as senior vice president and professional lines manager at Argo Group from 2011 through 2023. While at Argo, he helped successfully build the Argo Financial Lines BDA portfolio and led a team of underwriters focused on directors & officers, employment practices, errors & omissions, and wage & hour liability risks. Butler has also held senior positions at Marsh and AIG . Weaver, meanwhile, previously served as an underwriter on the professional lines team at Argo Group. Expanding in the US and Bermuda Canopius has underwriting operations in Australia, Bermuda, China, Singapore, the UK, and the US. Lisa Davis, US and Bermuda regional CEO at Canopius, […]

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People wearing masks walk around the Bryant Park Winter Village on Christmas Eve in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 24, 2022. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) – U.S. small-business confidence improved in January as worries about inflation eased, but labor shortages remained a major concern for many owners, according to a survey on Tuesday. The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its Small Business Optimism Index rose 0.5 point to 90.3 last month, also lifted by an improvement in the share of owners who expected better business conditions over the next six months. Still, it was the 13th consecutive month that the index was below the 49-year average of 98. Owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months rose 6 points to a net -45%, pushing further away from an all-time low of -61% last June. Twenty-six percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem, down 6 points from December and 11 points below July’s reading, which was the highest since the fourth quarter of 1979. Latest Updates About 42% of owners reported raising average selling prices, down a point from December. The steady decrease aligns with views that inflation […]

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Good morning and Happy Valentine’s Day! Expect another warmish winter day on the holiday, with a high of 58 degrees. It’s only going to get warmer on Wednesday with a high of 68 degrees. Rain is supposed to move in on Thursday before colder temps return for the weekend. The snow drought continues. WBAL-TV Here’s what else you need to know this morning. Can buy me love Don’t be surprised if you’re left with slim pickings at the flower shop today. Americans are expected to spend $25.9 billion on Valentine’s Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics. That would be one of the highest spending years since the federation began tracking holiday spending in 2004. Consumers are expected to spend an average of $192.80, up from an average of $175.41 on the holiday in 2022. The most popular gift category is not flowers or jewelry. About 57% of Valentine’s Day shoppers plan to buy candy. Who doesn’t love a good box of chocolates? But please spare me the tasteless candy hearts. Hallmark gets a bad rap Stop blaming Hallmark if you’re someone who doesn’t like the holiday. A column in Monday’s Cincinnati […]

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MFD investigates fire in Parkway Village(action news 5) MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Memphis Fire Department is investigating a fire in Parkway Village on Tuesday morning. A local business, Taste Addicts, caught on fire just before 4 a.m. on American Way, said MFD dispatch. The building was empty at the time of the fire. MFD says the fire was ignited in multiple places. They ask anyone who may have information to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH or the State Arson Hotline at 1-800-762-3017. The total damage is estimated at $400,000. Copyright 2023 WMC. All rights reserved.

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getty Returning a profit is a goal for every business owner, but the question is to what extent are you willing to bend in order to turn a profit? Believe it or not, there are some companies that focus solely on profits and tend to overlook ethical implications. While overlooking ethical concepts may have short-term benefits, it can ultimately hurt your brand in the long run. Defining Ethical Business Practices In business, ethics refer to making decisions that the average person will support and view as socially acceptable. Such points include offering a good work environment for employees, having a high-quality and valuable product and taking into consideration customer and social safety. Ethical business practices involve making decisions and having your business act in a way people will view as morally acceptable. While it’s true that morals vary between individuals, in most situations it’s clear to see where the moral line stands, and it’s up to you as a business owner whether or not to cross that line. Some businesses see a conflict between ethics and profit, so they may focus more on profit. While an unethical decision can sometimes lead to increased profits, it can also damage the […]

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SYDNEY, Feb 14 (Reuters) – Australian business conditions rebounded sharply in January after three months of slowdown while cost pressures picked up again, a surprising sign of strength that could add to the case for yet more rises in interest rates. Tuesday’s survey from National Australia Bank Ltd (NAB) (NAB.AX) showed its index of business conditions had risen 5 points to +18 in January, well above its long-run average. The measure of confidence climbed 6 points to +6, led by gains in the wholesale and the transport and utilities industries. "The improvement in confidence suggest firms have a more optimistic outlook as concerns about global growth prospects ease, while strong conditions are also providing evidence that the economy is more resilient than previously expected," said Alan Oster, NAB’s chief economist. The survey showed a notable 8-point pick-up in its sales index to a very high +28 in January, supported by historically low unemployment and rapid population growth. Latest Updates Measures of employment edged up 2 points to +10, while profitability rose 4 points to +17. The resilience of demand was one reason the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifted interest rates to a decade high of 3.35% last week […]

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