Insurance Journal West 2019-11-18 by Insurance Journal

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November 18, 2019 • Vol. 97 No. 22

Contents

Idea Exchange

Special Report

News & Markets

Boosting Resilience to U.S. Wildfires Should Be Insurance Industry Priority: I.I.I.

18 2020: What to Expect in

Special Report: Senior Living Market in Challenging Times

Digital Agents Have the Advantage When It Comes to Informed Insurance Consumers

Commercial Insurance

Spotlight: Winegar Credits Mentors for His Success in Trucking Specialty

How Mindfulness Helps in Business and Life

Going Public: BRP CEO Baldwin On the Company’s IPO, What’s Next

Spotlight: A Passion for Learning Is a Driving Force for J.M. Wilson’s Galecka

Ask the Insurance Recruiter: Trendy Hiring Tactics For 2020

Spotlight: 100% Job Placement Promise Sealed the Deal for All Risks’ Neeley

Minding Your Business: How to Bring in Young People to Insurance

44 46

33 Spotlight: From Insurance

The Competitive Advantage: A Few Good Tips to Consider on Outsourcing

Internship to Budding Career

48 50 Closing Quote: The Value of

Spotlight: Building Relationships Key to Success for USG’s Kessel

Lights! Camera! Insurance!

Professional Designations

Closer Look: Top 50 Personal Lines Leaders

Departments

14 Figures

6 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

16 Declarations

19 Business Moves

22 People

35 My New Markets

INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

OUT-WORK verb

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AG R I B U S I N ESS

AVI AT I ON

P E R SO NAL L I N ES

PR O FESSIONAL & EX ECUTIV E LIABILITY

CASUALTY

CONSTRUCTIO N

E N E R GY

PR O P E RTY

E N V I R O N M E N TA L

R E A L ESTATE

H E A LTH CA R E

TR A N S P O RTATI O N

LI F E S C I E N C ES

WO R K E R S’ C O M P E N SATI O N

MARINE RT BI N D I N G

Opening Note Write the Editor: awells@insurancejournal.com

Problematic Use

arijuana use among adolescents and adults increased after legalization of recreational marijuana and that maybe problematic, according to a new study from New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Published online November 13 in JAMA Psychiatry, the study claims to be the first to look at the impact of recreational marijuana legalization on both use and cannabis use disorder (commonly referred to as problematic marijuana use) across multiple age groups. Presently, 11 states and Washington, D.C. have legalized marijuana for recreational use while 33 states and D.C. have legalized marijuana for medical use. After examining usage following the enactment of marijuana legalization in 2012 to 2015, the researchers found that problematic use among adolescents aged 12 to 17 was 25% higher (a small increase from 2.18 to 2.72%) compared to states without legal recreational use. There was no change in the prevalence of past-month or frequent use among teens. Among adults aged 26 or older, past-month marijuana use after legalization was 26% higher than in non-recreational states. Past-month frequent use rose by 23%, and past-year problematic use increased by 37%. Among young adults aged 18 to 25, there was no difference found in past-month, frequent or problematic marijuana use. “There are, indeed, important social benefits that legalizing marijuana can provide, particularly around issues of equity in criminal justice,” said Magdalena Cerdá, DrPH, associate professor and director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy in the Department of Population Health at NYU Langone Health, and the study’s lead author. “Our findings suggest that as more states move toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use, we also need to think about investing in substance use prevention and treatment to prevent unintended harms — particularly among adolescents.” Cerdá and colleagues analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) with a sample of 505,796 respondents. The investigators specifically looked at data from Colorado, Washington, Alaska and Oregon from 2008-2016, the first four states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. They compared trends in these four states to trends in states that had not legalized recreational marijuana use. The team examined marijuana use and frequent use (more than 20 days) in the past month, and cannabis use disorder over the past year. “Cannabis use disorder in adolescence is associated with long-term adverse health, economic and social consequences,” said Silvia S. Martins, MD, PhD, associate professor of Epidemiology at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and the study’s senior author. “The general public should be informed about both benefits and potential harms of marijuana products to make informed decisions,” Martins added.

‘Our findings suggest that as more states move toward legalizing marijuana for recreational use, we also need to think about investing in substance use prevention and treatment to prevent unintended harms — particularly among adolescents.’

Andrea Wells Editor-in-Chief

8 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Publisher Mark Wells | mwells@wellsmedia.com Chief Executive Officer Joshua Carlson | jcarlson@insurancejournal.com

ADMINISTRATION / CIRCULATION

Chief Financial Officer Mark Wooster | mwooster@wellsmedia.com Circulation Manager Elizabeth Duffy | eduffy@wellsmedia.com Staff Accountant Sarah Kersbergen | skersbergen@wellsmedia.com

EDITORIAL

Chief Content Officer Andrew Simpson | asimpson@insurancejournal.com Editor-in-Chief Andrea Wells | awells@insurancejournal.com East Editor Elizabeth Blosfield | eblosfield@insurancejournal.com Southeast Editor/MyNewMarkets Amy O’Connor | aoconnor@insurancejournal.com South Central Editor/Midwest Editor Stephanie K. Jones | sjones@insurancejournal.com West Editor Don Jergler | djergler@insurancejournal.com International Editor L.S. Howard | lhoward@insurancejournal.com Columnists & Contributors Contributors: Sherry Branson, Michael Furtschegger, Laird Rixford, Rachel Schoeffler Columnists: Chris Burand, Mary Newgard, Catherine Oak

SALES / MARKETING

Chief Marketing Officer Julie Tinney | jtinney@insurancejournal.com West Sales Dena Kaplan | dkaplan@insurancejournal.com Romeo Valdez rvaldez@insurancejournal.com South Central Sales Mindy Trammell | mtrammell@insurancejournal.com Southeast and East Sales (except for NY, PA, CT) Howard Simkin | hsimkin@insurancejournal.com Midwest Sales Lisa Whalen | (800) 897-9965 x180 East Sales (NY, PA and CT only) Dave Molchan | (800) 897-9965 x145 Sales & Marketing Coordinator Ashley Berg | aberg@insurancejournal.com Advertising Coordinator Erin Burns | eburns@insurancejournal.com Insurance Markets Manager Kristine Honey | khoney@insurancejournal.com Senior Strategist Pam Simpson | psimpson@insurancejournal.com Social Media Manager Ly Short | Lshort@insurancejournal.com Marketing Administrator Gayle Wells | gwells@insurancejournal.com Marketing Director Derence Walk | dwalk@insurancejournal.com

DESIGN / WEB / VIDEO

V.P. of Design Guy Boccia | gboccia@insurancejournal.com V.P. of Technology Chris Thompson | cthompson@insurancejournal.com Ad Ops Specialist Jeff Cardrant | jcardrant@insurancejournal.com Web Developer Terrance Woest | twoest@wellsmedia.com Web Developer Ryan Kleshinski | rkleshinski@wellsmedia.com New Media Producer Bobbie Dodge | bdodge@insurancejournal.com Videographer/Editor Ashley Waldrop | awaldrop@insurancejournal.com

ACADEMY OF INSURANCE

Director Patrick Wraight | pwraight@ijacademy.com Online Training Coordinator Nathan Granitz | ngranitz@ijacademy.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

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Outside the US, call (847) 400-5951 Insurance Journal, The National Property/Casualty Magazine (ISSN: 00204714) is published semi-monthly by Wells Media Group, Inc., 3570 Camino del Rio North, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92108-1747. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Diego, CA and at additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIPTION RATES: $7.95 per copy, $12.95 per special issue copy, $195 per year in the U.S., $295 per year all other countries. DISCLAIMER: While the information in this publication is derived from sources believed reliable and is subject to reasonable care in preparation and editing, it is not intended to be legal, accounting, tax, technical or other professional advice. Readers are advised to consult competent professionals for application to their particular situation. Copyright 2019 Wells Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Content may not be photocopied, reproduced or redistributed without written permission. Insurance Journal is a publication of Wells Media Group, Inc. POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to Insurance Journal, Circulation Dept, PO Box 708, Northbrook, IL 60065-9967 ARTICLE REPRINTS: Contact (800) 897-9965 x125 or visit insurancejournal.com/reprints

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News & Markets Boosting Resilience to U.S. Wildfires Should Be Insurance Industry Priority: I.I.I.

early a year after the deadliest and costliest wildfire in U.S. history, insurers and the customers they cover are revisiting how to reduce their collective exposure to this risk, according to the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). “While our research has been in the works for the last year because of California’s catastrophic wildfires in 2017 and 2018, the wildfires we’ve seen in recent weeks makes these findings all too real and timely,” said Sean Kevelighan, CEO, I.I.I. “The increased severity of these wildfires stems in part from too many people residing in harm’s way. Builders and residents need to focus on how to be more resilient, or reconsider altogether whether to place homes in certain areas.” The Camp Fire, which began on Nov. 8, 2018, killed 85 people and caused $8.47 billion in insured losses in Butte County, according to the California Department of Insurance (DOI). The insured loss dollar figure represents payouts to customers as of May 2019 from the 28,118 auto, residential and commercial property insurance claims generated from the Camp Fire event. However, the I.I.I. estimated the Camp Fire’s insured auto, residential, and com-

12 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

mercial property insurance claim payouts will total anywhere from $8.5 billion to $10.5 billion, when all claims are paid. “Building codes that incorporate fire-resilient construction, such as fire-resistive roofs, can help protect new housing stock from wildfire damage,” the I.I.I. said in a new white paper, titled “Fighting Wildfires with Innovation,” which cites the insurance industry’s support for groups like Stronger California, which is a coalition of homeowners’ insurance companies. “For example, an analysis found that 51 percent of houses in Paradise, California built with the state’s updated 2008 building codes survived the 2018 Camp Fire; in contrast, only 18 percent of houses without the updated building codes survived,” said the white paper. The I.I.I.’s paper said insurers are encouraging customers to harden their homes by installing Class A fire-rated roofs, metal screens which cover all vents, and double or multi-paned tempered glass windows. “Creating what’s called a defensible space around a structure can significantly reduce the risk of embers and surface fires spreading and igniting the structure.” Moreover, the I.I.I.’s white paper addresses the regulatory challenges

insurers face amid the growing frequency and severity of wildfires, especially in California, where that state’s DOI prohibits property insurers from using either the cost of reinsurance or catastrophe models when setting property insurance premium rates. “Instead, insurers are often required to rely only on their own historical loss data to set prices, regardless of what the anticipated future risk might be,” the I.I.I.’s paper said. “This could result in underpricing of wildfire risks in some areas, since there might be as yet little historical loss data for catastrophic losses—even in high-risk areas,” it continued. “Some have argued that the cumulative effect of these and other regulations may be creating an unsustainable financial environment for insurers that seek to offer property insurance in high-risk areas, since they cannot accurately price risk.” The I.I.I.’s wildfire paper is the first in a series which will examine how the insurance industry supports resilience to natural disasters and extreme weather events. The white paper includes charts illustrating how states such as Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Texas also face extreme wildfire risks. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

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Mercantile & Importers

Figures $257 MILLION The amount members of the North Carolina House approved to assist the state with disaster recovery from Hurricanes Matthew, Florence and Dorian that have caused significant damage in North Carolina over the last several years. The money will also be used to help state and local governments with long-term planning and resiliency efforts.

$59.17 MILLION The amount a former high school student disfigured by a chemistry experiment was awarded by a Manhattan jury after a month-long trial. Half of the verdict was to compensate Alonzo Yanes for his pain and suffering since 2014, and half was for future pain and suffering as he copes with the damage left by burns over 31% of his body.

14 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

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$2.6 MILLION The amount the former operators of La Cantera Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas, will pay to settle a national origin discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC had alleged at least 25 Hispanic banquet employees at La Cantera were subjected to verbal abuse and mistreatment because of their national origin, and that the resort’s managers had implemented and harshly enforced a policy forbidding banquet staff from speaking Spanish at anytime and anywhere in the resort.

$2.75 MILLION The amount of a civil judgement against Mehrdad Fotoohighiam, president of Electenergy Technologies in Columbia, that has been upheld by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District in an alleged arson case. Fotoohighiam, was acquitted of arson in August, but authorities allege he paid someone to set fire to Marcia Green’s home because he was feuding with her over attempts to buy her land.

$1.6 MILLION That’s how much the California Labor Commissioner has cited Anaheim-based Inventory Professionals Inc. for wage over theft violations affecting 64 workers. The citations also hold Trader Joe’s and Grocery Outlet each liable for $825,813 as client employers.

INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 15

Declarations

Avoidable Tragedy

“It wasn’t just talking, it was screaming at them. Yet no one was listening.” — National Transportation Safety (NTSB) Board Chairman Robert Sumwalt said in a report on the Florida International University bridge collapse that killed six people in March of 2018. The report blamed significant design errors and a lack of oversight by government agencies for the collapse, which dropped a 174-foot-long span onto eight cars. Sumwalt said contractors and the university should have closed the road days before the collapse when cracking was observed.

Priceless Works

“These are, in many instances, priceless works that represent the culture and history of the countries from which they were stolen.” — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in an interview regarding an art dealer and seven others who were charged with trafficking more than $140 million in stolen antiquities. Authorities described the case as one of the largest of its kind, saying the conspiracy began more than three decades ago and involved more than 2,600 recovered artifacts.

Unacceptable

“We must do better, and we will. This is unacceptable.” — Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky said the San Francisco-based company is expanding manual screening of high risk reservations and will remove guests who fail to comply with policies banning parties at rental homes in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Halloween party held at an Airbnb rental in California.

No Alarms

“ITC personnel were unaware of the naphtha product release before the fire erupted.” — A report by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board says Intercontinental Terminals Company, which owns a Houston-area petrochemical storage facility that burned in March didn’t have an alert system in place to warn of chemical releases. When a tank began to release naphtha, a flammable liquid typically used in gasoline production, no alarms were activated because the “tank farm was not equipped with a fixed gas detection system,” the report said. 16 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Wake-Up Call

“I sincerely believe the jury’s decision to award this verdict was a wake-up call to the department and its leadership that they have to be mindful of what is said and how it’s said and to be mindful of their conduct when engaging with their subordinates, their peers and the public for that matter,” — Roland Corvington, former chairman of a St. Louis County, Missouri, police board announced his resignation after a jury awarded a police sergeant nearly $20 million, finding he was discriminated against because he’s gay. Corvington said the county has “not always done a good job” of addressing the unique challenges in the workplace for women, people of color and LGBT people. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

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News & Markets 2020: What to Expect in Commercial Insurance

ngoing rate increases and reductions in capacity are taking shape in most property/casualty commercial lines in the fourth quarter—and for some, will continue into the new year, according to a recent report from broker USI Insurance Services. Only one line—loss sensitive workers’ compensation accounts—showed lower rate forecasts for the fourth quarter vs. midyear, while seven others stayed the same. The other 20 lines, including all property lines, general liability, umbrella and cyber, had indications of higher rate changes for the fourth quarter than at midyear, according to USI’s Q4 2019-2020 P&C Insurance Market Outlook Report that looks at 28 different product lines along with forecasts from a prior midyear update compared to observations of fourth-quarter pricing.

Other Report Highlights

In property insurance lines, wildfire is no longer a throw in. Three market leaders, AIG, FM Global and Lloyd’s of London, are highly scrutinizing their North American property business impacting capacity, rates, and coverage. In casualty insurance, the firming of the insurance market for the majority of coverage lines is not being driven by capacity constraints but rather because capital is being deployed much more conservatively and selectively. Unlike commercial automobile liability, for which the market has been firming over a three or four-year time frame, for primary general/products liability and umbrella/excess liability, the market firmed rapidly beginning in fourth-quarter 2018. Prior attempts to raise rates in prior years were short-lived but the current environment of more restrictive risk selection, tighter underwriting standards and reduced competition is turning out to be much more uniform, prolonged and severe than anticipated. 18 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Markets are increasingly unwilling to write primary liability lines on a standalone basis without workers compensation, especially for larger accounts. Deteriorating casualty loss trends characterized by increased frequency of severity losses has caused markets to exit certain lines, reduce capacity and raise rates considerably. These activities cut across all industries and classifications regardless of tenure with markets or past loss history. The demand for casualty rate increases is not expected to slow dramatically for the duration of 2019 and into the third- or fourth-quarter of 2020. USI has seen a reduction in average lead umbrella capacity of $25 million fall down to $15 million or less, with no corresponding decrease in rates and the reallocation of capacity higher up in towers. Excess markets are walking away from

what they view as below-market pricing; new market capacity is not entering. In public directors and officers liability (D&O), USI said it has seen more upward rate movement in the first three-quarters of 2019 than it has witnessed in the past 16 years. “We have clearly now transitioned into a carrier-dictated market,” the report states. In cyber, the flat-to-10 percent rate change indications shown on the chart above, aren’t the rule for large companies or prime targets. For those over $1 billion in revenue and for insureds in “challenging classes” like retail, hospitality, health care and financial institutions, USI has seen increases in premium of up to 20 percent and SIR increases of up to 50 percent— and the broker expects this to continue for the balance of this year and through the first half of 2020. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

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News & Markets California Cannabis Group Asking for Tighter Vaping-Safety Rules

n alliance of major legal marijuana businesses in California urged the state in early November to adopt tougher safety rules for ingredients and devices used in vaping and get tougher with illegal shops, amid an outbreak of a mysterious illness apparently linked to vaping. The recommendations from the industry group — Legal Cannabis for Consumer Safety — come as health officials continue to investigate a wide range of products and chemicals that could be causing the illness that have sickened over 1,600 people nationwide. Most cases have involved products that contain the marijuana compound THC, typically obtained from illegal sources. In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, the group said it’s

eager to heighten the safety of cannabis vaping while seeing more funds devoted to closing illegal pot shops that number in the thousands in California, home to the world’s largest legal pot market. Among its proposals, the group says regulations should expressly ban the use of additives, cutting agents and artificial flavoring known to be harmful in cannabis vaping products. The group also wants $10 million added to funds to close illegal retailers. It also recommended more stringent standards for heavy metal testing of vaping

$1M Lawsuit Filed in Oregon over Patient Found Dead in Basement

he family of a 67-yearold woman who allegedly died after she wandered out of her hospital room and into the basement of Providence Portland Medical Center in Oregon has filed a $1.075 million lawsuit. A lawsuit claims hospital staff should have kept better track of Marilyn Williams. The lawsuit says she was suffering from heart problems, was confused and repeatedly said she wanted to leave the hospital against medical advice. The family’s attorney Jason Kafoury says sometime between about 2 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. on April 12, 2017, Williams

died alone of cardiac arrest and without medical assistance in the depths of the building. Williams has four surviving adult children, Kafoury said. She lived in Vancouver, Washington. Providence spokesman Gary Walker declined comment on the lawsuit “out of respect for the legal process,” but said they’re deeply sorry for the family’s loss. The lawsuit seeks $200,000 for Williams’ suffering before her death, and $875,000 for her family’s loss of society and companionship. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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hardware — the devices that are used to turn concentrated cannabis oil into a vapor. “It is unacceptable that Californians face risks from unregulated and unsafe vapes. It is also critical that — like any other public health issue — we implement effective solutions that are based on data and facts, rather than fear, to address the root cause of these issues,” the group wrote.

“As the stewards of this supply chain, we are eager to engage in efforts to further heighten the safety of cannabis vaping and mitigate the risks posed by the burgeoning illicit market,” the group, which also requested a meeting with Newsom, wrote. The group includes cannabis growers, manufacturers, retailers, testing labs and industry groups, including the California Cannabis Industry Association, vape manufacturer Loudpack, Flow Kana, which distributes cannabis products from small, outdoor farmers, and the online delivery marketplace Eaze. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Rural Fire Departments in Idaho Learn Equipment Isn’t Insured

everal rural volunteer fire departments in north-central Idaho are in danger of losing much of their equipment after officials learned it was uninsured. Idaho County officials previously believed the fire trucks and other equipment loaned to fire departments by the Idaho Department of Lands and the U.S. Forest Service were covered under the county’s insurance policy. They recently learned that’s not the case, and now county commissioners, state employees and local fire department representatives are trying to figure out how to fix the problem.

Jerry Mason with the Idaho Counties Risk Management Pool says the state and federal agencies may be able to loan the equipment directly to the counties instead of the rural departments to get them covered. Commission Chairman Skip Brandt says fortunately they haven’t needed to file a claim so far. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

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News & Markets California School District Paying $28M After Boy Hit by Car

Southern California school district will pay $28.5 million in damages after a boy with special needs was hit by a car and severely injured while under the supervision of school personnel, attorneys said. A judge determined the Victor Elementary School District was negligent and liable for the injuries suffered by Fabian Sanchez on Feb. 3, 2017. The district agreed to the settlement during mediation ahead of the trial’s penalty phase, according to lawyers with Panish Shea & Boyle and Wilshire Law Firm who represented the boy. The district also agreed to implement changes to proce-

dures for special education students, the lawyers said in a news release. “We believe this agreement will help ensure the student receives the best care possible moving forward,” district spokesman Eric J. Camarena said in a statement. “Although we are confident we have good systems in place to help ensure student safety and that we took the appropriate steps before and after the incident, we want to assure our community that we never hesitate to review situations to improve our practices and services.” Fabian, who was 11 at the

New NTSB Report in Fatal Crash in Arizona Involving Autonomous Vehicle

new federal report into last year’s fatal crash involving a self-driving car in suburban Phoenix says the Uber vehicle couldn’t anticipate the actions of jaywalkers. The National Transportation Safety Board report also says the SUV wasn’t designed to slam on the brakes to reduce the severity of an unavoidable accident. A 49-year-old woman was killed in the March 2018 crash while pushing a bicycle across a dark Tempe street. It was the first fatality in the country involving a self-driving vehicle. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office hasn’t

decided whether to file charges against the driver. According to the Arizona Republic, the NTSB released more than 400 pages of documents this week ahead of a Nov. 19 meeting during which the board will discuss the probable cause of the crash. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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time, was escorted to the edge of Puesta Del Sol Elementary School campus in Victorville and left to walk home alone — in violation of the

Individualized Education Plan established for the boy. Fabian attempted to cross a four-lane road a few blocks from the school and was struck by a car traveling approximately 50 mph. The driver stopped

and called 911, according to news reports at the time. “Fabian suffered brain swelling, brain bleeding, a broken jaw in two places, a broken leg, and his tongue was split in half,” said a post on a Gofundme page created to help the family. The boy’s cognitive function and speech remain severely impaired as a result of his injuries, and he will require care, therapy, and medical attention for the rest of his life, his lawyers said. The settlement will be covered by insurance, Camarena said. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Rate of Fatal Plane Crashes in Alaska Tops National Average

he rate of fatal airplane crashes in Alaska is higher than the national average, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB has preliminary reports for 10 fatal plane wrecks in Alaska for the 2019 calendar year. The figure does not include an Oct. 17 crash in Unalaska, which does not yet have a federal report. Alaska had nine fatal plane accidents last year, eight in 2017, 12 in 2016, and 11 in 2015. The NTSB website indicates 5.4% of the 221 fatal crashes in the U.S. in 2016 — the most recent year listed — occurred in Alaska, which has about 2% of the national population. Alaska’s accident rate is

higher than the rest of the country, said Tom George, Alaska regional manager for Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Conditions that explain the statistics include a lack of ground-based radio receivers to help pilots keep track of other aircraft, and a technology that helps prevent midair collisions, George said. Other contributing conditions include weather, the enormous size of the state and more landings and takeoffs in harbors or rugged terrain, George said. Weather was likely a factor in some of this year’s fatal events including the, the NTSB said. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

News & Markets Undisclosed Settlement Reached over Deadly Hawaii High-Rise Fire

laintiffs and defendants reached a settlement over a deadly Honolulu high-rise fire, although the amounts to be paid by insurance companies remains confidential, attorneys said. A settlement conference concluded in

early November regarding the July 2017 Marco Polo building fire that killed four people, The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. Circuit Judge Dean Ochiai ordered the defendants to make financial disburse-

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ments out of an escrow account by Jan. 15. The fire at the 568-unit condominium building was one of the worst in modern Honolulu history, requiring the efforts of about 130 firefighters for more than four hours before the blaze was extinguished. The fire affected 200 of the building’s units, including 30 that were destroyed, mostly on the 26th through 28th floors. The building was built in 1971 before sprinkler systems were required, officials said.

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Investigators ruled in October 2017 that the cause could not be determined because of extensive damage in the unit where the fire originated. Former state Attorney General David Louie, one of the lead defense attorneys in the case, told Ochiai that many non¡monetary technical issues remain such as obtaining signatures on various settlement documents. “We don’t want to fumble it on the 1-yard line,” Ochiai said. “That would be a shame.” The settlement appears to resolve several lawsuits filed over the fire that caused an estimated $107 million in damage. Attorneys are not allowed to discuss settlement amounts their clients are expected to receive, they said. The fire killed 54-year-old Britt Reller and his 87-year-old mother Jean Dilley, 71-year-old Joann M. Kuwata, and 81-yearold Marilyn Van Gieson. Copyright 2019 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

2/15/19 12:57 PM

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Business Moves

East

Brown & Brown of Massachusetts, Yozell

Brown & Brown of Massachusetts LLC has acquired substantially all of the assets of Yozell. Founded in 1960 by Peter Yozell, Yozell Associates strives to provide its customers with value in group employee and executive benefits products and services. Following the transaction, Yozell Associates Principal John Yozell and his team will operate as a new stand-alone office within Brown & Brown’s Retail segment and will continue doing business under the leadership of John Yozell and Marijane Norris Geary from the office located in Boston, Mass. Brown & Brown Inc. is an insurance brokerage firm, providing risk management to individuals and businesses.

Brownell Insurance Center, NAIA

Brownell Insurance Center Inc., of Londonderry and Hampton, N.H., has joined agency aggregator NAIA. This latest addition brings the total membership of NAIA to 77 agencies with 137 locations. In addition to aggregation of agencies’ volumes, NAIA provides management of books of business, perpetuation planning, mergers and acquisition consulting, agency best practices creation and other insurance agency related services to its members. Brownell Insurance Center was started in April of 1986 by Marie Brownell, who was joined the following year by her husband Rick Brownell, Sr. Brownell INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

Insurance Center has now become a family operation with the addition of their son, Rick Brownell Jr. Together, they have grown the business from primarily a life insurance agency to an all-inclusive offering of financial services, personal and commercial property and casualty insurance, as well as, life, health and medicare insurance. The agency shares many carriers in common with other NAIA members including Foremost, Hanover Insurance Group, MET Life, MMG, Safeco, Safety and Travelers Insurance.

H.W. Kaufman Group, RB Jones

H.W. Kaufman Group, a global network of companies, has expanded its subsidiary RB Jones as it partners with ProSight Specialty Insurance to become the exclusive administrator for its Marine Solutions and Excess Energy niches. With this partnership, RB Jones Marine – a business unit exclusively focused on commercial marine and excess energy – will assume underwriting and servicing for the company’s Marine Liability, Marine Excess, brown-water Hull and Excess Energy placements. ProSight will continue to write marine lines of business as part of its differentiated all-lines offerings in other niches. This transition is effective on Sept. 15, 2019. As part of the partnership, ProSight’s former niche president of Marine and Energy, Mark Engel, has joined RB Jones Marine as managing director. As managing director, Engel will oversee the operations and overall growth of RB

Jones Marine. With nearly 20 years of experience through his roles with ProSight, AIG and Marsh, Engel has strategic planning and management skills as well as product development and placement experience. He and his team of associates will be based in the Greater New York area, reporting to Kaufman Davis. Founded in 1905, RB Jones provides specialty risk coverage to brokers, agents and wholesalers. It is a member of H.W. Kaufman Group. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Morristown, N.J., ProSight Global Inc. is a property/casualty insurance company.

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage, Revens-Gates Insurance

Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc. has acquired Revens-Gates Insurance Inc. of North Kingstown, R.I. Revens-Gates was founded in 1999 by Mark Revens and Peter Gates. Established in 1879, S&S is an independent agency in Rhode Island. The firm provides commercial and personal insurance, health and employee benefits, surety bonding and risk management services. These services are provided nationally and internationally, through its partnership with Assurex Global.

Midwest

McNeil & Co., Bonding & Insurance Specialists Agency

McNeil & Co. as acquired Bonding & Insurance Specialists Agency Inc., an Orland Park, Illinois-based firm providing insurance products in the environmental and restoration industries. As part of the agreement, BISA has become a program of McNeil, which is headquartered in Cortland, N.Y., and provides specialized risk assessment and insurance products and services. BISA will remain in its Orland Park location. Over the years, McNeil and BISA have sold their respective products through some of the same network of agents, which has created strong synergies between the two companies and provides confidence in a strong cultural match.

continued on page 20

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 19

Business Moves continued from page 19 BISA, an environmental program administrator with over 30 years of experience, specializes in asbestos abatement and water restoration contractors insurance. Established in 1989, McNeil & Co. is owned by Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd.

Arthur J. Gallagher, BonusDrive

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired The EHE Group LLC, dba BonusDrive, which has offices in Austin, Texas, and Auburn Hills, Michigan. BonusDrive offers a national automobile voluntary benefit program to channel partners such as employers, associations and insurance companies for their employees, members and policyholders. Consumers receive cash bonuses for purchasing or leasing qualifying new vehicles from participating auto manufacturers. Jim Evans, Tim Easterwood and their associates at BonusDrive will continue to operate from their current locations under the direction of John Neumaier, head of Gallagher's Northeast region employee benefits consulting and brokerage operations. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., a global insurance brokerage, risk management and consulting services firm, is headquartered in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

South Central

Spire Risk Management, Employee Benefits Services

Spire Risk Management, a full-service insurance consulting firm specializing in employee benefits, property/casualty and retirement planning, in San Antonio, Texas, closed on its first acquisition of Employee Benefits Services Inc. on Nov. 1 EBS was founded in 1986 by Art and Billie Villemain. The company provides employee benefit consulting, brokerage, and administration to privately held companies in the San Antonio area. The Villemain’s son, Pete Villemain, has served as president of EBS since 2004 and will continue to serve as president of 20 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Employee Benefits for SRM. SRM founder LP Buddy Morris started his insurance career in 1998 when he founded Summit Insurance Group. In 2008, he sold Summit to Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., where he served as area president.

Gulf States Holdings, Coastal American Holdings

Lafayette, Louisiana-based Gulf States Holdings Inc. has acquired Coastal American Holdings Inc. and its subsidiary Coastal American Insurance Co. Coastal American’s home office is located in Gulfport, Miss. Gulf States Holdings Inc.’s primary subsidiary is Gulf States Insurance Co., a rapidly growing Louisiana homeowner company. Management of Gulf States, led by industry veteran H. Marcus Carter, Jr., has assumed the management responsibilities at Coastal American. The underwriting has already been transitioned to Gulf States systems from a former third party administrator. Coastal American was formed following result of Hurricane Katrina to address the lack of availability of homeowners insurance on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Southeast

AccuRisk Solutions, M-D Underwriting

AccuRisk Solutions LLC has completed its acquisition of M-D Underwriting Services Inc., a Franklin, Tenn.-based medical stop loss MGU. AccuRisk CEO Dan Boisvert said the company will add MDU President and Cathy Guenther and her team to AccuRisk. He said MDU will provide additional underwriting and claim handling experience and capacity to its organization. AccuRisk Solutions LLC is a managing general underwriter that partners with insurance carriers and healthcare groups to provide a comprehensive array of healthcare and employee benefit options.

Liberty Company Brokers, Resurgens

The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers has announced a new affiliate relationship

with Resurgens Risk Management of Atlanta, Ga. Established in 1999 by Willie Burks, RRM is a full-service brokerage and consulting firm specializing in property/casualty and benefits for the public sector space. The Liberty Company Insurance Brokers provides entrepreneurial producers and agency owners a platform to create equity value. Liberty is an independently owned, full-service broker with offices throughout the country.

West

XPT Group, Sierra Specialty

XPT Group LLC has acquired Sierra Specialty in Fresno, Calif. Sierra Specialty will continue to operate under its brand name. Sierra Specialty was founded in 2005 by Kathy Schroeder and Mark Schroeder. It specializes in a variety of products including agribusiness, property/casualty brokerage, general authority underwriting and transportation and garage. XPT is a specialty insurance distribution company.

United Valley, JPL Insurance Services, Levoy & Associates

United Valley Insurance Services Inc. has added two new members, JPL Insurance Services of San Diego, and Levoy & Associates Insurance Agency Inc. of Roseville. Both are in California. JPL Insurance Services serves clients in California, Arizona and Nevada. JPL writes multiple classes of business with a focus on construction, childcare and apartment buildings. Levoy & Associates serves clients throughout California. The agency has a focus on workers’ compensation in the construction industry and is looking forward to adding multi-peril coverage to their existing client base. United Valley is a membership network of over 85 independently owned and operated insurance agencies with more than 110 locations throughout California and Arizona. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

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W. R. Berkley Corp. has appointed Marlo M. Edwards as president of Verus Underwriting Managers. Edwards succeeds Dale H. Pilkington, who is retiring.

Edwards joins Verus with 20 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. She most recently served as a senior vice president and casualty practice leader of U.S. operations for Argo Group where she has been since 2013. Prior to Argo, she worked at Colony Specialty and Chubb. Verus Underwriting Managers is an underwriting manager targeting small to midsize commercial risks in the excess and surplus and specialty insurance markets through appointed wholesale brokers and agents.

W.R. Berkley Corp. appointed Daniel R. Spragg as

president of its specialty unit, Berkley Select. Spragg has 30 years of experience in the specialty insurance and insurance consulting industries. He most recently served as founding partner of the insurance and risk advisory practice at the Alvarez & Marsal management consulting firm in Philadelphia for nearly 12 years. Prior to that, he was a chief underwriting officer with Global Indemnity Group and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty and an assistant regional executive with Fireman’s Fund. Berkley Select offers professional liability insurance products.

East

Satellite Agency Network Group Inc. (SAN), a Hampton, N.H.-based alliance of

independent insurance agencies in the Northeast, has hired

Insurance is a Lowell, Mass.based independent agency specializing in commercial, personal and employee benefits risk. Kathy Gray

Kathy Gray as commercial lines

placement specialist. Gray, a licensed broker and notary public, brings more than 25 years of experience in commercial lines to the role, including account management, sales, client service and marketing. Gray joins SAN’s AccessPlus department, where she will be a resource for agents regarding commercial lines. Prior to joining SAN, Gray spent much of her career at a family-run agency in Lexington, Mass., developing her skills in document analysis, relationship development, conflict resolution and problem solving.

Fred C. Church Insurance has hired Ian Lonsdale as

an Employee Benefits client executive. The main focus of the Employee Benefits division at Fred C. Church is to serve and support its commercial clients. Over the last eight years, Lonsdale has worked for a variety of brokerages across Greater Boston and Washington D.C., including Marsh & McLennan Agency, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. and Ian Lonsdale Lockton Companies. As the agency’s newest Employee Benefits client executive, Lonsdale will be responsible for developing and maintaining strong client relationships. Fred C. Church

22 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

QBE North America, an integrated specialist insurer, has hired Risa Ryan as SVP of Analytics to lead the development and delivery of analytic services. Based in QBE’s New York office, Ryan will be responsible for further strengthening QBE’s analytics strategy for North America and cultivating a team to drive the use of modeling and analysis methods to support business objectives. Prior to joining QBE, Ryan spent most of her career at Munich Re America, holding positions of increasing responsibility, with her most recent role as head of Strategy and Analysis.

Southeast

Baldwin Krystyn Sherman Partners (BKS-Partners),

an insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Tampa, Fla., has appointed Rich Thompson to managing advisor. Thompson joined BKS-Partners in 2015 as an employee benefits advisor. He is focused on partnering with clients to address risk management and employee benefit needs as they relate to their businesses. BKS-Partners Advisors Rich Thompson are eligible to become managing advisors once they have reached book of business commission revenue qualifications. Prior to joining BKS-Partners, Thompson worked at KPMG, where he

served as an audit senior.

The Main Street America Group, a super-regional

property and casualty insurance company, has tapped Chris Listau, the company’s current president of insurance operations, to succeed Tom Van Berkel as president and CEO. Van Berkel retired on Sept. 30, 2019, after nearly 30 years with Main Street America, based in Chris Listau Jacksonville, Fla. Listau, who joined Main Street America last year following the company’s mutual merger with American Family Insurance, has had a long career in the industry, including 25 years at American Family. Listau joined Main Street America in 2018 and was promoted to president of insurance operations in early 2019. In addition, Jeff Kusch, Main Street America’s current president of field operations, has been appointed as chief operating officer. As chief operating officer, Kusch will oversee the company’s core insurance functions Jeff Kusch — including commercial lines, personal lines, bonds, assumed reinsurance, agribusiness, and Main Street America’s claims/integrated customer solutions division. He will remain based at the company’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Fla.

South Central

EPIC Insurance Brokers

and Consultants has added INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

Dave Tate to its property and

casualty operations in Dallas, as a principal. Tate will be responsible for new business development and the design, placement and management of property and casualty insurance programs, providing risk management strategies and solutions for mid-market and large clients. Tate joins EPIC from Marsh, where he specialized in the placement of insurance for businesses with difficult exposures, or difficult historical loss experience, particularly product liability issues and risk challenges in the manufacturing, construction and energy industries.

Geoff Godsey joined Alliant Insurance Services as vice

president in Dallas. He will provide a full range of risk and insurance products and services to a growing regional client base. Prior to joining Alliant, Godsey was a commercial producer with a large regional insurance brokerage firm. Godsey also had a 10-year career as a professional cyclist, competing at the highest levels of both domestic and international competition. This includes more than 25 career wins and three Texas state championship titles. Alliant Insurance Services Inc. is headquartered in Newport Beach, Calif.

Tim Flatt has joined Fort Worth, Texas-based independent insurance broker, Higginbotham, as an employee benefits executive vice president. Flatt is opening Higginbotham’s first Midland office, bringing the firm’s single source solution for insurance to Midland’s middle INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

market businesses. Flatt comes from Marsh & McLennan Tim Flatt Agency and has a background in pharmaceutical sales, where he first developed an interest in health care insurance.

Midwest

Alera Group, a national

employee benefits, property and casualty, risk management and wealth management firm based in Deerfield, Ill., appointed Sally Prather as its national Employee Benefits Practice leader. Prather’s responsiSally Prather bilities will include the continued development of the organization’s employee benefits practice, including platform expansion and resource coordination. Prior to joining Alera Group, Prather served as vice president at Paychex Insurance Agency. She brings more than 25 years of experience to her role with Alera Group. National specialty insurance carrier AF Group in Lansing, Mich., named Steve Cooper as Steve Cooper president of Third Coast Underwriters and Abel Travis as vice president of Fundamental Abel Travis Underwriters.

Cooper currently is president of another AF Group member, United Heartland, a role he will retain. Travis joined AF Group in 2018 as vice president of Underwriting and Product Innovation. AF Group subsidiaries include Accident Fund Insurance Co. of America, Accident Fund National Insurance Co., Accident Fund General Insurance Co., United Wisconsin Insurance Co., Third Coast Insurance Co. and CompWest Insurance Co. Marion, Illinois-based independent insurance agency, The

Insurance House, hired Curt Mayer

as a commercial lines Curt Mayer insurance producer and Brittny Reising as a personal lines producer. Mayer has Brittny Reising experience with various insurance lines including commercial, property and casualty, life and commercial health. He worked in the automotive industry prior to joining the agency. Reising has been in the insurance industry for 10 years and will focus on personal lines and farm insurance. She has handled everything from property and casualty insurance to life and commercial insurance.

West

Cover in San Francisco, Calif., has named Robert Houlihan as chief insurance

officer. He becomes part of the management team in the

company’s U.S. headquarters. Houlihan has more than 20 years of industry experience. He joins Cover following positions at Progressive and Bristol West. He was most recently with Mercury as chief product officer. Cover is as a nationally-licensed brokerage and managing general agent working with more than 30 insurance companies across the U.S. while also writing its own auto policies in Texas.

Steve M. Brooks has

been named president of Armor

Insurance Services.

Steve Brooks

Brooks was formerly president of B&B Premier Insurance. Both Armor Insurance Services and B&B Premier Insurance are Acrisure Agency partners. Brooks was an agent and minority owner in The Howard Agency before B&B Premier Insurance. Armor Insurance, which has four offices in California, was formed in 1992. It became part of Acrisure in 2018.

Hobson Insurance in

Hobson, Mont., has named

Jolene Martin as a customer

service specialist in commercial lines and Beth Vincent as a personal lines agent. Martin handles licensing for the agency in 48 states. Vincent assists clients with home, auto, farm and ranch, and recreational vehicle policies. She also handles bonds for the agency and assists in the marketing department. Both Martin and Vincent are new to the insurance industry. Hobson Insurance specializes in national program business.

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 23

News & Markets Going Public: BRP CEO Baldwin On the Company’s IPO, What’s Next questions of “Hey are you building this to sell to private equity?” And that’s not at all what we’re doing. We’re building a business that’s focused on having a platform to enable insurance entrepreneurs to serve their clients at a really high level. This event, the IPO, gives us the capital structure, the capital, to really execute on building America’s next great national insurance brokerage and consulting platform.

IJ: What is going to change

By Amy O'Connor

lorida-based broker Baldwin Risk Partners (BRP) has come a long way since it was formed less than 10 years ago. The company has grown exponentially both through acquisitions and expansion and it is now beginning a new chapter of its story – as a public company. On Oct. 24, BRP’s leadership team rang the Nasdaq opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange for BRP’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) with more than 100 members of the company in attendance. For CEO Trevor Baldwin, that experience was a celebration of the company’s culture. “It was an incredible milestone in our journey and we’re so excited and thrilled that we were able to share that moment with so many of our colleagues,” Baldwin told Insurance Journal. “It’s an incredible accomplishment and

each and every one of them made it possible.” BRP, based in Tampa, Fla., was founded in 2011 and now boasts more than 40 offices in four states and 466 employees, which the company refers to as “colleagues.” “That’s a cultural nuance for us. We think of it as working with people, not for people,” he said. BRP colleagues celebrated with parties at offices across the firm and each one is now a company shareholder. “We granted equity to all of our colleagues so that they’re coming along on this journey with us,” Baldwin said. BRP offers insurance and risk management products to 400,000 clients across the U.S. and internationally and specializes in offering middle-market products, including personal and commercial insurance, employee benefits for mid-tolarge-sized businesses, as well as insurance for high net worth

24 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

individuals. In 2018, BRP was ranked the 43rd largest privately-held independent insurance agency in the U.S. by Insurance Journal. It moved up to number 33 on Insurance Journal’s Top 100 list in 2019. Its total property/casualty insurance revenue in 2018 was more than $62 million, with nearly $463 million in total premiums written. The company reported 5% premium growth in 2018. Baldwin discussed what the IPO means for the company and its future in this interview with Insurance Journal.

Insurance Journal: Why did BRP decide to do an IPO and go public? Baldwin: We’re really excited about it being just a watershed moment for the industry. This decision came down to our desire to build a forever business. One that’s going to be here for generations to come. I had historically gotten

about the company now that you’ve gone public? Baldwin: It’s easier to say first what’s not going to change, which is we’re going to be focused on serving our five organizational stakeholders at a really high level. That’s our clients, our colleagues, the insurance company partners we trade with, the communities we live and work in, and now our public shareholders. We’re a stakeholder first organization. The lens through which we make decisions is based on what’s going to serve our stakeholders the very best.

IJ: What does this mean for your customers?

Baldwin: For our clients what

this means is, we are now one of the most well-capitalized insurance brokerage firms in the industry, giving us the resources and capabilities to ensure that we continue to stay on the vanguard of delivering the very best insight and solutions to our clients.

IJ: Does it mean anything in

particular in terms of new coverages, new lines of business? INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

Baldwin: Through our MGA

Of The Future platform, we’re truly innovating the industry by bringing proprietary insurance solutions to the market, so that’s absolutely going to be the case. Going forward we’ll continue to identify opportunities to develop new insurance products and solutions that we can bring to the market on behalf of our clients who fill their needs and ensure that they’re getting the very best potential solution they could.

IJ: Why do you think that

more independent agencies or brokers should go public? Baldwin: I don’t think many of them thought it was even a possibility. I think we’re opening up a lot of eyes of what’s possible. That has really been our story since the very beginning in 2011 is dreaming about what’s possible, but not yet done, and making it a reality. That is what we plan to continue to do.

IJ: What challenges is BRP

anticipating now that the company is public and how are you preparing for those? Baldwin: The challenges are no different than they were the day before we were public. We still have to innovate our value propositions, make sure we’re staying on the vanguard of bringing the leading solutions to our clients and making sure that we continue to craft and cultivate our culture to reinforce our status as a true destination employer for the industry’s very best and brightest talent.

Baldwin: Absolutely. I believe

we have over 50 open positions today and we plan to continue rapidly growing and expanding our business and look forward to partnering, which is our nomenclature per acquisition, with some of the country’s very best, brightest and most accomplished in terms of entrepreneurs so that they can come alongside us on our journey to achieving top 10 in 10 (becoming a top 10 broker in 10 years).

IJ: What is the new technology

platform BRP is launching and what is the goal of that new platform? Baldwin: We have our MGA Of The Future platform and that fully automates insurance company functionality on an end to end basis. As an example, in our renter’s platform, we’ve automated everything from data intake, policy underwriting, policy issuance, to policy billing, endorsement processing, and underwriting, which is a huge efficiency advantage over the industry incumbents. We’re also going to be launching our guided initiative, which is focused on

really blending the best of what technology can do to enhance the insurance purchasing experience while also ensuring that our clients have access to the trusted advice and counsel of an insurance professional. Still keeping that relationship bias with the clients that we’re interacting with.

IJ: What do you think the

impact of technology will be on the insurance industry in the coming years? Baldwin: Technology is absolutely going to change our industry. It’s going to have a massive impact over the next 10 years, and we’re excited about it. We’re embracing that change. We’re making investments for the future and we’re going to make sure that technology enables what we do and how we do it on behalf of our clients at every step of the way … We are a firm believer that while technology is going to have a massive impact on this industry, this is a people business today and will remain a people business tomorrow. Technology will simply enable and influence how we interact with and provide

and deliver solutions to our clients. I don’t want to discount it. Technology’s incredibly important, impactful, but it’s still a people business.

IJ: Is there anything else that

you think would be important for the industry to know about BRP’s IPO? Baldwin: We’re extremely excited to continue innovating the industry with our holistic approach to delivering insurance and bites and solutions to our clients so that they can have the peace of mind to pursue their purpose, their passion, and their dreams. That is ultimately what we’re in this business for. We’re excited to bring the market a true alternative for insurance entrepreneurs and welcome the opportunity to bring additional talented colleagues and firms into the BRP family companies. The BRP stock is trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol BRP. The initial stock was sold at $14 a share and closed at $16.06 on Nov. 5, 2019. Listen to the full interview on

InsuranceJournal.tv

IJ: Will you be opening any

more offices or acquiring more firms? Are you looking to hire more people?

INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 25

Special Report: Senior Living

Senior Living Market

Explodes During Challenging Times By Andrea Wells

26 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

he senior population continues growing at a time when the insurance market for senior living operations is under strain and both trends are expected to continue. The population of Americans over age 80 will double, from 6 million to 12 million, in the next two decades, according to statistics from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, and by 2035, one out of three U.S. households will be headed by someone over 65. Some of these Americans will find themselves in need of senior living facilities equipped to provide health services ranging from minor services received in independent living facilities to acute care in skilled nursing facilities. But senior living facility operators are facing challenges when it comes to insurance. Experts working in the sector note that professional liability and general liability premiums have skyrocketed in the past year or two and there’s no end in sight. Property and commercial auto rates are also seeing steady increases. A handful of carriers have left the senior living market and the industry overall is experiencing consolidation along with continued labor shortages while becoming targets of the plaintiff’s bar. To say the market is challenging is an “understatement,” according to John Atkinson, managing director, Willis Towers Watson. “It’s a rapidly hardening market for the general liability and professional liability lines of business,” he elaborated. “We’ve seen an exit from the marketplace of key carriers. We’ve seen profitability issues INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

driving venue constrictions and rate. We’ve seen carriers reducing their excess capacity. We’ve seen retentions going up and the carriers really trying to focus in on what they view as a rapidly deteriorating litigation environment.” According to M. Brant Watson, senior vice president, at Heffernan Insurance Brokers, even the very best accounts with no loss history are seeing pricing increases at minimum of 12% to 15% overall. “But in the worst cases people owning and operating assisted living are looking at premiums doubled and tripled,” Watson said. It’s just about every line of coverage, too. “For the four major coverage lines (general liability, professional liability, property and auto) there is a lot of pain right now,” he said, adding that the only major coverage line that seems to be stable and very competitive is workers’ compensation. “We’re seeing rates continue to increase, retentions and deductibles are higher,” said Hoppy Stauffer, senior vice president, Worldwide Facilities. As an example of drastic change, she cites a market that used to offer a package for senior living facilities but withdrew. Several other markets have followed in similar ways, she said, while others will only write professional liability and general liability with a minimum self-insured retention (SIR) of $100,000 or more. “That’s a drastic change,” she said. Previously she would find package policies for smaller facilities with deductibles as low as $5,000. Stauffer says she is also seeing reductions in limits for sexual abuse coverage.

“It’s not all the time, but for some facilities they may have had $1 million/$1 million in coverage but are seeing a reduction in maximum coverage at renewals to maybe $100,000/$300,000.” She is also worried additional markets may exit the senior living space. Several agents and brokers shared their concerns with Insurance Journal about the number of carriers that have drastically reduced or altered their underwriting appetite for senior living risks in the past few years.

Small Risks in Senior Living

Smaller facilities are perhaps facing the biggest hurdles today, according to brokers. Carriers prefer the larger risks that are willing and able to share more of the risk, according to Worldwide Facilities’ Stauffer. They want to secure “more meat in their premium to offset the losses,” she said. “That’s smart business for them, but for us brokers, not every client has the ability to do that.” She said smaller senior living group homes are not typically able to secure up to $100,000 in SIR yet they are required to buy insurance. “So, it’s that ‘Catch 22’ that we’re seeing right now,” she said. Dana Kocen, a 14-year veteran healthcare insurance broker, has had similar experience with smaller risks. “When I first started with Burns & Wilcox four years ago, we had a few markets out there who specialized within the smaller facilities world. We were able to place those,” she said. “But as of right now, for example, we only have maybe two markets who are looking at the smaller facilities, and it’s

getting very, very hard to place them.”

'It’s a rapidly hardening market for the general liability and professional liability lines of business.' Kocen says smaller risks with any claim activity should expect to see premiums triple or more. “The smaller risk, typically 50 beds or less, where businesses are just trying to make a living, potentially if they have one claim, markets won’t even take a look at the risk, or they’ll increase the premium from maybe an expiring premium of $6,000 to almost $30,000,” Kocen said. “We’ve had a couple of those instances, due to a market completely re-underwriting their book assessment, and they’re taking huge increases on the small businesses.” Brian Lindahl, executive vice president at AssuredPartners, who has been helping senior living facilities secure insurance for more than 30 years, is stunned by the market transformation. “I haven’t really seen anything change as quickly as this market since around 20002001 when we went into a very hard marketplace nationally, particularly for nursing homes and to some extent for assisted living as well,” said Lindahl. While the rising rates are an issue, the real challenge is that markets have exited this space, he says. “A lot of them just feel like there’s no way to make money anymore by writing this insurance so they literally

continued on page 28

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 27

Special Report: Senior Living continued from page 27 pulled out,” he said. In a typical year, senior living agents and brokers could count on at least a dozen or more insurance companies to go to. “I’d say right now at Assured Partners, we probably are down to maybe five companies and my guess is it’ll shrink from there even more,” he said. “There’s just not much competition and you've kind of got to take what you get.”

Claims and Venues

Claim outcomes in the senior living market are similar across the country and at all levels of services, according to Blaine Thomas, vice president, industry leader for aging services at CNA, one of the largest providers of insurance to the aging services industry. There is little differentiation between not-for-profit and for-profit facilities or by setting type, such as skilled nursing care, assisted living or independent living, CNA has seen claims double in some sectors of the industry while average indemnity payments have increased by 60%. Legal complaints against senior facilities are part of the problem and they are spreading, according to participants in the market. Kentucky is by far the worst state in terms of senior living litigation, according to Willis Towers Watson’s Atkinson. “Right

now, carriers are really scrutinizing whether or not they want to do business in Kentucky or not,” he said. Kentucky has a “unique litigation environment” and the patterns of settlements are much higher, Atkinson said. Also, the jury pool tends to be pretty aggressive so verdicts in the state have been really tough. “Settlements are going for higher values and the plaintiff’s bar in Kentucky is pretty organized so it’s challenging.” He said California and Florida also continue to be difficult legal venues for senior living litigation, while New Mexico is “kind of a new in terms of a difficult venue,” along with New York and Oklahoma. Lindahl says that even the very best insureds fair poorly with insurance in these tough venues. “You can take the best senior living facility community in the world and put it in one of those venues and it could still perform poorly just because of the environment, because of the laws,” he added. Lindahl says another driver of today’s market is the unpredictable nature of claims in the sector. “Sometimes an insurance company might

think, ‘OK, well they did something wrong. This is probably a $50,000 claim.’ Then maybe it ends up being a $1 million claim. And then other times the same claim ends up being a $50,000 claim,” he said. “When the insurance carriers have a hard time really analyzing where the price should be, they don’t like that. It’s not actuarily determinable for what they should be charging.” Despite their rapid growth, Lindahl believes senior living operators today are better than he’s ever seen. “Regulation of the industry is great, and the oversight is great,” he said. “It’s just the legal environment that’s driving claims; not the quality of care.”

Helping Operators

What can agents and brokers do to help their senior living accounts contend with today’s market and legal conditions? “I think our job as brokers is really to help a client become more defensible,” Lindahl said. “It’s not necessarily to go in

and help them provide better care, although we’ll do that in some way, too.” For example, agents can advise nurses in skilled nursing or assisted living facilities on how to better document a patient’s file, which may help them to be less of a target to the plaintiff’s bar, he said. Agents can help identify a senior living facility’s weaknesses and strengths so if they do face a claim, they are prepared to defend themselves. “If we can help our clients prove that they’re giving great care, we’re helping them,” he added. Also agents can help facilities manage the current insurance cycle by making sure they are providing all the details when submitting accounts to market, according to Art Seifert, president, Glatfelter Program Managers. “When you get into a hardening market like today, more information is better,” he said. If an account has any large loss, that loss needs to be well-researched and explained. “You need to take the time to research those losses and to be able to tell a story about it in the most positive light possible,” Seifert advised. “Maybe it’s that there’s been a change in the director of nursing and ever since that director of nursing came on board, the last three years, the losses have been great,” he said. Perhaps an old director of nursing was the culprit under past losses but that person was fired. “Whatever it might be, you need to look at all the details carefully and come up with a story that can convince underwriters that the account’s worth looking at,” Seifert said. Every detail counts in INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

today’s hard senior living market because there’s almost no incentive for underwriters to even look at business they’re afraid of, Seifert said. Seifert added that today’s industry is challenging especially for a younger generation of agents. “A lot of agents have frankly never sold in a hard market,” he said. That means learning how to have very difficult conversations with their insureds. For many years the market has been disingenuous in pricing risk, he said. “And now all of a sudden we’re getting honest about where the risk needs to be priced.”

Going Forward

All indications for 2020 point to a difficult senior

living insurance market, says Matthew Wasta, vice president, APU Senior Care at AmWINS Group. “It’s a rapidly evolving market and several carriers have pulled out. Those that remain are taking a hard look at their rates, the limits they put out, and their participation in this market,” he said. Linda Stueber, vice president, middle market underwriting and business development, at Nationwide recommends that facilities also pay close attention to who they admit as residents going forward. That might help to reduce exposure to liability losses, she says. “Some folks are reluctant to do background checks on residents, but there have been

situations where communities admit a resident who is a past sex offender and that’s something to think about,” she said. “We’re not advocating that they should deny residency or evict someone because of that but it’s something that they may want to consider.” Another area that in her view could be an issue is medical marijuana. “It’s a hot topic these days, especially in states where it’s legal,” she said. “Facilities have to look at that differently depending on the laws in the state and what the residents want.” Lastly, she recommends paying attending to “acuity creep.” That is where a resident’s cognitive or physical abilities decline to the point at which

facility staff becomes unable to adequately care for them. Acuity creep has the potential to lead to claims activity, she says. “Sometimes a community will stretch to keep folks in assisted living when perhaps they really need full nursing home care.” Most importantly, Wasta says agents should be cautious in such turbulent times when submitting new business. “My best advice to agents would be to put forth the highest quality submission possible with the most detailed information they can obtain,” he said. “Carriers now are not giving a pass to folks that don’t provide complete information. And you’ll get the best terms possible with the best information.”

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Spotlight: Young Wholesalers - West Winegar Credits Mentors for His Success in Trucking Specialty By Don Jergler

e’s only 30, and newly married, but Courtland Winegar may have already amassed enough time in the wholesale industry to be considered a veteran in the space. Winegar, a transportation specialist at Crouse & Associates Insurance Services in Sacramento, Calif., hasn’t known much else professionally. When he graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2013 with a bachelor’s of science degree in finance, he had a job lined up as financial planner with Ameriprise in Las Vegas, Nev. He had a flight booked from his home in California to accept the job, when his brother, Rob Brignone, a producer/broker, convinced him to first take a trip to talk about opportunities with the leaders at Crouse, a large wholesale broker. Winegar headed to San Francisco and meet Greg Crouse and Pam Quilici, a pair of executive vice presidents at the firm. After speaking with the two, he realized he could make the same amount of money, and still have the work-life flexibility he sought

in a career. He was convinced insurance was the business for him. He started with Crouse’s in-house managing general agent for his first year, focusing on learning what would eventually become his specialty – trucking. His time underwriting commercial trucking submissions on behalf of a carrier Crouse had the pen for, and shadowing his brother and Greg Crouse, helped him learn the business from the ground up while he built his book of business by splitting accounts with both. “I kind of built my book and learned that way initially,” Winegar said. By focusing on trucking, he was following his brother’s footsteps and building a passion for his specialty. “What I like about trucking is it’s so strategic,” he said. “The stakes are high. One small thing could blow up the entire account. You really just have to go 100% into trucking to be successful.” While many professionals tend to start out on the retail or carrier side and then move to wholesale, Winegar has no qualms about jumping right into a difficult segment of the

insurance business. “I think what I like about wholesale is the people you’re dealing with,” he said. “I’m dealing with insurance agents and I’m also dealing with underwriters. Those two people couldn’t be more different.” He explained that underwriters are often technically minded people who tend to be more introverted, whereas agents are “sales people to the max.” “As a wholesaler, it’s my job to kind of be a chameleon and get along with both sides,” he said. “You find a lot of characters on the wholesale side. They work hard, play hard.” And he doesn't regret pursuing insurance as a career. “The thing I like most about the insurance industry is it’s basically like you’re running your own business,” he said. “Your success is a direct result of your effort and what you do. It’s all up to you.” However, he does find one thing difficult about being in insurance. “I think the tough part for me is that you’re not really seeing sort of a physical end-product,” he said. “You’re dealing with numbers and quotes. It’s not like you’re an

Courtland Winegar architect and you’re seeing a finished product at the end of the day.” Despite that mental hurdle, which he’s found ways around, he believes his career to this point is a success, which he attributes to a philosophy he learned early on from his Crouse mentors, who taught him three keys to success for a wholesale broker: seeing your agents; putting in the time; knowing your product. “My book’s $25 million right now in premium,” he said, offering a bit of advice to any young newcomers who are listening. “First of all, I think the most important thing is to surround yourself with people who are also doing well and have them as a mentor.”

‘I’m dealing with insurance agents and I’m also dealing with underwriters. Those two people couldn’t be more different.’ 30 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

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Spotlight: Young Wholesalers - Midwest A Passion for Learning Is a Driving Force for J.M. Wilson’s Galecka By Stephanie K. Jones

ne of the things Kristy Galecka loves about the property/casualty insurance industry is that there’s always an opportunity to learn something new. Like many others, Galecka “fell into” the insurance business when a friend who worked at the wholesale broker and managing general agency, J.M. Wilson, in Portage, Mich., suggested she try it out. Her job at J.M. Wilson as a policy processor in the transportation department was Galecka’s first right out of college. Seven years later, Galecka is now senior property/casualty underwriter and garage specialist at the firm. Galecka said she loves how the wholesale side of the business “is always challenging and is always changing. Every single day is different. … On this side of the industry we rarely see the easy risks and if we do, we certainly question why we’re getting them. I’m constantly doing research on products, learning about new things that customers are

coming up with.” Achieving the position of garage specialist has been one the highlights of her career so far. “I am the go-to for garage liability in our corporation, so I am constantly talking to our underwriters, asking questions, doing training to keep them up to date with changes with our carriers and in the marketplace.” Having gained expertise in garage liability through her work experience, Galecka now shares her knowledge of the specialty with others. “I love learning about new things and training other people. … I do a lot of training videos and I’m in the process of writing a blog post right now. I really enjoy learning about the product and training others on it,” she said. Galecka said other aspects she appreciates about “the insurance industry is that it is built on solid relationships,” and that she has been able to develop relationships with “amazing people across all platforms of this industry.” Those relationships are the foundation of the path to success, according to Galecka.

“On our side of the business, we’ve got customers in our carriers, in our agents, even our co-workers and indirectly with our insureds. So, the value of the relationships you are creating with the people you meet, you’re creating opportunities for yourself down the road.” Galecka also believes that developing a strong personal brand is important to furthering one’s career. “If you can figure out who you want to be in this industry, and the values and the morals that you want to portray to your customers and those that you talk to, if you can figure that out early on, who you want to be, and do it with purpose, then you will be successful and go a long way in this industry,” she said. Follow-through is an essential building block in the creation of that strong personal brand, Galecka said. One of the best pieces of advice she received early in her career was: “‘If you tell someone you’re going to call them back in 20 minutes, then you’d better call them back in 20 minutes.’ … They were saying to me, if you tell someone you’re

Kristy Galecka going to do something, then do it,” she said. That’s a principle she strongly believes in and has stuck with throughout her career, she added. To others who may be thinking about the insurance industry as a career possibility, Galecka would say: Just do it. Create a strong personal brand and value the relationships you develop. “Jump in. Because after you have a few years of experience under your belt and you start making important relationships … the sky is the limit. The great thing about this industry is that it is so diverse. And it’s sustainable. There’s always opportunities for change, growth and advancement,” she said.

' I love learning about new things and training other people.'

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Spotlight: Young Wholesalers - South Central 100% Job Placement Promise Sealed the Deal for All Risks’ Neeley By Andrea Wells

ike many students entering college, Joe Neeley wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. But a presentation on the insurance industry opened the door to a career he’d never thought about before. “I wasn’t planning to major in insurance when I started at Florida State University,” Neeley said. “But when I got there, I needed to fill out some credits, so I went to a presentation by the insurance department.” That presentation was delivered by All Risks Ltd. The presenter shared something about the insurance industry that Neeley hadn’t heard from other areas of study. “The biggest selling point was that they have 100% job placement for all grads immediately after they graduate,” he said. “And for me, that sounded like a pretty good opportunity.” Neeley didn’t have any idea what a career in insurance meant at the time but he says there’ve been no regrets.

He applied for a six-week internship at the end of his junior year with All Risks. “I spent my internship in our Charlotte office and at the end of it, you give a presentation. That led me to a full-time job offer in our Austin office.” Now, Neeley works in All Risks’ Houston office handling large property accounts. Five-and-half years into his career, 28-year-old Neeley says the rest is history. “I love my job,” he said. “I love the flexibility, not only with my work schedule where you can have that work-life balance, but also in my work day,” he said. “If I want to be in the office all day, I can be in the office, or if I want to go out and see clients, I can. I get to break up my day.” He also has no regrets about joining the wholesale brokerage side of the insurance industry. The freedom of rate and form allows for creativity – something he values. “When we get a unique risk, we can actually be creative and are able to quickly and effectively cater to what our clients need and want, which is pretty

cool to see at the end when everything comes together,” he said. Opportunities are endless in surplus lines, he added. “The surplus lines industry has grown from 8% just 10 years ago to almost 15% and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be at 20-25% in another 10 years.” His advice for other young newcomers to the insurance industry – work hard and be patient. “I always tell new people, and it’s what I’ve been told myself by more senior brokers, is nothing can beat hard work, but also patience,” he said. “We’re building relationships and building our books and it doesn’t happen overnight.” Relationships take time. “Sometimes it doesn’t happen in 12 months or 24 months. Sometimes it takes three or four years until you actually start getting legitimate opportunities,” he said. “Without patience, you would never get to that point.” He also tells new brokers and agents to get involved. Neeley currently serves as the

Joe Neely chairman of the Texas Surplus Lines Association's Under 40 committee. “There’s a huge learning curve the first two years, but by getting involved in TSLA I was able to learn and grasp what the regulatory and legislative issues were in this sector.” There are many other opportunities to get involved in the surplus lines industry, he added. “Whether you want to be an underwriter, or you want to be in more of a sales role, or maybe you are wanting more of an analytical, actuarial route, or maybe marketing is your deal, the insurance industry has all those opportunities.”

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Spotlight: Young Wholesalers - Southeast From Insurance Internship to Budding Career By Amy O’Connor

arine and construction broker Jonny Young had no idea three years ago that an internship he was required to complete to graduate college would lead to a career in insurance. But after just three weeks interning with Appalachian Underwriters in Sarasota, Fla., he was offered a job as a producer and he hasn’t looked back since. “I’m addicted to showing up for work and learning about what’s going on next,” he said. “Insurance has opened me up to so many different industries.” Young says he appreciates how working for Tennessee-based Appalachian Underwriters’ Brokerage Division gets him out of his comfort zone, and he is already seeing success in his early career. He realized quickly that honing his skills in a particular niche of business was the best way to gain experience and

grow as a broker, he said, but he wasn’t sure at first which niche he wanted to focus on. He worked with his boss to figure out that out and two niches developed – cannabis and marine. He has since become the team lead for commercial cannabis risks for Appalachian Underwriters’ Brokerage Division and inherited marine business from a senior marine broker who retired. Young said he is really enjoying working in both segments. Thanks to demand and interest in cannabis ventures, that book has grown significantly in the last three years, reaching about $1 million in premium. Appalachian Underwriters also just launched a new in-house cannabis underwriting facility that Young helped to develop. “It’s an exciting time and we are looking forward to more growth over the next couple years,” he said. He said he enjoys the wholesale side of insurance because it deals with different types of businesses and industries

so he is learning something new every day. And he enjoys that in the insurance industry, there is no limit to what he can produce. “I’m a commission-based employee and there are no set restrictions on how many relationships I can have or the number of accounts – it’s all about your work ethic and what you can do for yourself,” he said. “There is no cap on how much you can grow.” Young says competition from other brokers that just care about price can be a challenge, particularly because he works to ensure his customers get the best coverage. “Nothing irks me more than when a policy is written incorrectly,” he said. “Sometimes the competition is all about price and I am about selling the right coverage.” Five or 10 years from now, Young hopes he is still working to do just that with Appalachian Underwriters, and noted he is very thankful for those at the company who have mentored him in these early stages of his career.

Jonny Young “It’s really nice as a young person to be able to go to someone who has that experience,” he said. Young said he wouldn’t recommend a career in insurance to everybody, but for those who want a career where there is no ceiling to what you can do and who want to take control of their destiny, it is a great path to choose. “Most other industries, it is hard to move up. A lot of times you have to stay at a lower level for awhile and figure it out,” he said. “When you are in producing, the numbers speak for themselves and there is opportunity for growth if you put the work in.”

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Spotlight: Young Wholesalers - East Building Relationships Key to Success for USG’s Kessel By Elizabeth Blosfield

hen asked about her favorite part of working in the insurance industry, Jennifer Kessel, marketing director at USG Insurance Services Inc. in Canonsburg, Penn., doesn’t hesitate to point to something that has historically made the industry thrive. “The relationships,” she says. “When I first started, I would go to national industry events and barely know anyone. Now I can walk into a room and immediately see faces of people that I recognize and am excited to see.” After beginning her insurance career as an unpaid intern in the marketing department at USG Insurance Services, Kessel spent two years working in the non-profit space before returning to USG, where she has remained for the past seven years. She says she has worked hard to build a relationship with the company and learn as much as she can along the way. “I had zero knowledge of insurance at the time, but

through project assignments, conversations, self-study and mentorship I was able to quickly learn,” she says. Kessel says the culture at USG is one big reason why she has remained with the company throughout her insurance career, adding that as insurance companies tackle talent challenges around employee recruitment and retention, she hopes the industry will continue to recognize the importance of company culture. “I’ve been fortunate to work for a company my entire career that believes that the ability to be in a specific position isn’t determined by gender, age or education,” she says. “Instead, it’s determined by the ability of the individual to successfully complete the duties associated with the position. However, I’ve heard other companies and the industry as a whole are not there yet.” Kessel says she is drawn to E&S wholesale insurance in particular, as it provides the opportunity for an individual with any background to excel at a career as long as they are

solution-sales minded and hard-working. “I would recommend anyone new in the industry to seek valuable mentorships and to ask questions every chance you get,” she stated when asked to share her advice for newcomers to the industry. “Use others’ intelligence and experience as a way to elevate your career.” In addition to the opportunities it provides to build a meaningful career, Kessel says she loves the wholesale side of insurance because of the ability to tap into her creativity. “We get to be problem solvers all day long for industries that are changing every day,” she says. “It’s not about if we can write an account; it’s about how we get creative to write an account. Researching and understanding new, emerging industries and coverages gives fresh and new perspective to each day.” Kessel says she believes success in any career path requires a thirst for growth and knowledge, as well as a lot of hard work, and insurance is no exception. As she looks toward

Jennifer Kessel, marketing director, USG Insurance Services Inc. the future of her insurance career and the industry as a whole, she reflects on her days as an intern and the advice she was given about prioritizing professional connections in a relationship-driven business. “When I was still an intern, a member of the industry gave me advice to spend the majority of my first two-tothree years post graduation developing my professional relationships instead of my personal relationships,” she says. “I did and it paid off, but it only paid off with a lot of hard work.”

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My New Markets Commercial Lines Insurance

Market Detail: Halcyon Underwriters

(www.halcyonuw.com) offers several commercial lines markets to assist in writing with the top admitted carriers. Classes of business include but are not limited to: artisan/trade contractors; bankers/financial institutions; builders risk, lessors risk and building owners; country clubs/golf courses; distributors/wholesalers; food distributors; general contractors; heating and A/C contractors; hospitals; hotels/ motels; large property; manufacturers; offices; restaurants (fine dining or family); retail/stores/chains; shopping centers; specialty markets; technology; tough G/L (manufacturers and distributors). Lines of business include: auto (monoline or as fleet); builders risk; crime; earthquake/ DIC’ equipment breakdown (monoline or package); excess GL/auto/property/flood; flood; general liability (monoline or package); inland marine (monoline or package); liquor; liability (monoline or package); products liability; professional liability including management liability, cyber, D&O, E&O, fiduciary; property (monoline or package); railroad protective liability; umbrella (monoline or package); workers’ compensation (monoline or package). Available limits: Minimum $15,000 Carrier: Various, admitted and non-admitted available States: All states Contact: Jason Mata at 321-527-2180 or e-mail: marketing@halcyonuw.com

Private Investigators/Security

Market Detail: Fox Point Programs Inc. (www.foxpointprg.com) offers professional liability insurance — sometimes referred to as errors and omissions (E&O) — that provides financial protection from damages and expenses (such as legal fees and court costs) arising out of allegations of the negligent acts, errors, or omissions by: background/pre-employment checks; missing persons; polygraph services; security consultants; skip tracing and more. Fox Point

offers: professional liability protection for services provided by private investigators, including investigation of facts, review of financial data and other information, surveillance, determination of wrongdoing and other similar activities; coverage for personal injury, including allegations of false arrest, malicious prosecution, wrongful eviction, and invasion of privacy; low minimum premiums; coverage for punitive or exemplary damages, where insurable by law; coverage for commercial property (including a property extension endorsement); duty to defend policy provision; coverage includes vicarious liability resulting from any negligent actions allegedly committed by a third party acting on the direction of the Insured. The term “vicarious liability” is defined as one person being liable for the negligent actions of another even though the first person was not directly responsible for the error or omission. Coverage is also available for protection against allegations of bodily injury, personal injury, or property damage arising from a covered event. Available limits: As needed Carrier: Unable to disclose, admitted and non-admitted available States: All states except Calif., and Ky. Contact: Megan Franco at 302-765-6029 or e-mail: submissions@foxpointprg.com

Builders Risk

Market Detail: Empire Underwriters’ (www.empireunderwriters.com) program provides builder’s risk/course of construction coverage’s for owner/ builders, contractors & developers building or remodeling residential, commercial and industrial properties while in the course of construction. Coverage may be extended to include existing buildings to which renovations are being made &/or additions to the buildings. Dwellings (one to four family) are allowed in all protection classes (one through 10). Minimum premium varies by state. Policies may be written for one year (or less) and extended coverage is available

subject to additional underwriting review. Highlights include up to $100 million per risk in capacity, and one-shot coverage and extensions available. Premiums start at $350 plus taxes and fees. Commission is up to 12.5% depending on program. Program appetite outline (varies per carrier and state): coastal capacity; critical earthquake capacity; flood; $100 million-plus capacity for superior construction; $50 million-plus wood frame capacity. Target classes: residential; commercial; educational; lodging; healthcare; retail; office; infrastructure; recreational; street and road; military. Available limits: As needed Carrier: Various States: Ala., Alaska, Ariz., Ark., Calif., Colo., Fla., Ga., Ill., Ind., Ky., La., Miss., Mo., Nev., N.J., N.M., N.Y., N.C., Pa., S.C., Tenn., Texas, Utah, Va., and W. Va. Contact: Greg Brittain at 800-758-8113 or e-mail: quotes@empireunderwriters.com

Used Car Dealer, Valet, & Garage

Market Detail: All Risks (www.allrisks. com) provides car dealer insurance and motorcycle dealer insurance with physical damage to franchised new car dealers, franchised new truck dealers, motorcycle dealers, equipment dealers, large non-franchised dealers, RV dealers and ATV dealers that have been in business for a minimum of 3 years. Coverage features include: no audits; no monthly reporting; financially stable carrier; licensed nationwide; $5,000 minimum premium. Available limits: As needed Carrier: Unable to disclose States: All states except Alaska, Ill., Ind., Ks., Mich., N.H., N.D., Okla., and Texas Contact: All Risks Ltd. at 877-428-8004 or e-mail: allrisksmnm@allrisks.com

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Closer Look: Personal Lines Leaders Personal

Lines Leaders Top 50 Personal Lines Agencies

About the Personal Lines Leaders: The 2019 Personal Lines Leaders in this special feature are taken from Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Property/Casualty Independent Agencies as reported in August. This list utilizes only the 2018 personal lines property/casualty revenue numbers of the independent agencies and brokerages that submitted data to the Top 100 agencies report. For more information on Insurance Journal’s Top 100 Property/Casualty Independent Agencies list, contact awells@insurancejournal.com.

Ranked by Total 2018 Personal Lines P/C Revenue 2019 2018 No. of Rank Rank Company Name Main Office Employees

2018 Personal Lines Revenue

2018 Total P/C Revenue

2018 Total P/C Premium

$515,000,000 $374,620,085 $143,040,908 $122,203,850 $98,912,794 $98,900,000 $97,462,000 $84,641,000 $71,125,306 $63,719,392 $62,142,125 $47,000,000 $39,856,230 $37,757,199 $35,012,702 $33,011,357 $31,923,016 $28,000,000 $24,951,606 $22,450,455 $21,541,000 $19,099,580 $19,000,000 $18,300,000 $16,868,757 $16,490,415 $16,465,039 $16,180,189 $15,870,039 $14,000,000 $12,967,232 $12,690,000 $12,497,379 $11,529,823 $11,457,855 $11,366,168 $10,147,362 $9,929,464 $9,440,000 $9,211,000 $8,966,704 $8,945,130 $8,804,000 $8,217,000 $8,122,333 $7,587,475 $7,234,000 $6,775,870 $6,035,430 $6,000,000

$515,000,000 $1,435,434,756 $942,352,957 $981,752,255 $1,087,549,902 $338,500,000 $99,878,000 $559,589,000 $75,791,523 $80,117,709 $68,534,738 $134,000,000 $290,649,571 $209,445,078 $90,322,469 $38,151,357 $1,024,784,327 $29,050,000 $62,411,604 $115,909,533 $1,155,316,000 $187,415,483 $52,000,000 $40,400,000 $54,827,671 $23,815,891 $100,630,793 $86,103,868 $65,202,584 $38,406,000 $52,145,900 $139,406,000 $16,464,170 $25,935,009 $40,986,433 $52,580,471 $47,488,559 $461,377,714 $10,003,000 $35,425,000 $94,391,726 $24,066,983 $28,584,000 $82,173,000 $23,432,531 $14,483,207 $50,330,000 $147,043,601 $28,380,664 $9,830,000

1,655,000,000 10,500,000,000 9,314,902,842 9,118,216,487 8,592,309,888 2,029,675,000 $633,600,000 3,600,000,000 $421,961,671 $542,135,865 $405,640,537 $803,349,697 2,797,527,500 1,346,403,000 $418,000,000 $300,420,000 6,482,618,778 $204,000,000 $462,846,342 $752,408,307 9,982,363,982 1,766,729,937 $370,000,000 $310,000,000 $412,284,977 $166,749,881 $732,006,257 $591,051,138 $355,617,979 $243,000,000 $339,574,615 962,800,000 $91,819,134 $164,403,650 $243,381,978 $352,978,179 $325,010,317 3,316,524,234 $63,000,000 $254,000,000 $633,117,798 $154,945,497 $168,750,000 0 $149,042,679 $95,439,933 $437,652,000 $1,509,805,616 $201,170,000 $70,000,000

1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 8 6 6 7 5 8 7 9 9 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 15 14 13 15 14 16 16 17 31 18 17 19 20 20 18 21 22 22 19 23 25 24 21 25 28 26 23 27 27 28 26 29 24 30 31 30 32 32 33 37 34 33 35 36 36 35 37 45 38 39 40 44 41 39 42 40 43 42 44 45 43 46 38 47 46 48 41 49 50 48

Confie HUB International Ltd. Acrisure LLC AssuredPartners Inc. USI Insurance Services NFP AIS Insurance* BroadStreet Partners Inc. Westwood Insurance Agency* TWFG Insurance Services UniVista Insurance Cross Insurance Risk Strategies Leavitt Group Eastern Insurance Group LLC** Premier Group Insurance Alliant Insurance Services Inc. HomeServices Insurance Baldwin Risk Partners PayneWest Insurance Inc. Lockton Companies Insurance Office of America Inc. Professional Insurance Associates Gowrie Group Towne Insurance** Atlas Insurance Brokers LLC Hilb Group Prime Risk Partners Inc. Marshall & Sterling Enterprises Inc. Huntington Insurance** Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc. Higginbotham Kaplansky Insurance Rogers & Gray Insurance Ansay & Associates Lawley Insurance Shepherd Insurance EPIC Insuritas Robertson Ryan & Associates INSURICA Inc. Tompkins Insurance Agencies Inc.** TRICOR Insurance Alera Group John M Glover Agency The Advantage Group LLC Relation Insurance Inc. IMA Financial Group Inc. World Insurance Associates LLC Foy Insurance

Huntington Beach, Calif. Chicago, Ill. Caledonia, Mich. Lake Mary, Fla. Valhalla, N.Y. New York, N.Y. Cerritos, Calif. Columbus, Ohio West Hills, Calif. The Woodlands, Texas Miami, Fla. Bangor, Maine Boston, Mass. Cedar City, Utah Natick, Mass. Denver, Colo. Newport Beach, Calif. Minneapolis, Minn. Tampa, Fla. Missoula, Mont. Kansas City, Mo. Longwood, Fla. San Carlos, Calif. Westbrook, Conn. Virginia Beach, Va. Rochester, Minn. Richmond, Va. Alpharetta, Ga. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Columbus, Ohio East Providence, R.I. Fort Worth, Texas Needham Kingston, Mass. Port Washington, Wisc. Buffalo, N.Y. Carmel, Ind. San Francisco, Calif. East Windsor Milwaukee, Wisc. Oklahoma City, Okla. Batavia, N.Y. Lancaster, Wisc. Deerfield, Ill. Norwalk, Conn. Edmonds Walnut Creek, Calif. Denver, Colo. Tinton Falls, N.J. Exeter

4,229 11,465 6,267 5,726 7,490 5,164 525 3,170 137 105 894 906 1,355 1,774 434 30 3,606 270 466 750 7,500 1,143 58 176 396 150 717 609 440 355 234 1,051 81 174 260 407 345 1,900 59 307 592 176 211 1,665 160 103 467 678 255 70

Editor’s Note: ** = Bank Owned Agency * = Carrier Owned Agency

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NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 37

Idea Exchange: Technology Digital Agents Have the Advantage When It Comes to Informed Insurance Consumers

onsider this. A couple decides to buy a home and uses online resources throughout the process. They visit By Laird Rixford Zillow.com to look at available properties. Next, they go to their bank’s website for a mortgage application and find out instantly that they are pre-approved. They use Unpakt.com to find and book movers. But, when they go to their insurance agency’s website to get homeowners insurance, that interactivity is not there. They fill out a static online form to request a quote. Then wait, and wait, and wait. Consumers today are knowledgeable. That’s good news for agents, as they are often a go-to source for insurance guidance. Even younger generations appreciate the advice agents offer. According to a study by Safeco and Liberty Mutual, more than half of millennials purchased their policy through an independent agent. But the study also highlighted the bad news. Millennials are more likely than older generations to start shopping for insurance online. Why should you care about how millennials want to shop and buy insurance? Because 2019 is the year they are expected to become the largest living adult generation. Plus, these trends are not isolated to millennials. Other generations also like to research options online before calling an agent.

The Power of Expertise

The future of insurance is not only digital. It is still hard for consumers to navigate their insurance policies. With varieties of coverage, deductibles and other options, it is a complex product. Agents play an important role in the insurance buying process. Their expertise and service help consumers make informed decisions. 38 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Consumers are looking for that expertise — plus digital. It should be a symbiotic relationship. When done right, the experience is seamless no matter if the customer is engaging online or with a person. Unfortunately, many agents have not mastered this relationship as the opening example shows. For most agencies the interaction consumers have with their websites is static. It often involves submitting contact information in an online insurance form. And, they’re not always getting any insight into options and prices until the agent calls.

Consumers are looking for that expertise — plus digital. It should be a symbiotic relationship.

those that excel have a website that is clean, easy to navigate and found via search results. Your website should avoid long paragraphs of copy. Also make sure your call to action, such as “Request a quote” or “Contact us” is clearly visible. Use keywords that will help boost the website in online search results. Take advantage of other ways to get your agency in the search results. This could include online review platforms, news coverage and social media. Ditch Static Insurance Forms. Consumers want to know someone will see the information they submit online. That their request won’t end up in a bottomless inbox. You need a solution that guides them through the quoting process. It should automate an authentic, personal conversation. For example, instead of a chatbot, the questions should come from a real agent at your agency. Instead of a

Strengthening Digital Superpowers Digital transformation has created more competition. It is also driving opportunities to grow and expand business and connect in new ways. In the ideal experience, there is a seamless hand-off from online to physical and back to online again. Luckily, technology is changing to help you achieve this experience that consumers demand. The good news: the technology is easier to implement and less expensive than ever before. Build a Navigable, Searchable Website. At this point, all agencies should have a website. But

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static contact form, the solution should show the customer questions based on their previous answers. Next, you need a process in place, so the customer receives a message from you quickly. Best practice is to use the consumer’s preferred method of communication. This includes texting and social media. Offer Price Comparison. Consumers are bombarded with ads about saving money on insurance. There is a real opportunity for you to offer consumers what they want — online price comparison. Representing multiple carriers and offering price comparison is already part of your job. Online comparative raters are easy to add to a website and provide more engagement.

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They also allow consumers to compare prices as well as coverage options. But not all comparative raters are created equal. Look for a solution that’s mobile responsive, so consumers can easily navigate it. It should compare the quoted policy to existing policies. Also, you want to look for a solution that you can adapt to your own branding. Some solutions even make the process fun by allowing consumers to take a picture of their driver’s license to prefill information. Use Human Interaction Where It Counts. In-person and over-the-phone contact is integral to a sale. A website, virtual agent, or mobile app is not a replacement for an agent. Especially at handling a more

complex product like insurance. So, give consumers the option to talk to a human at every phase of the online experience. In the insurance industry, the human element is still needed as consumers rely on guidance from agents. Technology is playing an important role in the consumer’s experience. The convenience and ease of technology help consumers find and choose their agents. The future of insurance will be a perfect balance of technology and human contact. Rixford, CEO of Insurance Technologies Corp. (ITC), is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership for the firm. He has more than 20 years of experience in insurance technology.

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 39

Idea Exchange: Agency Management

How Mindfulness Helps in Business and Life An interview with Kevin Davis, founder of Kevin Davis Insurance By Sherry Branson

indfulness is the practice of cultivating non-judgmental awareness in day-to-day life. Mindfulness develops the potential to experience each moment, no matter how difficult or intense, with openness and clarity. Mindfulness can be used to strengthen business skills, enhance well-being and build resilience. Mindfulness has been gaining acceptance with business professionals as a technique for developing concentration, improving emotional resilience, and mitigating the stress of work. Without it we continue to see the world through a distorted lens, filled with biases, habits and wishful thinking. Mindfulness allows us to see things as they are, not as we want them to be. Kevin Davis, founder of Los Angelesbased Kevin Davis Insurance Services, a Worldwide Facilities Co. and a managing general agent of community association insurance, is a mindfulness facilitator, trained at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. Kevin has worked in the insurance industry for more than 30 years focusing on community associations. He started Kevin Davis Insurance Services in 2000 and has grown from two employees to over 50 employees. His journey into mindfulness practice started almost 10 years ago when Davis says his stress levels were so high it was affecting his relationships, at home and at work. He heard about mindfulness and decided to check it out. I asked Kevin a few questions about this journey and why it is so important to him. 40 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Sherry Branson: I know that you say stress made you decide to try mindfulness. What type of stress were you dealing with? Kevin Davis: We had a very successful

D&O program for community associations. We went from zero policies to 30,000 in a 10-year period. From the outside world it was great but for me the more successful I became the more concerned I was about the future. Was it sustainable, was it going to fail or collapse? When you have to make these kinds of decisions about the future, you second guess yourself and mistakes happen. And then we began to face some economic challenges in the office. This led to several lay-offs and the loss of some key individuals. And then, on top of that, I had two children about to go to college and I had to help out my elderly parents. My stress levels were so high that I was setting myself up for disappointment at work and at home. I began to expect the worst; and with that came missed opportunities, you start to doubt that you are able to live up to the expectation that you set for yourself. The good news is that I learned it was possible to deal with the stress; with mindfulness techniques. Through mindfulness, I was able to quiet the mind and look at workplace challenges with clarity thereby making better decisions when a difficult situation arises.

Branson: Did it help you and your business? Davis: Mindfulness has literally changed my life. My wife and I, together, took mindfulness classes and soon after, everything changed, things began to finally make sense. That’s how important mindfulness is. I was calmer, I was less reactive, and things started to get better.

‘For me, it was like life made sense to me for the first time. It went from a black and white world to a world full of vibrant colors.’ INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

And more importantly, one of the best benefits of mindfulness to me was it reduced my stress levels significantly. For the record, it doesn’t mean that my mindfulness practice reduced the number of phone calls and e-mails, but rather how I reacted to them.

Branson: Can you explain how to do mindfulness? Davis: Mindfulness focuses our attention so that we can connect directly with what is happening at the present moment. Without it we continue to see the world through a distorted lens, filled with biases, habits and wishful thinking. Mindfulness allows us to see things as they are, not as we want them to be. There are two main ways to practice mindfulness — there is a formal practice

spontaneously appears in our mind, or the and informal practice. A formal practice thought to apply mindfulness in a given is called meditation. Meditation trains the situation appears and we act on it. That is mind the way going to the gym strengthens your body. It only requires a an informal mindfulness few minutes a day to receive the practice. full effect. It allows you to push An example is when the pause button, to do nothing eating. Currently, we do not for a short period of time. It can pay attention to how we be done sitting, standing, walking eat — to the point we cannot or lying down. remember if we ate or not. An informal practice is how we However, by being mindful approach our everyday life. We the food tastes better, focus our attention on the situayou eat less of it and you tion we are currently involved in remember what you ate. and we stay aware. Mindfulness Kevin Davis trains our minds to help us to be calmer, happier and more peaceful. When we find ourselves being mindful throughout the day, we are informally practicing. We may notice that awareness

‘Through mindfulness, I was able to quiet the mind and look at workplace challenges with clarity thereby making better decisions when a difficult situation arises.’ Branson: How did that go? Davis: This is what turned my life

around. Our brain operates to keep us safe and whenever we feel unsafe that fight/ flight mechanism kicks in and the need to do something to keep us safe activates. Mindfulness steadies the mind and allows us to focus our attention on the task at hand and not worry about your fears. The more we practice mindfulness the easier it is to let go of these fears. Instead of reacting, you take a moment to pause and reflect on why we feel the way we do and then proceed. I remember a time when I was very upset with my sister because she said I was not helping out enough with my elderly parents. I live in California and they are in New Jersey so most of the burden falls on my sister’s shoulders. By being mindful, I was able to use a very important mindfulness technique called RAIN to deal with the anger I was feeling from the phone call. My favorite tool, RAIN, means R, recognize, A is Accepting, I is investigate, N means “not Identify.” First, you recognize by becoming aware of the kind of emotion you are having.

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NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 41

Idea Exchange: Agency Management continued from page 41

Just this simple act of recognizing it can be helpful. A is Accepting, can you let this emotion be here? Is it ok to have this emotion? Can you accept that all emotions are ok? It’s what we do with them that can lead to problems. Investigate: you need to get curious about your emotion. What does it feel like, particularly in your body? Can you feel it in your chest or belly or maybe shoulders? Investigate does not mean find the root cause but to deal with the sensations that occur as a result of the emotion. I realized that my anger caused me to feel tension in my shoulders and as a result I was able to soften and relax my shoulders causing the emotion to diminish. Not Identify: As we use this tool, we will naturally begin to take this emotion less personally. We begin to see it as it is, just an emotion, or energy in motion passing through us. To not identify is simply not to attach yourself to the emotion. If you’re sad or angry, you’re not a sad or angry person. You’re just feeling those emotions at this time.

‘Mindfulness steadies the mind and allows us to focus our attention on the task at hand and not worry about your fears. The more we practice mindfulness the easier it is to let go of these fears.’

42 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

Branson: Have you noticed a change in the employees at your company since you started using mindfulness? Davis: About a year ago, we introduced

to our company a “Mindfulness Stress Reduction Program” where we learned how to reduce stress in our daily life. The program dealt with how to manage stress, decrease burnout and increase your emotional resilience. For example, at times, communicating with others is the most challenging part of the job. Due to the constant demands, we get distracted and it is easy to shut down communicating with coworkers because of their stress so it takes mental awareness to not get emotionally entangled in the situation. So, the class taught them that instead of reacting based on someone’s stress level, you take a moment to pause and reflect on why they feel the way we do and then proceed to respond with more kindness. To help improve office communication, they were taught whenever you’re on the phone give that person your full attention,

do not check emails, social media or any other task you need to get done. We recommended that they turn off all the alerts to eliminate all those distractions to stop you from being more effective. The thing about mindfulness is that you can make ordinary things interesting. When we truly pay attention, we recognized that no two moments are alike. So, the next time you lose interest, pay more focused attention to the task at hand.

Branson: If I’m a business owner and wondering how can I do this, how do I get started? Davis: I would start by using Google

and search mindfulness or UCLA MARC program. They have free downloads. If you’re very adventurous, consider a silent retreat. Once you start, you’ll see a remarkable difference in a few weeks. For me, it was like life made sense to me for the first time. It went from a black and white world to a world full of vibrant colors.

Branson is the marketing manager for Kevin Davis Insurance. INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

Idea Exchange: Ask the Insurance Recruiter Trendy Hiring Tactics For 2020

t could be 1920 or 2020 and the fact is when it comes to hiring some things never change. The issues insurance agencies face are consistent across the board: • How do we source and attract top talent? • How can we gain a competitive edge in the recruiting process? • How can we ensure new hires are successful, long-lasting employees? • How can we combat the talent shortage and fill openings quickly? Thankfully answers to these questions might lie outside of the insurance industry. Human resources and talent acquisition groups in other business segments are pushing techniques that insurance organizations can adopt. Here are a few of the trendiest topics you can use to screen, recruit and secure top talent.

Virtual Resumes

Reviewing paper resumes are a no-brainer, but do you know about virtual resumes? According to ZipRecruiter, most candidates are cyber-vetted before an interview. Takes the Google search you’ve done one step further. A virtual resume aggregates all forms of online information about a candidate to complement a traditional resume. Examples include: • LinkedIn profile; • Personal websites and social media; • Video bios; • Infographics; • Multimedia presentations; and • Biographical information.

Why Compile Virtual Resumes? 1. Learn more about the candidate’s social media behavior. Are they actively

engaged online? Is this for personal or professional use? Do these posts positively or negatively match your company’s culture, goals and open positions? 2. Audit and verify resume accuracy. According to HireRight’s 2017 employment screening benchmark report, 85% of employers caught applicants lying on resumes/applications. This is up for 66% five years ago. 3. Supporting documentation. LinkedIn and other social channels allow professionals to upload documents, articles and presentations they’ve created so you can see their work product first-hand. 4. A list of references. Online recommendations and endorsements may be more honest and real-time than the standard 3-5 professional references listed on an application.

Virtual Interviewing

Phone screens will continue to be the first line of defense, but most hiring managers say there is no substitute for in-person interviews. This is where virtual interviewing comes in. According to Best Money Moves, with remote work on the rise, phone and video interviews will occur more frequently. How can you incorporate virtual interviewing? • Zoom, GoToMeeting and Skype are your best way portals for a professional interview. Be careful with Facetime; it won’t give you the same desired faceto-face effect. • Request the candidate’s Skype username. This can be added to your applications, questionnaires or a segment of their resume.

Passive Candidates

Desperation seeps through even the most highly automated application process. Sometimes active job seekers become aggressive and you do INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

not want multiple applications cluttering your inbox. Social skills are the new frontier of writing job descriptions; it greatly improves passive By Mary Newgard candidate applicant rates. According to Page Up, the demand for social and emotional skills will grow across all industries by 26% in the United States. Pro Tip: Your job postings should be littered with “skills of the heart” keywords such as: • Collaboration; • Agility; • Communication; and • Reasoning.

Portfolio Careers Are the New Contract

ZipRecruiter says by the end of 2020 more than 40% of the U.S. workforce will be “contingent workers.” That’s 60-plus million people classified as 1099 or “less than full-time.” How can you match contract workers with current openings? Insurance is a conservative industry yet toying more and more with adopting contingency workers. Portfolio careers describes job seekers in non-traditional roles. • Update your Careers page with categories and keywords people can use to search openings: Direct Hire/ Permanent, Part-Time or Contract. • Include this question in phone screens: “What type of employment status are you open to considering? Perm, Temp or Both?” • Provide resources to 1099 employees. This is especially helpful for long-term contract employees.

Newgard is partner and senior search consultant for Capstone Search Group, a national recruiting firm dedicated to the insurance industry. Email: asktherecruiter@ csgrecruiting.com.

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 43

Idea Exchange: Minding Your Business How to Bring in Young People to Insurance

he workforce is faced with a generation gap. Baby boomers are retiring at the rate of 10,000 per day. Generation X By Catherine Oak and and millennials each have a smaller pool of people than baby boomers. Generation Z is now the largest percentage of the U.S. population. This generation gap needs Rachel Schoeffler to be addressed. The insurance industry, especially independent insurance agencies, are void of young people. There is a huge lack in the 23-45-year-old range. Unfortunately, new workers don’t consider insurance as a career. Most are not at all interested in our industry unless they have had a family member in the business. Some people even look down on our industry, almost like used car salespersons. So, how can this problem be tackled?

following list of colleges have great Risk Management and Insurance programs and are often in many top 10 ranking in the U.S. by various sources.

Colleges

All of the colleges above can be approached by insurance agencies and insurance companies for candidates to hire for their firms. This major boasts a nearly 100% employment rate. Taking heart in that statistic, there are many careers as follows:

The time to get people interested in insurance as a career is when they are formulating their future, especially with young college students. There are a number of colleges with the Risk Management & Insurance degree, including the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where Catherine (this author) attended. The 44 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

• University of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia • University of Georgia - Athens • St. Joseph’s – Philadelphia • University of Wisconsin – Madison • Temple University – Philadelphia • Georgia State – Atlanta • Florida State – Tallahassee • New York University • University of Illinois – Champaign • University of Texas – Austin

Other colleges to consider include: • • • • • • • •

Cal State Fullerton Eastern Kentucky – Richmond Butler University – Indiana Indiana State Olivet College – Michigan Ball State – Indiana Univ of Minnesota – Twin Cities St. John’s University – New York

Insurance & Risk Management Degree

• Insurance agencies (sales and service

positions) • Risk analysts and managers • Underwriters • Claims professionals • Loss prevention consultants

Internships

The use of temporary help through college internships is a great way to get young people interested in an insurance industry related career. A young intern could see what the different positions are in an agency or insurance company, and what role they might enjoy doing. As we know, there are many different facets to the insurance industry, and it can be very challenging, but also exciting. Some of our clients offer internships to college or even high school students, to give the student an opportunity to check out what it might be like to work for an insurance agency, as well as the agency gets to evaluate them as a future full-time employee. One such independent agency is the Fournier Group in Portland, Ore. Owners Dirk Fournier and Greg Kuhns hire on average two students per summer to do various jobs within the agency, with some guidance from other employees. Catherine’s children, Rachel and William both had internships at this agency. It gave them a good understanding of what goes on day-to-day, to see if insurance might be of interest to them. Rachel spent time in all aspects of marketing for Fournier from writing newsINSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

letters, to designing marketing materials, to creating collateral for trade shows, and helping to merge an acquisition’s identity into the Fournier brand. William spent his internship in sales and got to see how The Wedge approach worked, and other tools the agency used to beat the competition — from proposal preparation, to applications, and sales prospecting and calls. They both also handled the phones, navigating calls to the right employees from four different offices. Both are still determining their careers, and I (Catherine) am hoping they will join Oak & Associates as consultants full-time in the next few years, after they have received some world experience elsewhere.

Insurance Company Internships

Some insurance companies also offer internships, such as Employers of Wausau, Hartford, Transamerica, Geico, Auto Owners and Farmers & State Farm Insurance—to name a few. Some of the work can be underwriting, claims, or marketing type work. When I (Catherine) was in college, I had an internship with Employers of Wausau in its Wisconsin home office (Employers Insurance Company of Wausau is now doing business as Liberty Mutual Insurance Company), and they only picked three student interns nationwide. The next year, my sister (Connie) got the same internship. Each summer, the interns would go from department to department in the home office, learning and getting a feel for all the roles one could play working for an insurance company. When I graduated, Employers of Wausau offered the interns positions if we wanted them. I didn’t go to work for them, but the internship experience gave my sister and I a great background in the roles one could play in insurance. I did take a job with St. Paul Fire & Marine as a marketing trainee, with an initial role in commercial underwriting to be able to understand the carrier’s philosophy and products for my marketing position. My sister went into risk management with several different firms. No one in our family was in insurance, yet

we both ended up in the industry because of this initial internship experience that introduced us to the industry, as well as the great information we learned in our Risk Management and Insurance degree from Wisconsin.

‘Project InVest’ Program

The National Insurance Women’s organization has worked to get people into the industry careers by going into high schools on career days to talk about the jobs available in the insurance industry. The purpose was to talk to them about opportunities, in case they felt intrigued to go and check it out, as a high school graduate or to even go to one of the many colleges that offer Risk Management and Insurance degrees. Check out www.investprogram.org for more information on education, internships, scholarships, etc. Project InVest is insurance education for future leaders within the industry.

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Summary

Insurance is a great career! More people need to find out about it. Offering college and high school student internships is a very good way to give young people a taste of what the industry has to offer. Many of our agency clients struggle with getting young people into their firms. The colleges and even community colleges are ripe with students wanting challenging and rewarding work. For links on how to start an internship program, how to hire interns, 2020 internships available, email us at catoak@gmail. com and we will provide you with a list of these websites. Oak is the founder and Schoeffler is a financial analyst and junior consultant at Oak & Associates, an insurance agency consulting firm that specializes in mergers, acquisitions, valuations, perpetuation planning, compensation issues and consulting work. Phone: 707-935-6565. Email: catoak@gmail.com.

12/6/18 9:50 AM

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Idea Exchange: The Competitive Advantage A Few Good Tips to Consider on Outsourcing

honestly do not see many agencies benefitting from outsourcing. They think they do, but their results show otherwise. Most of By Chris Burand the time, they would be more successful simply with better management as outsourcing is not a solution for inadequate management. In fact, outsourcing is quite often just camouflage for the failure to think through internal opportunities and/ or the failure of managerial accountability. In other words, instead of dealing with a required reorganization or developing better procedures or eliminating problematic employees, management just outsources work hoping all those other issues will go away. Outsourcing is not the solution in those situations. Being a better leader is the solution. If you are going to outsource, here are a few good rules: 1. Determine first if you really need to outsource. Consider whether a better management solution exists. For example, outsourcing to carrier service centers. In most cases agencies can create better processes and/or an internal service center that will outperform the carrier service center virtually every time, provided management will back the required structural changes. It is interesting how most of the time management does not make decisions based on what option most benefits the agency financially and structurally, but on the basis of what requires the least amount of emotional stress.

not in the contract is often more important than what is in the contract. 3. Pay particular attention to the limits of liability. Quite often a provider will state they have $1 million in E&O coverage. However, is that $1 million per occurrence? Aggregate? What if there is a cyber event involving 50 agencies? If that is one occurrence, how much of the $1 million do you get? Just because they have $X million in E&O coverage does not mean: a. That your claim against them is an E&O claim. How much in GL and cyber do they carry?

b. Some of the contracts have a limit of liability of $50,000 regardless of how much E&O insurance they carry. A big difference exists between $50,000 and $1 million! 4. Read the cyber requirements and know this: a. Is the contract and vendor itself in compliance with New York and California, and if offshore, international cyber security laws? b. What is their security? c. Does any part of the contract put their

2. Read the outsourcing companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contract and understand what the contract says and does not say. Read and discern what is not in the contract in addition to the actual verbiage. What is 46 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

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cyber security responsibilities onto you, the client? Regardless of how unfair such clauses are, quite a few providers do this today. 5. Around March 2017, China passed a security law that “compels firms to participate in intelligence gathering when the Party (the Chinese Governing Party) asks them to. Since November [2018] the police can enter the offices of any Chinese internet-services provider to copy data deemed relevant to cyber-security.” The Economist, April 27, 2019 In other words, know the privacy laws of your outsource provider’s host country. 6. Review your E&O policy. Does it provide coverage for mistakes made by outsource firms? Quite a few E&O policies have specific limitations as to where outsource firms may reside for coverage to apply.

7. Do not substitute outsourcing for technology. In other words, consider whether enhanced technology is a better solution. Some of the technology that exists for agencies today (or will very soon exist) offer far better solutions than using specific outsourcing firms. 8. If you outsource, have a clear training plan, development plan, and workload plan for your employees. I continually find employees doing the same work post outsourcing as they were doing before any work was outsourced. No savings occurs. Outsourcing works best (excluding temporary situations or for parttime expertise) when the lowest level of work is exported and the employees’ work is elevated to higher quality, more complex tasks. Do not export until the strategy is locked and ready to go. 9. Do not forget sales outsourcing such as leads. Many agency owners do not see

this kind of outsourcing as “outsourcing,” but it is. If your producers do not have to develop their own leads, then make them share in the cost of developing leads for them. The greatest opportunity for proper outsourcing is in executive functions such as specific operations elements like file audits, straight accounting and IT for smaller organizations where the agency cannot afford full-time expertise but needs expertise nonetheless. These are examples where outsourcing can bring significant benefits for a long time. Another good example of proper outsourcing is for temporary situations and part-time situations. Outsourcing at least one of these duties is quite often the best outsourcing ROI of all. Burand is the founder and owner of Burand & Associates LLC based in Pueblo, Colo. Phone: 719-4853868. E-mail: chris@burand-associates.com.

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Idea Exchange: Entertainment

Lights! Camera!

Insurance! N

o insurer would cover James Bond given the extreme punishment he inflicts upon his body – not to mention the property By Michael Furtschegger damage he causes – in service to Her Majesty, The Queen. Daniel Craig is a different matter. The latest actor to play the suave superspy, Craig, like other incarnations of 007 before him, must be insured before setting foot anywhere near a set. Why insurance is necessary was clearly demonstrated during the filming for Spectre (2015), the 24th film in the James Bond series. The then 37-year-old actor suffered a meniscus tear during a stunt and underwent arthroscopic surgery. This resulted in a significant delay. With daily shooting costing up to half a million dollars a day for a blockbuster, losses can quickly mount if filming is delayed. Between the dangerous stunts, the kaleidoscope of explosions and human error, a lot can go wrong on a set. Most studios and independents will not start a film unless it’s insured against potential delays from injury or incapacitation of actors, 48 | INSURANCE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 18, 2019

damage to props, sets and costumes, and equipment breakages. Insurers must also consider extra expenses such as damage to film material. Historically this meant 16mm or 32mm film, but nowadays this covers storage on electronic devices such as chip cards. As part of their daily work, insurers analyze scripts, shooting schedules and budgets. In their assessment, among other factors, insurers look at the cast involved, the stunts, the locations where they will be shot and the sensitive medical history of the actors. Nicole Kidman is one actress who was plagued by a health problem. After insurers paid $3 million in production delays when she injured a knee on the 2001 film Moulin Rouge, the injury prevented her from filming Panic Room (2002) and Jodie Foster was brought in as a costly replacement. Typically – depending on genre, insured budget, deductibles and other risk factors – premiums can range from 0.6% to 1% of a movie’s total budget, which could amount to between $1 million to $2 million for a $200 million movie. Coverage usually has to be tailor-made for each production, and with blockbusters costing $200 million

or more, there is a lot riding on the risk assessment getting it right. Insurers typically see a lot of red flags, but usually find a compromise in discussions with the client and by risk appropriate underwriting actions. However, anything involving a member of the main cast doing their own stunts has proven to be very risky to cover. For instance, a famed documentary channel once inquired about a presenter being swallowed by a python – that was a definite no. Typically, the underwriter assesses the risks in meetings with brokers and clients, special effects managers and technical crews well before the first day of shooting. For blockbusters, however, a risk engineer is often on-site to assess the risks and liabilities involved in stunts. After a thorough risk assessment, it could well be that insurers will require changes to the script because of risk aggravating factors like asking to add stunt doubles or to rewrite scenes to limit the risks the actors are involved with. Globally, the entertainment and media industry has been growing by 5.1% annually for the past four years and is expected to continue. Although figures are difficult INSURANCEJOURNAL.COM

to come by, Hollywood still commands the most insurance premiums with an estimated $400 million annually, followed by the UK with approximately $40 million to $50 million and then France and Germany at $20 million to $30 million each. China is around $45 million and growing. New market formats such as online streaming from players like Amazon and Netflix are challenging the status quo. Today, those companies are among the

largest producers of content worldwide. Companies have truly gone global and are looking for an insurance partner that can support them with a standardized global approach. I think it is fair to say that without insurance there would be no film industry, and without insurance, there would be few backers to provide the big finance needed to put the magic on the silver screen. Lights! Camera! Insurance!

November 18, 2019

Medical Mutual Insurance Company of North Carolina 700 Spring Forest Road, Suite 400 Raleigh, NC 27609

Utica National Insurance Company of Ohio P.O. Box 530 Utical, NY 13503

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to obtain a Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 02118-6200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

November 18, 2019

Nationwide Property & Casualty Insurance Company One West Nationwide Blvd. Columbus, OH 43215-2220

Victoria Fire & Casualty Insurance Company One West Nationwide Blvd. Columbus, OH 43215-2220

The above company has made application to the Division of Insurance to amend their Foreign Company License to transact Property and Casualty Insurance in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Any person having any information regarding the company which relates to its suitability for the license or authority the applicant has requested is asked to notify the Division by personal letter to the Commissioner of Insurance, 1000 Washington Street, Suite 810, Boston, MA 02118-6200, Attn: Financial Surveillance and Company Licensing within 14 days of the date of this notice.

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Furtschegger is the head of Entertainment International at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS). Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty has a long link with the film industry stretching back to Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early silent era in the 1890s through the Firemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fund Insurance Company. From the Keystone Cops and Charlie Chaplin to Harry Potter and the latest Marvel superhero films, AGCS has protected thousands of Hollywood blockbusters, independent films and documentaries, as well as commercials and television productions.

Advertisers Index American Integrity Insurance Group www.aiicfl.com FL13 Applied Underwriters www.auw.com 2, 3, 52 Brighthouse Financial 3, 4 www.brighthousefinancialpro.com California Earthquake Authority mvp.earthquakeauthority.com W6 Cypress P&C www.cypressig.com FL15 Encova Insurance www.encova.com S1, M1 EZLynx www.ezlynx.com 10, 11 FSLSO www.fslso.com FL3 GIC Underwriters, Inc. www.gicunderwriters.com FL1 Golden Bear Insurance www.goldenbear.com 13, W7 JM Wilson www.jmwilson.com FL10 Lighthouse Holdings, LLC www.lighthousepropertyins.com SC5, S4 M.J. Hall & Company www.mjhallandcompany.com W5 Monarch E&S Insurance Services www.monarchexcess.com W1 National General Flood www.ngic.com FL9 Pacific Gateway Insurance Services www.pgiainsurance.com W3 Philadelphia Insurance Companies www.phly.com 17 Prepared Insurance www.preparedins.com FL5 PSIC - Pacific Specialty Insurance Co. www.pacificspecialty.com W8 RT Binding www.ryansg.com 51 Ryan Specialty Group www.ryansg.com 7 Smart Choice Agents Program www.smartchoiceagents.com 21 St. James Insurance Group www.stjamesinsurance.com FL20 St. Johns Insurance Company www.stjohnsinsurance.com FL7 Summit www.summitholdings.com SC2, S3 Texas Mutual www.texasmutual.com SC4 The Hartford Insurance Group www.thehartford.com 9 Universal Service Agency, Inc. www.universalbonds.com 45

NOVEMBER 18, 2019 INSURANCE JOURNAL | 49

Closing Quote The Value of Professional Designations

By David Mannaioni

ontinuing education. Just the mere mention of it can evoke a sense of dread for the drudgery of having to comply, once again, with state-mandated rules for maintaining one’s license as an insurance producer. Some may look for the easiest and least expensive way to meet these requirements so they can “check the box” and be done with it. I personally have taken this exact approach more often than I care to admit, justifying my decision with the fact that I’m really busy and don’t have time to do “real” continuing education. Honestly, procrastination probably plays a bigger part in the decision-making process. Throughout my insurance and financial services career, I learned the value of attaining professional designations as one way to differentiate myself from other producers and advisors while learning how to be a better, more knowledgeable advisor for my clients. Over the years, I have earned several designations both to develop this additional expertise and to meet the ongoing continuing education requirements imposed by state regulators and the issuers of these designations.

Since joining the College for Financial Planning, and still maintaining a small financial planning practice (and the associated licenses that go with that), I have had the opportunity to pursue additional designations and master’s degree courses in financial planning to further develop my knowledge base. All of this work has paid dividends because I have been able to leverage this knowledge base to better serve my clients, which has resulted in many referrals over the years. I share my own experience to provide some background as to why insurance agents should expend the time and effort to earn professional designations. The additional knowledge when applied to specific situations develops greater expertise. Over time, this builds confidence in oneself, but it also builds the confidence clients have in you as you demonstrate your expertise. However, I must offer a word of caution when pursuing designations: choose wisely. There are designations that are well-respected,

and there are others that can be awarded after a weekend of “education” in a hotel conference room. A solid designation will take some time and effort to earn. It will have a comprehensive final exam that requires spending time studying the course materials to pass. Take some time to seek out reputable designations and pursue only those. Another thing to be aware of is that the general public has little knowledge of professional designations and how much effort goes into earning one. Add to that the fact that designations are often presented on business cards and letterhead as a series of letters (e.g., CPCU, CLU, LUTCF). Given these circumstances, it is easy to understand how an uninformed public could be confused, or worse, misled. Once you have successfully earned a designation worthy of pursuing, you will

undoubtedly find that you learned a lot in the process. Rather than simply adding a set of initials after your name on your business card, you can explain to clients what your designations stand for and what you learned. This doesn’t need to be a lengthy conversation. Something as simple as, “For this designation, I had to take an eight-week course and pass an 85-question comprehensive exam. In the end, I learned a great deal about _______.” Of course, our clients are the real winners when we put in the effort to pursue rigorous designations. If we take the time to become masters of our craft, the people we serve will benefit from that with better advice. The more your clients know about the choices available to them, and the more they realize you know what you’re talking about, the better decisions they can make for themselves. In the end, isn’t helping people why we got into this business in the first place? Mannaioni, CFP, MPAS is the senior director of Designation Programs and a professor at the College for Financial Planning. You can contact David at david.mannaioni@cffp.edu.

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