Program Spotlight

WINS: Women in Insurance

In 2018, Insurors CEO Ashley Gold worked on an idea with Janet Smith of Bailey Special Risks and Christy Jones of Martin & Zerfoss to begin developing events targeted to women in the insurance industry. The idea was born out of discussion on the lack of diverse topics at industry events that focus directly on female career development.

Later that year, our inaugural event was held, and the Women in Insurance (WINS) program was launched. Since that time, we've held 8 events across the state, and the turnout and feedback have been outstanding.

"This program has done even better than we expected, and is becoming a real benefit to our female members." says Gold, "We have had such great feedback about how valuable the content is as well as how important it is to make connections with other females in this industry."

Attend an Upcoming WINS Event

But don't just take our word for it, we want you to participate

EMPOWERING TO LEAD & SUCCEED

PRESENTED BY

in one of upcoming events and see for yourself. Dates for this year's schedule include:

February 11 - Nashville presented by RT Specialty March 3 - Memphis presented by Bailey Special Risks April 1 - Knoxville presented by RT Specialty May 7 - Nashville presented by RT Specialty

We'll also be scheduling events in Chattanooga and other markets later this year. Some of the topics for this year's events will include; "Organization in Business and Life," "Networking in a Wo(man)'s World," "Imposter Syndrome," "Dress for Success," and a panel discussion featuring female leaders in our industry.

If you have other topics, events or speakers you think would be of interest to this group, please send them to agold@insurors.org.

For more information, please visit https://www.insurors.org/ IOT/Events/Women_in_Insurance.aspx u

Business Development Claims Sales Training Marketing Carrier Relations Independence

Bonds Operations Business Intelligence Commercial Markets Financial Services works better

Employee Benefits

Producer Recruitment Niche Programs Field Operations Risk Management together.

Meet the management team of Keystone. They’re backed by a team of 200 professionals and a wealth of resources ready to help you strategically increase the value of your agency.

Independently, you’re strong. Together, we’re better.

Association Update (cont. from pg. 35)

"Top 100 Agency" by Insurance Journal, and several other industry accomplishments. The agency has also achieved several of these awards and accomplishments for multiple years in a row.

Insight RM Named to "Best Workplaces" List

Memphis-based Insight Risk Management was recently named as a 2019 "Top Place to Work" by the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The agency was featured in the "Small" category, which included company staff sizes of 35-99 employees.

Bailey Insurance Receives Recognitions

Bailey Insurance Ser vice of Knoxville was recently recognized by Erie Insurance for their milestone achievement of "Platinum Level Life Recognition." The recognition showcases the agency's ability to convey the importance of life insurance to their clients. In addition, agency principal Mike Bailey was named among the "Best of the Best" insurance agents for 2019 by the Knoxville CityView publication.

Vaughan Named Among "Agents of the Year"

Trae Vaughan, a producer with Brock Insurance in Chattanooga, has been named to the Insurance Journal list of "2019 Agents of the Year." Vaughan specializes in construction and real estate insurance as well as bonding and captives. He worked at his father's Mississippi independent agency in high school and pursued a risk management degree in college at Mississippi State. He then worked as an underwriter for Travelers for five years before joining the agency.

Denbo Listed Among IBA's "Hot 100"

Insurance Business America (IBA) magazine has listed Will Denbo of Commercial Insurance Associates (CIA) as one of their "Hot 100" for 2019. Over the past year, Denbo – a principal and producer at the agency – grew his personal business 30% and was also instrumental in CIA’s 30% organic growth during the same period. He was named to IBA’s Top Producer list in both 2018 and 2019.

Rep. Keisling Named "Legislator of the Year"

State Legislator and Insurors member Rep. Kelly Keisling of Keisling Insurance in Byrdstown was recently named as the 2019 Tennessee Renewable Energy & Economic Development Council’s Legislator of the Year. Keisling is recognized for his leadership in the Tennessee General Assembly on energy initiatives that provide for economic development.

Cate-Russell, Knoxville Insurance Group and TIS Named Among "Best of the Best"

The Knoxville CityView publication recently named CateRussell Insurance, TIS Insurance Services and Knoxville Insurance Group (KIG) among its "Best of the Best" businesses for 2019. TIS and KIG finished first and second, respectively, in the category of "Insurance-Commercial," while Cate-Russell finished second in the category of "Insurance-Life." The winners were voted on by a tally of 380,000 votes from the Knoxville community.

Wiser Named CMO at Reliance Partners

Chattanooga-based Reliance Partners has announced the addition of Brenda Wiser as the agency's Chief Marketing Officer. Wiser is an accomplished insurance professional maintaining both her TRS (Transportation Risk Specialist) and CIC (Certified Insurance Counselor) designations. She also serves on the board of the Motor Carrier Insurance Education Foundation (MCIEF) and speaks regularly around the country educating industry associates on motor carrier insurance coverage and programs.

Insurors of Memphis Installs 2020 Board

The Insurors of Memphis local board installed their 2020 Board and Officers at their recent holiday luncheon. Officers for the new year include; Sky Hamilton of Willis, Towers, Watson - president; Kathleen Glass Burk of Kemmons Wilson - vice president; Nick Moorehead of Boyle - treasurer; Hollie Fischer of The Hartford - secretary; Lauren Fisher of Clay & Land - chairlady of the board; as well as regular board members Tom Moots of Clay & Land; Alex Mathis of Mathis, Tibbets, and Massey; Jeff Harris of Gallagher; Eric Collison of Kemmons Wilson; and Darrell Brown of Insight Risk Management. u

MAY 31 - JUNE 2 Y RENAISSANCE HOTEL NASHVILLE

Get recharged and armed with tactics to accelerate your agency’s marketing, technology and customer experience efforts at Agency Nation Elevate — the premiere networking and educational “un-conference” for the IA channel. Insurors of Tennessee is this year’s host association and we’ve arranged a special discount for our member agents. Use the code below to get an additional $70 off the already discounted IIABA Member ticket price!

Company Briefs

Multiple Associate Members Listed in "Best Places to Work in Insurance"

In the recent feature, "2019 Best Places to Work in Insurance" by Business Insurance magazine and the Best Companies Group, multiple Insurors Associate Members were highlighted, including West Bend Mutual (#2 Large Employer), AF Group (#3 Large Employer), Philadelphia Insurance Cos. (#4 Large Employer), FCCI Insurance Group (#3 Medium Employer), Amerisure (#10 Medium Employer) and Amerisafe (#16 Medium Employer).

The feature lists the agents, brokers, insurers and other providers with the highest employee engagement and satisfaction.

Acuity Achieves Record Growth in 2019

Fueled in part by a record-setting $277.5 million in new business in 2019, Acuity reached an all-time high in written premium in 2019 of $1.66 billion, an increase of more than $115 million over 2018.

“We’ve now achieved 10 straight years of positive revenue growth. And, for the past 20 years, Acuity has consistently grown more than twice as fast as the insurance industry,” said Acuity President and CEO Ben Salzmann. “Our growth shows that Acuity is trusted wholeheartedly by more individuals, families, and businesses than ever before to protect what matters. It also shows that we are a strong, stable market for independent agents.”

In just the past eight years, Acuity has doubled its top-line revenue. With Acuity’s unprecedented expansion came increased job opportunity. The insurer has hired over 900 employees over the past five years and nearly 200 in 2019 alone.

Titan Web Launches Mountain Life Program

Titan Web Marketing Solutions and Mountain Life Insurance Company have announced a new co-op marketing partnership to be made available to independent insurance agencies operating in Tennessee. By participating in this co-op, agencies who write with Mountain Life Insurance and work with Titan Web Marketing Solutions will be eligible to have a portion or all of their marketing dollars reimbursed to their agency every month. This is an excellent opportunity for agents to access useful marketing tools simply by doing what they’re already doing - selling Mountain Life Insurance policies.

The Hanover Announces Leadership Changes

The Hanover Insurance Group recently announced that Matthew S. Mitchell and Scott Grieco have been given new positions in the company's commercial lines division.

strategy officer.

Mitchell was appointed president of The Hanover's middle market business, helping to leverage the company's unique industry expertise and insurance solutions across a variety of businesses. He will report to Michael R. Keane, president of commercial lines at The Hanover. Mitchell previously served as the company's chief

He has been with The Hanover for more than 13 years and previously was president of the company's healthcare business. Prior to joining The Hanover, Mitchell worked in product and underwriting roles at The Hartford, where he managed industry verticals for middle market business, and also worked in the small commercial business strategy unit, focusing on countrywide underwriting, technology, and operational initiatives.

Grieco was appointed to the role of chief product and underwriting officer for the company's commercial and specialty businesses, leading enterprise coordination, product, and underwriting efforts. He will report to Richard W. Lavey, president of Hanover Agency Markets. Until his recent appointment, Grieco served as president of middle market at The Hanover, a role he held since 2012.

Under Grieco's leadership, the middle market business grew nearly 32%, focusing on industry specialization and portfolio management. He also previously held leadership roles at Selective Insurance and CNA.

Nationwide Opens "The CoOperative"

As innovation becomes more of a focus for businesses all across the country, the need for creative spaces to foster the collaboration needed to identify customer needs and develop solutions to address them is growing.

For that reason, Nationwide has opened a new innovation center, The CoOperative, at the site of the former Arena Grand theater in Columbus, Ohio’s Arena District. The CoOperative’s unique architectural features pay homage to Nationwide’s farming community roots while also setting up Nationwide for its next 100 years.

While The CoOperative will initially be used by Nationwide associates, the goal is for the space to engage the community as well as host events that attract innovators from all over the country and the world to Columbus.

Builders Mutual Leadership Changes

Builders Mutual has experienced several years of strong insurance operations and company growth as the construction industry continues to thrive. In the past decade, the Company has more than doubled its premium and policy count. To further strengthen and grow the senior leadership team, Builders Mutual is proud to announce several recent promotions.

Mike Gerber has been named Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer to recognize his broad responsibility and strategic leadership over the functions of underwriting, risk management, business development, sales, marketing, human resources and organizational effectiveness. Gerber joined Builders Mutual in 1998 and over the past seventeen years has served as the Company’s Chief Marketing Officer where he has been an important part of nearly every strategic decision that the leadership team and Company have made.

Ross Fowler was promoted to Vice President of Underwriting. He joined Builders Mutual in 2012 as AVP of Underwriting and has more than 35 years of underwriting, sales and marketing experience.

Brad Moock was promoted to Vice President of Business Development. He joined Builders Mutual in 2006 and played a pivotal role in guiding the Company’s premium recovery from a low of $94 million in 2009 to more than $365 million in 2019.

Chris Wetzel was promoted to AVP of Actuarial Services. Wetzel joined Builders Mutual in 2016, and has been serving as Director of Actuarial Services. He continues to demonstrate an exceptional understanding of our business and has built a strong team to lead Builders Mutual to further success.

New Hires at Stonetrust Insurance

Stonetrust Insurance has announced the additions of Brandon Lege, CSP, CHST and John Moore.

Lege was hired as Director of Loss Prevention at Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Company. Brandon was formerly the Safety and Training Manager for Texas Petroleum Investment Company in Lafayette and has more than 20 years of safety and loss prevention experience. He will have responsibility for providing risk management and safety services to all Stonetrust policyholders in eight states including Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Tennessee.

Moore was hired as a Production Underwriter at Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Company and will work with agents in its Mississippi and Tennessee region. John earned his degree in Insurance and Risk Management from the University of Mississippi and was formerly a Production Underwriter with AmFed. John is currently working on his CPCU certification.

Chubb Purchasing More Shares in Huatai

Chubb has announced that it has agreed to purchase an additional 15.3% of Huatai Insurance Group Company Limited. Upon completion of the share purchases, Chubb is expected to own 46.2% of Huatai Insurance Group. Recently, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) approved other unrelated share purchases previously agreed to that upon closing bring Chubb's stake to 30.9%.

Huatai Insurance Group is the holding company of Huatai P&C Insurance Company, Huatai Life Insurance Company and Huatai Asset Management Company, among other subsidiaries. Huatai Group's insurance operations have more than 600 branches and 11 million customers.

TDCI Appoints Corbett and Stalvey to Captive Roles

Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance (TDCI) Commissioner Hodgen Mainda has named two longtime Tennessee captive insurance experts to new roles in the department.

Michael Corbett has been named to the newly created director of Business Development position for TDCI’s Insurance Division. An expert in the captive insurance market, Corbett has been the director of TDCI’s Captive Insurance Section since 2011.

Jennifer Stalvey has been named director of TDCI’s Captive Insurance Section. A native of Nashville, Stalvey has been with TDCI since 2014 and was promoted to assistant director of the Captive Insurance Section in 2015.

MetLife Entering Pet Insurance Market

MetLife has announced the purchase of PetFirst, an insurance administrator for more than 40,000 pets nationwide. The Jeffersonville, Indiana-based company was founded in 2014 and will retain its 60 employees and location. MetLife customers will have access to PetFirst product beginning in the summer of 2020. The segment has continued to grow, with pet owner surveys showing that 45% will spend the same or more on an animal’s healthcare than on their own. u

Harford Mutual Insurance partners with independent agents in Tennessee. We insure restaurants, contractors, mercantile, and other commercial entities. We’re committed to protecting your client’s business and building yours. INSURING OPPORTUNITY THROUGH MUTUAL SUCCESS. ®