A.M. BestTV: Insurers Peek Over Horizon at Soaring Regulatory Costs, Tech Threats

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OLDWICK - OCTOBER 26, 2016 02:16 PM (EDT)
In this ^A.M.BestTV episode from the annual meeting of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) in Dallas, TX, insurance industry executives name a range of issues set to dominate the coming year, including spiraling regulatory costs, talent shortages, new technology-based competition and an unforgiving investment climate. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=pci31016nc to view the entire program.

Keith Wolfe, president, U.S. property/casualty - regional and national, Swiss Reinsurance America Corporation, addressed how changing technologies should not be ignored.

“One of the things the industry is going to have to embrace in 2017 is insurance technology,” said Wolfe. “Organizations are really going to have to consider this as an important space to change what the industry has been doing for the last 100-200 years in the U.S. insurance sector.”

Jim Wallace, chairman, president and chief executive officer, GuideOne Insurance Companies, said regulatory costs remains a growing concern.

“Regulation is really becoming a problem,” said Wallace. “The industry has calculated that it has added 19% to cost in the last two years, and unless the industry can get it under control, it will be a difficult year.”

Other people that appear in this episode:

• Liz Kramer, property/casualty treaty strategy manager, Gen Reinsurance AG;


• Trent Thomson, head of regional & national casualty treaty, U.S., Swiss Reinsurance America Corporation;and


• Chris Hampshire, assistant vice president, carrier practice, Gallagher Bassett Services.

^A.M.BestTV will be covering the entire 2016 PCI convention. Visit http://www.ambest.tv/pci16 for full coverage and exclusive interviews with key executives.

Recent episodes of ^A.M.BestTV include:

• Insurers Respond to New Regulators, New Competitors: At the PCI conference, insurers said the industry is being pressured by new forms of competition and new layers of regulation: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=pci11016nc .


• Market Changes Drive U.S. Workers’ Compensation Business to State Funds: A.M. Best analysts, W. Dolson Smith, senior financial analyst, and Connor Brach, associate analyst, said U.S. state workers’ compensation funds have benefited from better economic conditions and a hardening in recent years of the overall workers’ compensation market. However, they may face challenges as pricing softens in some areas: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=statefunds11016 .


• Insurers Court Program Managers to ‘Outselect the Market’: At the Target Markets Program Administrators Association Summit, insurance executives said managing general agents and brokers have an advantage in developing new products and programs because of their close ties to insureds and agents: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=targetmarkets11016nc .


• Drone Surge Opens Up a Wide Horizon of Risk Coverages: Paul Bowles, an attorney with Fitzpatrick & Hunt, Pagano, Aubert, LLP., said drone operators should consider protecting themselves against a range of property and liability exposures, including aviation and marine risks, commercial liability, errors and omissions, directors and officers, privacy and more: http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=drones1016 .

^A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html . View ^A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.

A.M. Best is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.