Conning Report Shows Modest Increase in 2023 Insurance M&A

Tanner Hackett, CEO, Counterpart, said new machine learning and similar systems help insurers synthesize huge data sets for better underwriting, marketing and more. Hackett spoke with AM Best TV at the InsurTech Spring Conference in New York City.

Stephen Crewdson Sr., director, insurance business intelligence, J.D. Power, details a report with TransUnion that shows after months of decreasing auto insurance shopping, consumers are now returning to looking for better deals from carriers. 

Insurance risk experts who spoke with AM Best TV at the Verisk Insurance Conference in Orlando, Florida, said governments are at the early stages of grappling with this issue, which intersects with science, business, public policy and land use.

Srdjan Todorovic, head of political violence and hostile environment solutions at Allianz Commercial, details the findings of a new risk report that shows terrorism, civil unrest and environmental activism as intensifying risks in a volatile geopolitical environment.

Public entities such as municipal governments are increasingly the targets of cyberthreats, said Munich Re Specialty’s Lauren Tredinnick, president, public entity solutions, and AVP Maria Long, cyber underwriter & risk management portfolio leader.

Swiss Re’s Chief Property Underwriter Mohit Pande said strikes, riots and similar events are growing in frequency and severity as rising concentrations of populations in major cities create a higher density of valued assets within a heightened risk landscape. 

Betsy Myatt, vice president & chief program officer of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation and executive director of the IICF’s Northeast Division, Wendy Houser, chief wholesale officer at Markel and Jodie Kaufman Davis, executive vice president, H.W. Kaufman Group, discuss progress in getting women into the C Suite and what must continue to make the insurance workspace a fully diverse and inclusive environment.

Chris Graham, senior industry analyst, Credit Rating Criteria Research & Analytics, AM Best, said cyber may surpass D&O in premium volume due to its rapid growth and changing market demands. Graham spoke with AM Best TV at the 2024 PLUS Cyber Symposium in New York City.

Mark Garrett, director of claims intelligence for J.D. Power, discusses the company’s 2024 Property Claims Satisfaction Study, which finds the industry is at a seven-year low for customer claims satisfaction.

Maura Freiwald, head of casualty for Munich Re US, and Jim Whittle, vice president and counsel to the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, explain how legal-system abuse and litigation funding are leading to nuclear verdicts against insurers and what the industry is doing to combat the practice.