The National Association of Mutual Insurers (NAMIC) held its 2023 Annual Convention on September 17-20 in National Harbor, Maryland. During the convention, AAIS sat down with Neil Alldredge, President & CEO of NAMIC, to discuss the biggest challenges facing the industry, how mutual insurers are overcoming these challenges, current legislation/regulation concerns, what’s on the horizon at NAMIC, and more.

For this Advisory Report, AAIS spoke with Patrick Laws, President of the Wisconsin Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (WAMIC) ahead of the 2023 WAMIC Convention. He discussed the biggest challenges facing the U.S. and Wisconsin insurance markets, how WAMIC is supporting its members amongst these challenges, and what to look forward to at this year’s convention.

Cyber insurance is a necessity for business owners. Cybercriminals are everywhere; they’re sophisticated and organized, have unlimited resources, and target businesses of every size searching for vulnerabilities. As part of our AAIS Webinar Series, AAIS participated in a virtual presentation on July 11, 2023, featuring AAIS Partner Hartford Steam Boiler (HSB), the leading engineering and technical risk insurer providing equipment breakdown and other specialty coverages, inspection services, and engineering consulting. Hosted by Stephanie Vasey, Product Manager of Commercial Lines and Inland Marine at AAIS, this free continuing education webinar led by Beth Ducker, Product Education Manager at HSB, and Mike Tischler, Client Engagement & Education Specialist at HSB, discussed the coverage elements of cyber insurance and ways to reduce the risk of data breaches and computer system attacks.

As part of the AAIS Webinar Series, AAIS hosted a virtual presentation on June 13, 2023, featuring AAIS Partner, Davies. Moderated by AAIS Personal Lines Product Manager, Linda Jancik, the session explored how wind models are created, used, and regulated. Featured guest speakers, Greg Fanoe, Director & Consulting Actuary at Davies, Sandra Darby, Property & Casualty Division Actuary at the Maine Bureau of Insurance, and Shaveta Gupta, Catastrophe Risk & Modeling Actuary at the NAIC, discussed how this data is gathered from inside the storm, why it’s collected, and how it is used by insurance carriers to price policies. The panel also analyzed hurricane models from the regulation side, explaining how regulators use this data to develop legislation to further protect consumers and ensure a healthy market.

LISLE, IL., June 21, 2023 --  The Board of Directors of American Association of Insurance Services (AAIS) is pleased to announce the selection of Werner E. Kruck as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective June 26, 2023. Mr. Kruck has spent his entire career in leading roles within the insurance industry and has served on the AAIS Board of Directors since 2018.

As part of the AAIS Webinar Series, AAIS hosted a virtual presentation on June 6, 2023, regarding California’s Mandatory Wildfire Mitigation Credits regulation. AAIS industry leaders, Robin Westcott, Vice President of Government Affairs, Legal & Compliance/General Counsel, Linda Jancik, Product Manager of Personal Lines, Mike Payne, Chief Pricing Actuary, and Matt Hinds-Aldrich, Senior Risk Strategy Lead, presented an overview of how the regulation was addressed across impacted programs from both a product and actuarial perspective. The panel also focused on the consumer notice requirement, highlighting how notice design can help motivate consumer action to complete wildfire mitigations on their properties. Panelists shared a notice template developed in response to this regulation that can easily be used and adapted in response to this regulation.

Today's work environment has shifted significantly, and employers are faced with a pressing need to offer both remote and hybrid working styles to accommodate workforce needs as well as attract top talent. As part of the AAIS Webinar Series, AAIS hosted a virtual presentation on May 4, 2023, featuring AAIS Partners WSRB/BuidingMetrix, Inc. and WAHVE. Moderated by AAIS Director of Marketing and Communications, John Greene, the presentation explored what it takes to acquire talent as well as manage them successfully within these new working parameters. Panelists Karl Newman, CEO of WSRB/BuildingMetrix, Inc., and Rick Morgan, Chief Marketing Officer of WAHVE, discussed what type of working environment current job seekers are looking for, how employers can recruit talent that fits this model, onboarding best practices, and ways to lead and motivate a virtual team successfully.

For this Advisory Report, AAIS spoke with Charlie Makey, President of Merchants Insurance Groupand New York Insurance Association (NYIA) Chair, ahead of the NYIA 2023 Annual Conference. He discussed the biggest challenges facing the U.S. market, how Merchants Insurance Group is responding to these challenges, and what to look forward to at this year’s Annual Conference.

For this Advisory Report, AAIS spoke with Norm Orlowski, President and CEO ofErie and Niagara Insurance Association (ENIA) and Treasurer of the New York Insurance Association (NYIA), ahead of the NYIA 2023 Annual Conference. He discussed the biggest challenges facing the U.S. market, the legislation and regulation issues ENIA is watching, and what to look forward to at this year’s Annual Conference.

Inflation, fluctuations in building costs, and hardening reinsurance markets demand new approaches to portfolio management for commercial insurers. As part of our AAIS Webinar Series, AAIS hosted a virtual presentation on March 16, 2023, featuring AAIS Partner OneShield, the cloud-based, core systems platform providing business solutions for MGAs and P&C insurers. The session was hosted by Stephanie Vasey, Product Manager of Commercial Lines and Inland Marine at AAIS, and moderated by John Dunn, Vice President of OneShield. Their discussion explained how to reduce risk overall and addressed the inflationary economic conditions with a greater understanding of insuring commercial properties. Industry panelists Jeff Heine, Chief Revenue Officer of Betterview, and Skip Coan, Vice President of e2Value, Inc., showed attendees how aerial imagery, data analytics, and property estimation tools bring a new level of accuracy and transparency to the commercial property policy lifecycle.