A.m. Best Radio Podcast

A panel gathered by AM Best TV at the WSIA Annual Marketplace conference in San Diego said the excess and surplus sector has evolved from being perceived as a market for hard-to-place risks to becoming a staple in the insurance community.

Marcia Blanco, head of financial lines at Munich Re Specialty, said as a result of regulatory claims, defense costs for directors and officers have skyrocketed.

AM Best Financial Analyst Lauren Magro discusses a new Best's Market Segment Report finding that P/C mutuals report surplus growth, and pursue rate adequacy amid another year of increasing severe storm frequency.

Dan Law, head of the cyber practice at HSB, said small and medium enterprise businesses have been slow to adopt cyber protection into their coverage, however insurers need to focus on bringing a product to that market that makes sense.

Neil Alldredge, president & CEO, NAMIC, said that while new mutual formations are rare, existing companies are expanding into new lines of business and geographic areas. Alldredge spoke with AM Best TV at NAMIC's 129th Annual Convention, held in Denver. 

The panel also addressed potential pitfalls of innovation, such as the challenges of pricing products before knowing their true cost and the need for strong balance sheets to support innovative ventures. Panelists spoke with AM Best TV at the WSIA Annual Marketplace in San Diego.

Bryan Hodgens, senior vice president and head of research, LIMRA and LOMA, said annuity sales surged 19% to $215.2 billion, with fixed index and registered index-linked annuities setting new records, according to LIMRA’s U.S. annuity sales survey.

Aaron VanTuyl and Matt Baide, podcast hosts, Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner, discuss the "OIC Answers" podcast that seeks to inform Evergreen State consumers on a wide range of insurance topics.

Gary Wang, senior consulting actuary for Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, said that the issue of fairness is a very common social discussion that’s taking place across a wide spectrum of industries, and insurance is part of that.

AM Best Director Doniella Pliss highlights a new Best's Market Segment Report that finds growing health care utilization and medical inflation are expanding the role of health reinsurance.

Juan Andrade, president & CEO, Everest Group, said concerns about social inflation and legal-system abuse are contributing to increased severity in claims across the industry. Andrade spoke with AM Best TV at the Rendez-Vous de Septembre conference in Monte Carlo.

NCCI chief actuary Donna Glenn reports strong profitability in workers' compensation as frequency of claims continues to decline, severity aligns with wage growth, and medical inflation remains moderate.

David Blades, associate director, and Christopher Graham, senior industry analyst, both of AM Best, highlight a Best’s Market Segment Report that finds profits continued in 2023 and conditions are right for another strong year in 2024.

Patrick Baker, private directors and officers product manager at Travelers, discusses the different exposures private companies face compared with their publicly traded counterparts.

Karen Clark, founder of catastrophe modeler KCC, discusses the amount of insured losses so far in 2024, about $40 billion of which she attributes to convective storm activity.

Tobias Grimm, head of climate advisory and natural catastrophe data with Munich Re’s climate change solutions department, says that the first half of 2024 has been a costly year for P/C insurers due to increased tornado activity and regional weather extreme events.

Andrew Johnston, global head of insurtech for Gallagher Re, details the findings of a recently published report about levels of investment and funding for insurance-related technology including artificial intelligence.

Firmly established for years as the leading open-invitation market presentation event at the Rendez-Vous in Monte Carlo, this briefing is a unique opportunity for reinsurance market insight and opinion ahead of busy bilateral meeting schedules. Key discussion points include: AM Best's trend analysis on the global reinsurance sector; if pricing discipline will be maintained; AM Best’s global reinsurance outlook and the drivers of future rating movements; the impact of alternative capital and ILS; and key rating issues impacting all reinsurers.

Dawn Walker of AM Best was recently interviewed on the Insurance Nerds podcast, on which she detailed advantages of a Performance Assessment for delegated underwriting authority enterprises in providing transparency.

Jessica Ruggles, corporate vice president, New York Life, said baby boomers are more likely to have savings than other generations, while younger workers, including Gen Z, are recognizing the importance of early planning.