From the Editor's Desk
Entrepreneurial Spirit

• Patricia Vowinkel
• December 2020
• 

Best's Review and ^AMBestTV have joined forces to bring together leaders from the agent/broker sector to talk about their strategies and creative vision, with a special focus on excess and surplus lines, insurtech MGAs and what it takes to build a successful program business.

This is our second cross-media project, following the inaugural “An Industry Transformed” that appeared in the September issue of the magazine.

For the Entrepreneurial Agent/Broker project, we developed a three-part series: “Strength Through Specialization,” “Insurtech Drives Distribution Innovation” and “Programs That Produce.”

The panelists for “Strength Through Specialization” include Steve DeCarlo, executive chairman of AmWINS Group; Pat Ryan, founder, chairman and CEO of Ryan Specialty Group; and Matt Power, president of One80 Intermediaries.

“Insurtech Drives Distribution Innovation” brings together Tim Attia, co-founder and CEO of Slice Labs; Rick McCathron, president of Hippo; and Phil Edmundson, founder and chief executive of Corvus Insurance.

And the four participants in “Programs That Produce” are David Springer, group president and chief operating officer, NIP Group; Geof McKernan, founder of NSM Insurance Group; Joel Cavaness, president of Risk Placement Services; and Heidi Strommen, president of ProHost USA.

Many words can be used to describe 2020. “Uneventful” is not one of them. As the year draws to a close, Best's Review considers what 2021 could bring in light of the pandemic, civil unrest, hurricanes, wildfires and the presidential election.

“What's Ahead” takes a look at issues and trends that could be on the horizon.

For the marine insurance market, notable events in 2020 included an explosion at a port in Beirut, a number of cargo vessel fires and destruction of various storage facilities near Nashville, Tennessee, due to a tornado. December is Marine and Inland Marine Insurance Awareness Month. In “A Powerful Force,” Best's Review looks at these losses and the impact on the marine market.

The pandemic has had a major impact on many lines and classes of business. Life insurers have begun to revise some of their early estimates on the mortality risk associated with COVID-19. In “Rethinking Mortality,” Best's Review examines what has changed since the early days of the pandemic.

Actuaries play a key role when it comes to making mortality estimates such as these. In this issue, Best's Review presents its listings of the top auditors and actuaries. The listings focus on independent accountants who audit an insurer's annual financial statements and on third-party actuaries who provide an annual statutory actuarial opinion regarding an insurer's policy and claim reserves.

These listings include only insurance companies with statements that listed auditors or external actuaries. The insurer population includes U.S. and Canadian companies that file with AM Best.