Such is the world of Second Life, the online game launched in 2003 by Linden Lab. With 12.1 million “residents” as of January 20—a half-million of whom had logged in within the past week—Second Life is the largest community of its type, a “virtual world” in which users’ three-dimensional avatars float from portal to portal, meet friends, play games, attend concerts, explore photo-realistic landscapes.

And conduct business. Linden estimates transactions totaling $7.6 million were completed by users in December alone. Speculation in virtual “real estate” has been the hottest market. But many established businesses, including a number of insurers, have moved to create their own presence in Second Life as well, looking for a slice of the key 25-to-34-year-old demographic, according to an exclusive story in BestWeek U.S./Canada.

“It’s an experiment. We wanted to get in there and see what the potential was and the opportunity, so that’s what we did,” said Jeff Silver, director of marketing for Unitrin Direct. The automobile insurer made its Second Life debut in February 2007, after spending six weeks and $5,000 designing and building its own “cyber skyscraper,” Silver said.

Also, in BestWeek Europe:

The Middle East insurance and takaful markets are expanding rapidly, giving rise to a new problem—a widening skills shortage.

Also, in BestWeek U.S./Canada:

A new broker targeting the Hispanic community spent two years researching and planning its entry into the market.

And in both editions of BestWeek:

The Best’s Global Insurance Composite Index finished the week of January 24 down 5.97% from a year ago. The composite index reflects the performance of 172 insurance stocks. The week’s top stocks were Fidelity National Financial Inc., First American Corp., National Atlantic Holdings, Reinsurance Group of America, and Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group.

The bottom five stocks were Allianz, Coventry Health Care, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Co., China Insurance International Holdings, and Health Net Inc.