In this edition of Issues in Risk Retention, host Joe Deems, Executive Director of the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA), welcomes Janice Abraham, President & CEO of United Educators, to discuss issues in assessing and insuring risks at educational institutions. Ms. Abraham recalls a time when the traditional property/casualty insurance market had “abandoned colleges, schools and universities.” At a time …

In this edition of WRIN.tv Headline News: President Obama / UN show support for sustainable insurance At the U.N. climate conference in Paris, President Obama said the U.S.  would support parametric-risk insurance programs in the Pacific, the Caribbean, and Africa. The U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon also launched a new climate resilience and insurance initiative that will provide weather-related coverage …

In this edition of ACORD Tech Talk, host Johnell Johnson speaks with Bolt Solutions CEO Eric Gewirtzman discusses the launch of Google Compare and how comparison shopping will affect the insurance industry. “Bolt Google Connect” enables insurers to quickly and easily participate in Google Compare, a comparison-shopping site that lets consumers compare rates from different insurance providers. Mr. Gewirtzman describes one …

In highlights from a recent “First Monday” episode, A.M. Best Managing Director, Analytics Greg Carter discusses the top issues affecting the European insurance markets, including technology, product design and regulation. According to Mr. Carter, there are several overarching issues impacting the UK and Europe markets, including the fragile economies in the Eurozone amid shifting regulations. He sees long-term opportunities for insurers …

In highlights from a recent “First Monday” program, A.M. Best Assistant Vice President Rosemarie Mirabella and Financial Analyst Frank Walko discuss evolving fixed- indexed annuity (FIA) product designs and the blurring of lines between FIAs and variable annuities. Recently, A.M. Best conducted a survey of the top 10 FIA writers, which represents roughly 70% of the overall market. Ms. Mirabella says, “The …

In this edition of WRIN.tv’s Cyber Report, a Gartner study forecasts that 6.4 billion things will be inter-connected worldwide in 2016, with spending on support for the Internet of Things (IoT) to hit $235 billion. A cyber-security guru described the Internet of Things as “The Internet of Threats”, as the U.S. Federal Government says the global Internet of Things will …

A.M. Best analysts review several of the major business disruptors affecting the insurance industry, including political, political, regulatory or societal. While A.M. Best Chief Rating Officer Stefan Holzberger sees technology playing a large role in decisions regarding the types of products insureds are looking, he notes several other major disruptors challenging the insurance industry in years to come…challenges that present …

Steve Crim is a founding partner of C&S Specialty Underwriters, specializing in commercial casualty risks. He speaks with WRIN.tv about the causes and impact of prolonged soft market conditions on the insurance industry. Mr. Crim says the soft market, caused by excess capital in the insurance system is putting pressure on insurance rates, negatively impacting underwriting margins. He believes “most …

Nancy Gray, a Regional Managing Director at Aon Insurance Managers, speaks with WRIN.tv about the growing complexity in the insurance industry due to emerging risks and regulation. According to Ms. Gray, the risks have grown more complicated. She notes that ten years ago we were not speaking about cyber risk and the many other emerging risks we see today. She …

WRIN.tv speaks with Siri Gadbois, President and CEO Educational & Institutional Insurance Administrators, about current market conditions and the future of the industry. She says conditions in the commercial and captive sectors are “flexible and low priced with a lot of capacity.” Ms. Gadbois believes the industry has moved away from the cyclical nature of pricing common years ago. While …

Tim Padovese, President & CEO at Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance (OMIC), speaks with WRIN.tv about Wisconsin legislation that will now allow RRGs to write healthcare liability cover. He notes that this landmark decision will allow the State’s ophthalmologists to gain access to important medical professional liability coverage and the risk management and claims services that will provide for better patient safety. …

Vermont bills itself as the “Gold Standard” of captive domiciles, with more than 1,000 captives, including 48 of the Fortune 100. WRIN.tv speaks with Sandy Bigglestone, Director of Captive Insurance for the State of Vermont, about how the State cultivates attracts captives and RRGs. Ms. Bigglestone notes that Vermont’s regulatory approach has been “perfected over the years.” She also believes …

Former NRRA chairwoman Rebecca Smart, discusses the challenges and progress she sees in regulation with regard to captives and risk retention groups (RRGs), particularly within the NIAC. She is Corporate Secretary & Legal Counsel for Lenders Protection Assurance Company. Ms. Smart has observed more acceptance of RRGs over time, while new standards and some new regulation continue to emerging within …

Jon Harkavy was involved in the passage of the Liability Risk Retention Act (LRRA) in 1986, and now serves on the Board of Directors of NRRA. He shares with WRIN.tv some evolution on the law, the impact on State regulation, and keys to effective regulation going forward. Since the passage of the Liability Risk Retention Act was passed, RRGs have …

WRIN.tv speaks with Michael Schroeder, co-founder and general counsel at Allied Professionals Insurance Company, about the court battles waged and won in defense of RRG rights with respect to the Liability Risk Retention Act, and battles yet to come. While the Liability Risk Retention Act was passed in 1986, no federal agency is responsible for oversight or regulation of the …

WRIN.tv speaks with Wendy Fisher, Director of Regulatory Affairs at New Home Warranty Insurance Company, about the regulatory environment surrounding Risk Retention Groups (RRGs). Over the past several years she has noticed a great deal of change in the involvement of the NAIC and State regulators, particularly in non-domiciliary States. She credits the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) with being …

Dan Labrie, President and CEO of the Housing Authority Insurance Group, also serves as Chair of the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) and is former Chair of the Captive Insurance Companies Association (CICA) and the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA). Mr. Labrie believes the increase in laws governing captives in various States is prompted by an increase in development of …

NAIC CEO Senator Ben Nelson gave the keynote address at the NRRA Annual Conference in Chicago. Here, he discusses his participation in the meeting and how relations between NRRA and the NAIC could improve going forward. Senator Nelson was happy to participate in the meeting to help build a better understanding between NRRA and RRGs and the NAIC and State …

Joe Deems, Executive Director at the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) joins WRIN.tv from the 2015 NRRA Conference in Chicago. Here, he outlines the challenges faced by Risk Retention Groups (RRGs) in the current market, hopes for a better dialogue between NRRA and the NAIC, and the value of gatherings like the NRRA Conference in improving RRG performance. Mr. Deems …

In this edition of “Issues in Risk Retention”, Jim Cutts, Editor and Publisher of The Risk Retention Reporter, joins host Joe Deems, Executive Director of the National Risk Retention Association (NRRA), for a discussion on the state of the Risk Retention Group (RRG) industry. Mr. Cutts notes that there were only ten new RRGs formed in 2014. He believes the …