In Partnership with
Program lines under the microscope
Less capacity, but increased use of technology, to shape future of insurance program lines
Jennifer Guidry
Great American Insurance Group
Industry experts
Jon Desjardins
Arch Insurance
Russell Duffey
RPS Signature Programs
Tracy Bernard
Tangram Insurance Services
Since December 2021, Jennifer Guidry has been the divisional vice president of business development and marketing, Alternative Markets division, Great American Insurance Group. She has held numerous leadership roles of increasing P&L and organizational responsibility throughout the past 20 years. Prior to joining Great American Insurance Group, she spent 15 years at a Fortune 500 investment and insurance company headquartered in Connecticut. Guidry earned a bachelor of science from Louisiana College and an executive MBA from the University of Hartford. Her professional designations include CIC and CRIS.
Great American Insurance Group
Jennifer Guidry
Jon Desjardins has been senior vice president and chief underwriting officer, P&C Programs division, Arch Insurance, since 2016. Save for a one-year vice presidency of marketing at TD Banknorth Insurance Agency, he worked at The Hartford from 1986 to 2016 on everything from underwriting to middle markets to working on commercial lines, as director of commercial affinity programs and AVP field operations director. A high-distinction graduate of the University of Maine with a BA in economics, he also studied at the Insurance Institute of America.
Arch Insurance
Jon Desjardins
Russell Duffey is the president of programs at RPS Signature Programs, where he has worked for the past 23 years. He served as vice president of market relations, area president, and vice president in Greater Atlanta. Prior to that he was casualty manager after joining RPS as a broker in 2000. He started in the industry as an underwriter in 1994 for Southern Insurance Underwriters. He obtained a business administration (risk management and insurance) certificate from Georgia State University and a Harvard Business School Arthur J. Gallagher leadership development certificate.
RPS Signature Programs
Russell Duffey
Tracy Bernard has served as senior vice president of program development and strategy at Tangram Insurance Services since 2018. At Energi Insurance Services, she served as senior vice president, underwriting and reinsurance, from 2017 to 2018 and vice president, strategic relations and reinsurance, from 2013 to 2017. She moved to become assistant vice president/associate director of Treaty Reinsurance at Aon from 2004 to 2011 after starting out as a corporate accountant in 2003. She graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor of science, business administration(accounting and marketing) in 2003.
Tangram Insurance Services
Tracy Bernard
“When traditional capacity restricts, alternatives will be sought”
Tracy Bernard,
Tangram Insurance Services
LESS CAPACITY may be adding pressure to insurance markets, but technology and the sharing of analytical data are creating new opportunities for cost savings and collaboration.
Those were some of the thoughts shared during Insurance Business TV’s first episode of 2023. When asked by global editor Paul Lucas about the impact of a tough reinsurance market, economic pressure, weather events, and capacity concerns, Jon Desjardins, senior vice president and chief underwriting officer, P&C Programs division at Arch Insurance, answered that “there is less capacity. The cost of less capacity will no doubt have an impact on risk selection and pricing.”
“It certainly is our belief that capital providers appreciate the growth opportunities and expertise that this channel provides”
Russell Duffey,
RPS Signature Programs
“Every problem has a solution, and it will take more than one brain to figure it out”
Jennifer Guidry,
Great American Insurance Group
Like everyone else, the insurance industry is having to contend with inflation and rising costs.
“Higher reinsurance costs are going to increase the overall price of insurance,” said Russell Duffey, president of programs, RPS Signature Programs. “Those have to be passed on, ultimately, to the insured.”
In the MGA space, that is a dynamic for retail clients out there. “Capacity has been reduced, but there is still capacity out there,” said Duffey. “Reinsurers can be picky now.” Even with the passing of the pandemic era, there are economic challenges afoot. This is “a time for us to really test our nimbleness,” said Jennifer Guidry, divisional vice president of business development and marketing, Great American Insurance Group. There must be an “adoption of mindset that … we are conforming to within the program space.” With this new mindset, “We are thinking differently about how we look at exposures,” said Guidry.
“The cost of less capacity will no doubt have an impact on risk selection and pricing”
Jon Desjardins,
Arch Insurance
Programs are “certainly not immune to the changes in the market,” said Duffey. “However, it certainly is our belief that capital providers appreciate the growth opportunities that this channel provides…. Innovation is really happening” in the program space.
Guidry, along with others, has “witnessed the influx of insurtechs in this space.” As such, “We have adapted very quickly in the digital era.”
Relationships are important at the best of times, but are utterly crucial in difficult conditions. That is why programs divisions need to maintain “the ability to adapt to current market conditions,” said Bernard, and not be afraid to “cherry-pick risks in certain niches” by “serving niche markets with tailored coverages and products and pricings.” Knowing your brief in your niche can help create a “a solid partnership. We really want our channel partners to be trusting in us as the MGA in a specific niche.”
Respect is indeed a two-way street, as is providing help for a client.
“We are solving for their needs and helping them become successful,” Duffey said.
As he sees it, there are two main clients they interact with: “capacity providers who want distribution, expertise, and proper returns on their capital” and “retail clients who need solutions for the risks that walk in their door every day.”
For Guidry, discussing dreams and aspirations is important, but so is managing expectations and realities to getting there: “not just successfully communicating the needs,” Guidry said, but “also being real about some of the challenges you may be facing.”
That means being upfront with clients, too.
“We are all having issues with capacity,” said Guidry. Agents and brokers need to be “up front about what is going on.”
But adding another voice to the conversation can also feed a solution into the mix.
“Every problem has a solution, and it will take more than one brain to figure it out,” Guidry said.
Desjardins agreed about finding common solutions.
“You have to be on the same page as the MGAs … they are the experts,” said Desjardins. “They need to underwrite to profitability. They know where to offer the right products. They will engage with us analytically.”
Further to this, “For all of us, these costs are going up,” said Desjardins. In particular, “global rate increases on renewal treaties were up 37 percent, the largest in 30 years.”
For Tracy Bernard, senior vice president of program strategy at Tangram Insurance Services, “The impact that we are seeing on reinsurance market prices [is] still highly varied across lines of business.” She pointed to areas like cyber, auto, and property lines in particular.
Program carriers may become more adaptable in how they structure their reinsurance. “They are going to be a bit more flexible. They may become more attractive partners,” she said.
With inflation and reinsurance pricing “putting pressure on prices, we are going to start to focus on cost control and efficiency gains through technology and automation and analytics and all those things,” said Bernard.
Climate change is having a big impact on the industry. “We used to be primarily concerned about hurricanes,” said Guidry. “We are now more concerned about those secondary exposures like wildfires and convective storms, which are increasing. We are really having to be nimble in our approaches … with all of those things upon us in the program space,” she said.
Read on
Arch Insurance provides speciality risk solutions to clients worldwide across a wide range of industries. Arch Insurance North America, part of Arch Capital Group Ltd., covers Canada and the United States. The company also includes Arch Insurance International operations in Bermuda, Europe, and Australia.
Find out more
Tangram Insurance Services is a full-service Managing General Agency (MGA) and program manager offering specialty programs. They cover policies that include animal welfare, cyber, entertainment, janitorial and building services, kidnap, ransom and extortion, portable sanitation, personal care and assisted living, propane and fuel dealers and distributors, security guards, and social services.
Find out more
RPS Signature Programs collectively represents one of the largest program administrators in the US with over 46 niche program offerings backed by long-term carrier relationships and deep industry understanding and underwriting expertise. RPS Signature Programs is a division of Risk Placement Services, which was founded as a scratch organization in 1997. The firm has grown to be one of the largest specialty insurance distributors in the US, offering solutions in wholesale brokerage, binding authority, program administration, and standard lines. The firm’s online services include a quote-bind-issue platform that makes it possible for independent agents and brokers to come through for their clients with coverage in a matter of minutes. To agents and brokers looking to cover what’s unique, what’s new, and what’s next, RPS is your partner in whatever’s possible.
Find out more
In Partnership with
Program lines under the microscope
Less capacity, but increased use of technology, to shape future of insurance program lines
Read on
Tracy Bernard
Baldwin Risk Partners
Russell Duffey
RPS Signature Programs
Jon Desjardins
Arch Insurance
Jennifer Guidry
Great American Insurance Group
Industry experts
Since December 2021, Jennifer Guidry has been the divisional vice president of business development and marketing, Alternative Markets division, Great American Insurance Group. She has held numerous leadership roles of increasing P&L and organizational responsibility throughout the past 20 years. Prior to joining Great American Insurance Group, she spent 15 years at a Fortune 500 investment and insurance company headquartered in Connecticut. Guidry earned a bachelor of science from Louisiana College and an executive MBA from the University of Hartford. Her professional designations include CIC and CRIS.
Great American Insurance Group
Jennifer Guidry
Jon Desjardins has been senior vice president and chief underwriting officer, P&C Programs division, Arch Insurance, since 2016. Save for a one-year vice presidency of marketing at TD Banknorth Insurance Agency, he worked at The Hartford from 1986 to 2016 on everything from underwriting to middle markets to working on commercial lines, as director of commercial affinity programs and AVP field operations director. A high-distinction graduate of the University of Maine with a BA in economics, he also studied at the Insurance Institute of America.
Arch Insurance
Jon Desjardins
Russell Duffey is the president of programs at RPS Signature Programs, where he has worked for the past 23 years. He served as vice president of market relations, area president, and vice president in Greater Atlanta. Prior to that he was casualty manager after joining RPS as a broker in 2000. He started in the industry as an underwriter in 1994 for Southern Insurance Underwriters. He obtained a business administration (risk management and insurance) certificate from Georgia State University and a Harvard Business School Arthur J. Gallagher leadership development certificate.
RPS Signature Programs
Russell Duffey
Tracy Bernard has served as senior vice president of program development and strategy at Tangram Insurance Services since 2018. At Energi Insurance Services, she served as senior vice president, underwriting and reinsurance, from 2017 to 2018 and vice president, strategic relations and reinsurance, from 2013 to 2017. She moved to become assistant vice president/associate director of Treaty Reinsurance at Aon from 2004 to 2011 after starting out as a corporate accountant in 2003. She graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor of science, business administration(accounting and marketing) in 2003.
Tangram Insurance Services
Tracy Bernard
In Partnership with
Program lines under the microscope
Less capacity, but increased use of technology, to shape future of insurance program lines
Read on
Tracy Bernard
Tangram Insurance Services
Russell Duffey
RPS Signature Programs
Jon Desjardins
Arch Insurance
Jennifer Guidry
Great American Insurance Group
Industry experts
Tracy Bernard has served as senior vice president of program development and strategy at Tangram Insurance Services since 2018. At Energi Insurance Services, she served as senior vice president, underwriting and reinsurance, from 2017 to 2018 and vice president, strategic relations and reinsurance, from 2013 to 2017. She moved to become assistant vice president/associate director of Treaty Reinsurance at Aon from 2004 to 2011 after starting out as a corporate accountant in 2003. She graduated from Georgetown University with a bachelor of science, business administration(accounting and marketing) in 2003.
Tangram Insurance Services
Tracy Bernard
Russell Duffey is the president of programs at RPS Signature Programs, where he has worked for the past 23 years. He served as vice president of market relations, area president, and vice president in Greater Atlanta. Prior to that he was casualty manager after joining RPS as a broker in 2000. He started in the industry as an underwriter in 1994 for Southern Insurance Underwriters. He obtained a business administration (risk management and insurance) certificate from Georgia State University and a Harvard Business School Arthur J. Gallagher leadership development certificate.
RPS Signature Programs
Russell Duffey
Jon Desjardins has been senior vice president and chief underwriting officer, P&C Programs division, Arch Insurance, since 2016. Save for a one-year vice presidency of marketing at TD Banknorth Insurance Agency, he worked at The Hartford from 1986 to 2016 on everything from underwriting to middle markets to working on commercial lines, as director of commercial affinity programs and AVP field operations director. A high-distinction graduate of the University of Maine with a BA in economics, he also studied at the Insurance Institute of America.
Arch Insurance
Jon Desjardins
Since December 2021, Jennifer Guidry has been the divisional vice president of business development and marketing, Alternative Markets division, Great American Insurance Group. She has held numerous leadership roles of increasing P&L and organizational responsibility throughout the past 20 years. Prior to joining Great American Insurance Group, she spent 15 years at a Fortune 500 investment and insurance company headquartered in Connecticut. Guidry earned a bachelor of science from Louisiana College and an executive MBA from the University of Hartford. Her professional designations include CIC and CRIS.
Great American Insurance Group
Jennifer Guidry
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Program markets capacity now and in the future
The Great American Insurance Company wrote its first policy in 1872 and has grown into a global company. It is a member of the American Financial Group, a Fortune 500 company, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
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How are programs set to fare compared to other P&C market players?
After 9/11 in 2001 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and other challenging marketing times, “There was new capacity coming into the market, new capital,” and it has been growing for the past five years, said Bernard.
Overall, people are still interested in programs, believes Desjardins. He recently attended an annual programs convention, and the “attendance was an all-time record. There is a lot of attention, continual addition of capital into this space.”
The pace of technology in any industry has not slowed down – and the program space needs to keep up.
“We’ve seen technology really driving innovation in the MGU/MGA space,” said Guidry. Whereas some companies would come to carriers for quotes, “The MGUs and the MGAs are investing in their own quoting platforms.” In part, MGUs and MGAs “want control over not only that underwriting aspect in leveraging that expertise. They also want to have more control over that experience for their client.”
Preparing for challenges in the programs space
“Our business is truly specialty,” said Desjardins.
Underwriters and MGAs need to know “what the hooks are to write good business within a particular niche. They need to know what the trends are,” he said.
Again, with climate change, “We could be writing business in a wildfire area. How do I get within that niche the most profitable business and avoid the most severe claims?” he asked.
“There are tools out there now to help them manage their programs better,” said Duffey. These could include analytics, AI, and accessing third-party data to better underwrite policies and manage exposures. These all help us to “create solutions for our retail clients in the market space.”
Bernard put forward a call to action to companies that they “need to take ownership of data…. Having that control and ownership is where they add value. That will continue to be critically important.”
The industry also needs to be “surgical” in how it can target risks, but she stressed that “we are the experts in our niches.”
Relationships for tough times
9.1%
9.0%
6.8%
7.4%
7.4%
7.3%
6.2%
6.0%
6.3%
7.4%
21.3%
19.7%
17.4%
16.9%
15.0%
General
Liability
COMMERCIAL
AUTO
UMBRELLA
HIGH: Commercial Auto: 28.6% | General Liability: 26.0% | Umbrella: 51.9%
LOW: Commercial Auto: -11.6% | General Liability: -13.6% | Umbrella: -13.5%
Rate changes across the board
Fourth Quarter 2020
First Quarter 2021
Second Quarter 2021
Third Quarter 2021
Fourth Quarter 2021
Source: The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
On the issue of capacity, there are always opportunities to be found in tougher times. “When traditional capacity restricts, alternatives will be sought,” Bernard said. “Getting creative, being able to be flexible in how reinsurance programs are structured, will be the path forward.”
2021: 16%
2020: 3%
2017 – 2021: 7%
Source: BGC Strategic Management Consulting
Average annual TSR for insurers across all regions (the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) and sectors (P&C, life and health, reinsurers, and multiline insurers)
Changes in TSRs for insurers
9.1%
9.0%
6.8%
7.4%
7.4%
7.3%
6.2%
6.0%
6.3%
7.4%
21.3%
19.7%
17.4%
16.9%
15.0%
General
Liability
COMMERCIAL
AUTO
UMBRELLA
HIGH: Commercial Auto: 28.6% | General Liability: 26.0% | Umbrella: 51.9%
LOW: Commercial Auto: -11.6% | General Liability: -13.6% | Umbrella: -13.5%
Rate changes across the board
4th Qtr
4th Qtr
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
Source: The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
9.1%
9.0%
6.8%
7.4%
7.4%
7.3%
6.2%
6.0%
6.3%
7.4%
21.3%
19.7%
17.4%
16.9%
15.0%
General
Liability
COMMERCIAL
AUTO
UMBRELLA
HIGH: Commercial Auto: 28.6% | General Liability: 26.0% | Umbrella: 51.9%
LOW: Commercial Auto: -11.6% | General Liability: -13.6% | Umbrella: -13.5%
Rate changes across the board
4th Qtr
4th Qtr
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
Source: The Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers
2021: 16%
2020: 3%
2017 - 2021: 7%
Source: BGC Strategic Management Consulting
Average annual TSR for insurers across all regions (the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific) and sectors (P&C, life and health, reinsurers, and multiline insurers)
Changes in TSRs for insurers
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Copyright © 2023 KM Business Information US, Inc
RSS
Sitemap
Contact us
About us
Conditions of Use
Privacy policy
Terms & conditions
People
Copyright © 2023 KM Business Information US, Inc
RSS
Sitemap
Contact us
About us
Conditions of Use
Privacy policy
Terms & conditions
People
Contact Us
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