Study Group: Personal and Commercial P&C Insurance Brokers

GLG News^SM Analyses by this Study Group's Leading Experts(?)

Nortel Optical Sweepstakes

August 14, 2009

Analysis by:Ronald Gruia, Program Leader-Emerging Communications Solutions &,

Analysis of:Is Ericsson the Hope for Nortel's MEN? | www.lightreading.com

As Nortel disposes of its business units, gaining market share via acquisition will be an way for vendors in the optical space to give the top two players (Huawei and Alcatel-Lucent) ar run for the money. This article examines the potential suitors for the Nortel MEN unit and their likelihood to bid on these assets, in addition to key considerations for each vendor. The list includes Ciena, Cisco, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Huawei, Infinera, Juniper, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) and Tellabs.

Nortel Fire Sale Begins

June 22, 2009

Analysis by:Ronald Gruia, Program Leader-Emerging Communications Solutions &,

Analysis of:Nortel selling wireless unit to Nokia Siemens | finance.yahoo.com

Wireless assets acquired by NSN from Nortel include the CDMA business and LTE IP (Intellectual Property).  NSN gets relationships with operators such as Bell Mobility, VerizonWireless, Sprint Nextel, KDDI, China Telecom. CDMA is still profitable and will have a long tail. NSN also expands its footprint in North America, which represents only ~ 5% of its revenues and this acquisiton will certainly better position the company to tackle one of its Achilles heels. NSN gets Nortel's IP on LTE including SON (Self-Organizing Networks) and ongoing LTE relationships (NT had won KDDI tender and was carrying out a trial at T-Mobile AG); 400/2,500 employees that NSN is getting from Nortel were working on LTE, other 2,100 on CDMA. Who will fill in the void in terms of R&D spend in Canada? NSN will open up a lab and there are rumors that Huawei will expand its presence, but look for more from other entrepreneurs such as Sir Terry Matthews. It will be tough to match Nortel's R&D budget.

AT&T LTE Trial and Its Implications

May 7, 2009

Analysis by:Ronald Gruia, Program Leader-Emerging Communications Solutions &,

Analysis of:Rumor Mill: Did AT&T pick Ericsson, Alca-Lu, Huawei for LTE trial? | www.fiercewireless.com

1- Details of the AT&T LTE buildout begin to emerge
2- Chinese NEVs such as Huawei and ZTE will become forces to be reckoned with in North America.
3- Ramifications to the other NEVs and LTE

NETC Q1 2009 Results & A Forward Look

May 4, 2009

Analysis by:Ronald Gruia, Program Leader-Emerging Communications Solutions &,

Analysis of:Net Serviços: Resilient in a Tough Lat Am Macro Environment | finance.yahoo.com

Earlier this past week, NETC reported solid Q1 2009 results, which while expected by some, were met despite the worsening of macro conditions in Brazil.  In fact, from all Carlos Slim companies reporting this past week (i.e. AMX, TMX, NETC), NETC arguably had the strongest performance.  Issues going forward: Deteriorating macro environment and mitigating an unfavorable decision by the local regulator.

Cat Modeling is Here to Stay

April 22, 2008

Analysis by:Joseph Delaney, Managing Partner,

Analysis of:Insurers Overly Focused On Cat Models, Says Expert | www.propertyandcasualtyinsurancenews.com

Primary insurers and reinsurers will demand that catastrophic modeling be used in order to justify their underwriting decisions of this type of insurance.  These newer models in conjunction with in-house capacity aggregation tools (Insurers now know where and how much of their capacity is in play) will guide their underwriting decisions from windstorm and earthquake to workers compensation in terrorism prone cities like DC and NYC.  The process is another way to spread the risk, so that any one insurer does not take a huge hit from any one event.  Using technology to spread risk will utimately decrease volatility in insurance markets. 

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