Annmarie Geddes Baribeau, president of Insurance Communicators, LLC, will be speaking at the Conference of Consulting Actuaries’ Annual Meeting on Monday, October 25. She will be a panelist during the discussion “Client Concerns re: Marijuana Legalization.” The discussion will be moderated by Margaret Tiller Sherwood, president of Tilller Consulting Group, Inc. Joshua Carden, partner with Carden Livesay LTD, will begin the conversation by covering marijuana legalization. Baribeau will be speaking on the concerns and opportunities for actuaries. She believes marijuana will become more expensive for

Proper reserving ensures insurance companies have the financial strength to pay claims and other expenses. Thanks to modern technology supporting sophisticated models and richer data, some forward-thinking actuaries are unearthing new approaches to fine-tune reserving. Specifically, they are looking to develop reserves on a per claim rather than an aggregate basis. My Actuarial Review article, Beyond Triangles: Capturing Insights From New Analytic Technology, is garnering much attention. The story also describes new reserving approaches that should improve the insurance value chain from developing rates

Cyber coverage was once very profitable. But that is no longer. As I report in my recent article, Cyber Challenges, the growth of ransomware attacks and undisciplined underwriting practices are pressuring a line already considered too risky for most insurers. The line’s overall unprofitability was bound to happen. Sooner or later, profitability challenges hit every insurance line. That can be positive in the long term. Low returns on investment can motivate necessary soul searching that leads to growth and development. To be clear, a line’s

Driverless commercial trucks are evolving much like their private-passenger counterparts. There are basically two paths. Vehicle manufacturers are either moving to near-autonomous vehicles practically whole cloth or are evolving trucks and cars piece by piece. Both approaches make sense for different markets. The innovators expect the insurance industry to get on board. Insurers, however, are not exactly excited about covering unknown risks. My Leader’s Edge article, Coming to a Highway Near You, explores the intersection of commercial automated vehicles and the business of insuring them.

This Tuesday, I will be speaking at the Casualty Actuarial Society’s Annual Meeting on November 10, 2020. During the presentation,” COVID-19: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,” I will be looking at the insurance risks and opportunities that could result from the coronavirus. Some of my remarks will be based on articles I have written recently, including: Perilous Times: COVID-19 & Commercial Property’s Vexing Variables Tipping the Scales: Measuring the Impact of Social Inflation Gamechanger: After COVID-19, P&C Insurance Will Not Be Quite the

Commercial Auto rates have been rising for more than a decade. What gives? In my recent Leader’s Edge article, Where Are We Going? I dig deeper to find the answer. As you would expect, there are several reasons. The greatest one, in my opinion, is distracted driving. Yes, you have heard that before. However, I did not fully believe until I spoke to an actuary who looked into the data. The fact that commercial auto premium began to climb in 2011 was no accident. Around the

Commercial property insurance was already struggling before COVID-19 hit the scene. Double-digit rate increases were bad enough but hit the highest in 35 years.  As I cover in Actuarial Review’s article, Perilous Times: COVID 19 & Vexing Variables, there were several things going on. Consider: Catastrophic weather-related losses have been exceptionally high – at least for the years 2017 and 2018. Thanks to the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, commercial space has been at low capacity for seven months.  Declining investment income due to lower returns

Social inflation was attracting a lot of attention before COVID-19 hit the scene. Search the internet for buzz words like “nuclear verdicts” and “reptile theory” and you’ll see what I mean. Before COVID-19, insurance company presidents and experts pointed to the phenomenon as a force behind rising premiums for most commercial insurance lines. But I was skeptical. After 30 years in the property/casualty insurance world, this was not the first time I heard social inflation was rearing its ugly head and pressuring insurance premium costs. What is

COVID-19 will have vast implications on both health and property and casualty insurance lines. Two of my articles, which are cover stories for two award-winning insurance industry magazines, offer the details. The May 2020 issue of Leader’s Edge covers the impact that the coronavirus will have on health care. Actuarial Review’s May/June 2020 issue looks at the COVID-19 effect on property-casualty insurance including workers’ compensation and personal auto. Writing about both requires an understanding of how health and P&C insurance work. Each are vastly different

Climate change is already pressuring premiums for homeowners, commercial and other types of insurance coverage. California homeowners in wildfire-prone areas are being turned down for coverage. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) will be increasing premiums this spring. My article in the January issue of Leader’s Edge, Climate Appetite, explains why businesses should consider the change in climate seriously to mitigate future risk. The piece also covers the important role insurance agents and brokers will play to support their clients. There is also an overview of

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are helping drivers with reducing auto accidents and will impact the future of driverless cars, but there are limitations. “My latest article in Actuarial Review is a must-read for consumers and the insurance industry that serves them. Moving Parts: ADAS Go For a Ride moves beyond the generalizations to help readers understand the advantages and the multiple limitations of automatic safety parts. My article also provides a one-of-a-kind sidebar that provides at-a-glance information per ADAS feature based on multiple sources.

Generation Z, which presumably embraces digital everything, also likes the human touch when dealing with insurance companies. Born from about 1996 to 2015, the oldest of the digital native generation is beginning to buy their own personal lines insurance. And they have been around the digital block. As my recent Actuarial Review article, Coming of Age: How will Gen Z Impact Personal Lines Coverage? explains, constant exposure to social media, digital marketing, clickbait and fake news has created a deep hunger for authenticity and transparency.