A M Best Co

Federal regulators said Thursday they plan to sell the major insurance operation of Irvine-based Lincoln Savings & Loan to a Dallas investment firm for an undisclosed price. The insurance operation is part of a Lincoln subsidiary that filed for bankruptcy April 13, along with Lincoln's parent company, American Continental Corp., and 10 other S&L subsidiaries. Lincoln was seized by regulators the next day. Regulators said they intend to sell Continental Fidelity Insurance Co. and its operating unit, American Founders Life Insurance Co., to Zlogar & Co. Zlogar had been negotiating with Phoenix-based American Continental to purchase the insurance operation before American Continental filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition.

Allstate Corp. said Wednesday it will buy the personal insurance division of CNA Financial Corp. for $1.2 billion, as part of a strategy to revive growth by expanding sales of home and auto policies by independent agents. Buying the CNA business would more than double Allstate's sales through independent agents--who represent more than one insurer--to about $3 billion and make it third-largest, up from ninth, in that market.

A planned merger between Fidelity National Financial Inc. and insurer Five Star Holdings Inc. was called off Thursday, the second deal that has collapsed recently for Irvine-based Fidelity. Dirk McNamee, president of Five Star, said he halted the deal because the volatile stock market has taken a toll on Fidelity's stock, "making it difficult for us to agree on a pricing formula for the merger." "We're all pretty disappointed," he said. "No reflection on Fidelity.

When insurance giant American International Group Inc. imploded last fall, the firm's problems were quickly blamed not on its core insurance business but on an obscure operation that traded exotic mortgage securities. But as the economic crisis deepens, it has become clear that AIG's problems extend across most of its business lines, including its massive life insurance and retirement services operations, which reported a staggering $18-billion quarterly loss this month.

Lincoln National Corp. said Monday that it will buy Cigna Corp.'s individual life insurance and annuity businesses for $1.4 billion, a move that would make Lincoln the eighth-largest retirement savings and life insurance company in the United States. The sale reflects Cigna's plans to move away from retail insurance and into management of employee benefits and pensions.

People may spend months looking for the right house or the best car, but many spend little time, if any, shopping for insurance. "Most people don't know what they are buying," said Jeanne Salvatore, a spokeswoman for Insurance Information Institute, a consumer education group. "They don't read the contract or ask questions." Actually, much insurance is straightforward.

The new chief executive of American International Group Inc.'s said Tuesday that he faced a "daunting task" in replacing Maurice "Hank" Greenberg. Martin Sullivan's comments came as shares of the world's largest insurer fell for a third straight day and Fitch Ratings cut its credit rating. Sullivan, 50, said he would work to resolve probes by New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer and regulators who are examining whether AIG manipulated its earnings.

A bit of relief may be available for some clients of failed First Pension Corp. in Irvine. Receivers have discovered two small insurance policies held by an affiliate that may cover some investor claims against the parent company. The court-appointed receiver for Summit Trust Services, a Denver-based firm established by First Pension principal William E.

Some insurance experts think the Northridge earthquake could sink a few smaller insurance companies, especially ones heavily focused on commercial coverage in California. The quake has also revived questions about the industry's overall soundness, given the unprecedented string of catastrophes stretching back to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. A.M. Best Co., one of the leading insurance rating firms, based in Oldwick, N.J.

The insurance industry Thursday raised its official estimate of insured damage from the Northridge earthquake to $4.5 billion, making the Jan. 17 quake the second-worst insurance disaster in U.S. history behind 1992's Hurricane Andrew. The revised estimate by the Property Claims Services division of the American Insurance Services Group Inc. was nearly double the trade organization's initial $2.5-billion figure, released in February.