Economic recession has led many insurance carriers to retrench, jettisoning lines of business in which risk is excessive or they lack expertise. Risk management is high on everyone's "to-do" list. Innovation seems a dirty word, but carriers should not ignore an area that holds great promise: microinsurance. The sheer population size of the emerging nations calls for a new view of markets. This TowerGroup Research Note explores this unique market segment, and since innovation is the cornerstone of all successful microinsurance ventures, it concludes with a list of lessons carrier can learn from microinsurers, even if they do not wish to offer microinsurance themselves.

This Research Note focuses on the rationale and viability of using open source code for software development at securities firms. Amid the upheaval caused by the credit crunch, budgets have been restricted and staffing has been reduced. It is now necessary for firms to think beyond build, buy, or outsource in the acquisition of required infrastructure and applications. Portions of the brokerage infrastructure provide no competitive differentiation and could be developed through open source code in a collaborative community. Open source collaboration among financial firms has the potential to become an alternative and possibly the only option brokerages will be able to afford.

This TowerGroup ViewPoint discusses the issues of check processing outsourcing for large banks and identifies effective outsourcing models that should be considered by banks and outsourcing vendors.

Linux continues to gain popularity in the US securities industry, with large brokerage firms leading the charge in adopting it. Several trends are becoming evident in the Linux marketplace, such as the extent of its adoption in the securities industry and further development of the Linux "ecosystem." The motivation for adopting Linux has changed since 2001, and more mission-critical applications are now being deployed on Linux.

This ViewPoint dispels the notion that securities firms are no longer looking at strategic IT, and mentions four long-term IT strategies that firms are examining.

This TowerGroup Research Note describes the promise that the Open-Source software movement represents and how it differs from the traditional model of software development. It describes major trends in Linux usage in the securities industry and the major challenges it faces to future growth.

This TowerGroup Research Note describes the promise that Linux holds for the securities industry and why Wall Street is so enamored of it. It outlines how Linux is being adopted by brokerage firms and the difference in adoption between large and small firms.