MIT's Budden: Future Insurance Leadership Drives Innovation Through Customized Executive Development
The MIT Sloan School of Management released a decade‑long study showing that insurers who invest in customized executive development are better equipped to navigate digital disruption, integrate AI, and align culture with strategy. The research finds that tailored programs deliver measurable business impact, outperform generic open‑enrollment courses, and foster a safe peer environment where leaders can exchange real‑world AI use cases. Participants cite faster underwriting automation and asset‑management innovations as direct outcomes. Dr. Phil Buddton stresses that innovation is a growth‑mindset problem, not merely a technology buzzword, warning against “innovation theater.” He highlights examples such as Emily Robbins at Hanover and international firms like Generali that have leveraged AM Best’s innovation rating to benchmark progress. For insurers, the implication is clear: targeted leadership training translates emerging tech into profit‑center initiatives, improves innovation ratings, and creates a sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly volatile market.
AM Best: Personal Auto, Homeowners Markets’ Stabilization Evident Despite Decline in Approved Rate
The AM Best report shows personal auto and homeowners insurance markets stabilizing as rate hikes retreat toward pre‑pandemic levels. After years of steep increases driven by elevated losses, average annual auto premiums fell 6 percentage points to 3.7% in 2025, while...
AM Best: US Medical Professional Liability Premium Growth Slows Further
AM Best’s latest audio briefing details the US medical professional liability (MPL) market’s deteriorating underwriting results, highlighting a $712 million loss in 2025—up from $546 million the prior year—and a slowdown in premium growth. The widening loss stems from rising claim severity, social inflation...
Flood Insurance Reform Proposals Aim to Reduce NFIP Debt, Boost Competition
The FEMA Review Council released a suite of reforms aimed at overhauling the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Central to the plan is a strategic shift that would move a large share of flood coverage from the federally backed program...
Issues & Answers: Staying the Course
In a recent AM Best Audio interview, AAM’s senior analyst Elizabeth Henderson outlined how insurers can stay resilient amid rising market volatility, shifting credit conditions and new risk sources. Henderson emphasized that despite heightened volatility, corporate fundamentals remain solid – defaults are...
Issues & Answers: Infrastructure Debt Edge
The interview with Orhan Serelli, head of Bearings North America Infrastructure Group, examines how infrastructure debt is being incorporated into insurers’ investment portfolios. Serelli highlights the asset class’s strong loss performance, diversification benefits, and long‑duration cash flows, positioning it as a...
Aon Edge’s Dickson: Rising Flood Risks Reshape Insurance Preparedness, Coverage Strategies
A new University of Alabama study finds more than 17 million Americans along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts now face the highest recorded flood risk, prompting Aon Edge CEO John Dixon to discuss how escalating exposure is reshaping insurance preparedness. Dixon emphasizes...
Geneva Association’s Schernberg: Insurers and Governments Urged to Rethink Risk-Sharing
The Geneva Association’s latest report warns that widening protection gaps – the shortfall between total economic losses and insured losses – are eroding resilience across natural catastrophes, cyber attacks and pandemic‑related business interruption. Ellen Shernburgg explains that only about...
AM Best: Florida Reforms Are Positive Developments; Underwriting Discipline Remains Essential
Florida property insurers have entered a rare profitable phase, highlighted by AM Best’s latest report. In 2025 the Florida composite market generated nearly $1 billion of net underwriting income and added $1.5 billion to surplus, the first underwriting profit in over a decade....
AM Best: Artificial Intelligence Appears to Be Ready, but Most Insurers Are Not
AM Best’s latest market‑wide survey reveals that artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept for insurers, but its full‑scale deployment remains uneven. While 41% of respondents report active AI use in core functions and 63% have formal AI policies, only...
U of Wisconsin’s Collier: Climate Shocks Push Insurers to Rethink Small-Business Coverage
The video presents research by University of Wisconsin‑Madison professor Benjamin Collier on how Hurricane Harvey reshaped risk for small businesses and insurers. By combining on‑the‑ground interviews, a survey of 250 firms, and credit‑report data for roughly 8,000 companies, the study...
AM Best: Personal Auto, Homeowners Markets’ Stabilization Despite Decline in Approved Rate Changes
The AM Best report highlights a stabilization in U.S. personal auto and homeowners insurance markets, with average annual rate increases returning to pre‑pandemic levels in 2025. After several years of steep hikes driven by elevated loss costs, insurers are now moderating...
AM Best’s Modica: Warsh’s Fed Leadership Could Be Shift Toward Leaner Central Bank Intervention
The interview with AM Best economist Anne Modica focuses on the possible appointment of former Fed governor Kevin Worsh as chair, a transition that would end a decade of Jerome Powell’s steady‑hand leadership. Modica outlines Worsh’s core belief that quantitative easing belongs...
AM Best: UAE Insurers Navigate Geopolitical Tensions Following Strong Financial Year
AM Best’s latest market segment report examines the UAE insurance sector’s 2025 performance against the backdrop of the escalating US‑Israel‑Iran conflict. While war‑related exclusions have limited direct loss exposure, the analyst notes that war‑risk premiums have surged from under 1% to...
BestWire: Prudential Expects Two-Year Financial Hit From Japan Sales Suspension Could Reach $1 Bill
Prudential Financial said it could incur about $1 billion of costs over two years after voluntarily suspending new sales in Japan following employee misconduct that harmed 498 customers and involved about 3 billion yen (~$19.5 million). The company expects a...