A.m. Best Radio Podcast

Brittany Nevins, captive insurance economic development director, Vermont, said regulators, associations and legislators meet regularly to fine-tune the state's captive laws.

With oil prices at a relatively high level and COVID-19 lockdowns ended, MENA regional insurance markets are showing strong growth, said Vasilis Katsipis, general manager, market development - MENA, South & Central Asia, AM Best.

In its 2023 State of the States Municipal Credit Report, Conning shifted its outlook on state credit quality to “declining” from “stable.” States, however, are well equipped to weather an economic slowdown, said Conning’s Head of Municipal Research Karel Citroen.

Workers’ compensation has been consistently more profitable than other P/C lines from 2012 to 2022 said AM Best Associate Director David Blades and Senior Industry Analyst Christopher Graham, referencing a new Best's Market Segment Report.

Meteorologist Mark Bove, senior vice president of natural catastrophe solutions, Munich Re, discusses what the greater intensity of storms is doing to the insurance industry, and what can be done to mitigate the losses.

Maroun Mourad, president of Verisk Claims Solutions, explains how insurers continue to struggle with legacy technology when it comes to claims, and how a solution could be an interconnected claims ecosystem.

Paul Mallen, CEO and president of Amalgamated Life, sees continued need for group insurance, disability and other benefits, along with increased digital transformation to aid those markets.

Stephen Taylor, Director of the Bureau of Captive & Financial Insurance Products, Delaware Department of Insurance, said the captive industry there is built on the "Delaware advantage."

Chris Donelan, CEO, Global Reinsurance Sompo International said the reinsurance industry was not expecting a housing material shortage, rising labor costs, chip shortages, and then unemployment at historical lows with almost 10% inflation all at once.

Roosevelt Mosley, Principal and Consulting Actuary with Pinnacle Actuarial Resources, said that from summary data, the company has the flexibility to add and use different characteristics of the road-level data to develop scores.

Karen Clark, co-founder, Karen Clark and Co., said that models can provide objective benchmarks rather than waiting for lengthy loss-reporting cycles.

Lightning claim totals dropped by almost two thirds in 2022 from 2020, and by nearly $500 million from 2021, said Dale Porfilio, chief insurance officer, Insurance Information Institute, and president, Insurance Research Council.

Samir Shah, CEO of Ledger Investing, said the casualty-focused insurance-linked securities sector is expected to grow.

Collaboration between insurers and regulators is key to better understanding the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in the industry, said North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread.

ICMIF Chief Executive Shaun Tarbuck said he will soon retire, and in November 2024 hand the leadership torch to current ICMIF Executive Vice President Liz Green.

To improve resilience and mitigate risks such as geopolitical tension and natural catastrophes, business leaders must examine building locations and the impact of climate risk on those facilities, said Pentti Tofte, staff senior vice president, data analytics, FM Global. 

Cyber coverage far outpaces the rest of commercial insurance, said Sridhar Manyem, AM Best senior director, Industry Research & Public Relations, and Senior Industry Analyst, Christopher Graham.

Rahul Khanna, global head of Marine Risk Consulting, Allianz, details the findings of a new report that shows the number of vessel losses was down 36% in 2022 and has decreased by 65% over a 10-year period.

Thomas Holzheu, chief economist Americas, Swiss Re Institute, said that closing global protection gaps for natural catastrophes, crop, health insurance and mortality would require a record high $1.8 trillion in annual insurance premiums—a cumulative 20% rise since 2018.

Tony Fenton, vice president of commercial lines, underwriting and product at Nationwide, discusses a new company survey that shows small and medium market business owners are increasingly worried about U.S. economic conditions