David Schiff
Comment: What he has said or written cannot be used to establish notability. Need in-depth coverage about him. If there are such sources cited, they are buried. S0091 (talk) 19:25, 9 October 2026 (UTC)
- Comment: In accordance with Wikipedia's Conflict of interest guideline, I disclose that I have a conflict of interest regarding the subject of this article. InsuranceObserver (talk) 18:37, 9 October 2026 (UTC)
David Schiff (May 23, 1956) is an American writer, investigative journalist, and activist who is best known as the founder and writer of Schiff’s Insurance Observer[1], an independent publication covering the insurance industry.
Schiff grew up in New York City, where he went to the Browning and Birch Wathen schools. He attended Duke University, The New School for Social Research, and The College of Insurance. While in college, Schiff was a Contributing Editor[2] of Princeton University’s humor magazine, The Princeton Tiger.
After working in insurance brokerage[3], securities trading, and corporate finance, Schiff founded Schiff’s Insurance Observer (“The World’s Most Dangerous Insurance Publication”) in 1989. The publication combined financial analysis[4]and investigative reporting with satire, cartoons, historical essays, and commentary. Schiff wrote frequently about insurance-company financial strength, corporate governance, mutual insurance companies[5][6][7], demutualization[8], accounting[9], and regulation.
In 1997, his writing about ALLIED Mutual Insurance Company[10][11] led him to seek election to the company’s board[12] and attracted widespread coverage in the financial and insurance press[13][14]. Acting pro bono, he subsequently sought to acquire ALLIED (and other large insurers[15][16]) on behalf of their policyholders.
Schiff wrote extensively about—and was a vociferous[17] [18]and active opponent[19][20] of—mutual insurance holding companies[21] and abusive demutualizations.[22] arguing that these reorganizations could transfer economic value and corporate opportunities away from policyholders while giving executives stock and options.[23] [24][25] He also wrote many exposes about Reliance Group[26][27], Conseco[28], and AIG[29][30][31][32][33] long before they failed.
As a freelancer Schiff wrote for Barron’s[34], The Nation, The New York Observer[35], The East Hampton Star[36] and other publications. He was a Contributing Editor of Worth magazine, Leader's Edge, Insurance Advocate, and Insurance Journal.
Schiff was nominated for the George Polk Award several times[37] and was a finalist for his writing about mutual insurance companies[38]. Sidney Offit, longtime curator of the Awards, later wrote that he had “experienced no greater disappointment than our failure to honor” Schiff for his “bold and resourceful reporting.”[39]
Schiff’s Insurance Observer ceased publication in the 2007. Schiff subsequently wrote a sporadic blog[40] and occasional humor pieces[41] and continued his pro bono opposition[42][43] to abuses by mutual insurance companies.
References
- ↑ "Schiff's Insurance Observer: The world's most dangerous insurance publication". www.insuranceobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Masthead of The Tiger, 1976-1977
- ↑ Insurance Journal/West, January 26, 1998, "David vs. Goliath" by Denise Carabet
- ↑ "Insurance Investing: Bad News is Good News - Schiff's Insurance Observer". www.insuranceobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Rambeck, Richard (2001-04-29). "Mutual Holding Company: A Shell Game Without the Pea". Insurance Journal. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Street
Journal, Christopher Oster Staff Reporter of The Wall (2001-03-15). "Prudential Plans to 'Demutualize'; Shift Worries Policyholder Advocates - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-10-09. line feed character in
|last=at position 7 (help) - ↑ Consumer Reports. Consumers Union of United States. 1998. Search this book on
- ↑ Scism, Leslie; Street
Journal, Deborah LohseStaff Reporters of The Wall (1998-10-27). "Goldman Sachs Is Criticized On MONY Public Offering - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-10-09. line feed character in
|last2=at position 7 (help) - ↑ "AIG's accounting lesson". The Economist. 2004-03-04. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Street
Journal, Leslie ScismStaff Reporter of The Wall (1997-09-30). "Iowa Insurance Company Faces Proxy Fight by Newsletter Chief - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-10-09. line feed character in
|last=at position 7 (help) - ↑ Des Moines Business Record, January 19, 1998, "What Happened at Allied" by Bill Day,
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, January 18, 1998, "Is David Schiff a Corporate Raider or a Corporate Robin Hood?" by William Ryberg
- ↑ Treaster, Joseph B. (2001-06-02). "Policyholders Push for Owners' Rights as More Insurers Go Public". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Street
Journal, Leslie ScismStaff Reporter of The Wall (1998-04-16). "State Regulators Initiate Probe Of Ties Between Two Allieds - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-10-09. line feed character in
|last=at position 7 (help) - ↑ Insurance Journal/West, December 22, 1997, "The Feeling is Mutual" page9
- ↑ Insurance Advocate, December 13, 1997, "Schiff Undeterred By Initial Rejection of Purchase of FCCI Mutual", page 24
- ↑ National Underwriter, May 25, 1998, "NAIC Struggles with With MHC Paper", by Dan Lonkevich
- ↑ "Critic Of Allied Group Demutualization Wins Victory As Holding Company Alters Pooling Arrangement". www.propertyandcasualty.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Newsweek, June 8, 1998, "The Feeling Isn't Mutual", by Allan Sloan, page 41
- ↑ Best's Insurance News, January 26, 1998, "Hearing Gets Heated on Principal Conversion Plan"
- ↑ Insurance Advocate, May 16, 1998, "The Mutual Holding Company--Some New Wrinkles" by Phil Zinkewicz, p.6
- ↑ Ha, Young (2012-01-06). "Report: Liberty Mutual Failed in Bid to Buy Harleysville". Insurance Journal. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Grant's Interest Rate Observer, April 24, 1998, "'Ownerless Equity" page 4
- ↑ Independant Agent, March 1998, "Allied Controversy" by Ronald W. Lent p.28
- ↑ "Mutual Respect". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Zuckerman, Gregory; Smith, Randall; Street
Journal, Ianthe DuganStaff Reporters of The Wall (2000-08-16). "Steinberg Saw Rich Payoff At Helm of Reliance Group - WSJ". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-10-09. line feed character in
|last3=at position 7 (help) - ↑ Schiff's Insurance Observer, August 16, 2000, "Bankruptcy Ahoy!"
- ↑ Schiff's Insurance Observer, December 19, 2002, "Conseco Is Bankrupt--Finally!"
- ↑ "Inside the Black Box: The AIG Chronicles - Schiff's Insurance Observer". www.insuranceobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Morgenson, Gretchen (2005-03-27). "The Deal That Toppled A.I.G.'s Boss". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ "AIG's accounting lesson". The Economist. 2004-03-04. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Business Week. Bloomberg L.P. 2005. Search this book on
- ↑ "Fessing up". The Economist. 2003-02-06. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Barron's, December 19, 1988"The Henley Maneuver: It Helps the Rich Get Richer" by David Schiff
- ↑ Schiff, David (2015-11-18). "Carol Doda, Big-Boobed Bombshell Pioneer of Topless Entertainment, Dies at 78". Observer. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Schiff, David. "Walden Revisited | The East Hampton Star". www.easthamptonstar.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Sidney Offit, Friends, Authors, and Countrymen, p. 205. Offit, a longtime curator of the George Polk Awards, described and discussed Schiff's repeated nominations.
- ↑ "Deception: The Big Fix - Schiff's Insurance Observer". www.insuranceobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Sidney Offit, Curator of The George Polk Awards in an April 11, 2002 letter
- ↑ "Blog - Schiff's Insurance Observer". www.insuranceobserver.com. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Schiff, David (2016-04-06). "This Branding Genius Knew the Value of Soft Toilet Paper". Observer. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Ha, Young (2012-01-06). "Report: Liberty Mutual Failed in Bid to Buy Harleysville". Insurance Journal. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
- ↑ Ha, Young (2012-10-12). "Nationwide to Settle Harleysville Policyholder Class Action for $26M". Insurance Journal. Retrieved 2026-10-09.
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