AM Best Audio Podcast

AM Best Associate Director David Blades discusses a new Best's Special Report that finds E&S premium market growth increased by 9.7% through the third quarter of 2025, down from 13.5% in 2024, reflecting the impact of competitive market pressures.

AM Best Senior Associate Editor Terrence Dopp discusses the early signs of a softening MGA market, the renewed focus on underwriting discipline and capital management, plus how closer alignment with carriers and reinsurers could shape the sector through 2026.

AM Best and industry experts share their 2026 outlook on the Medicare Advantage business segment, including the key drivers. (Event Date: January 15, 2026)

Associate Director David Blades and Associate Analyst Alexander Winant, both of AM Best, discuss a new Best's Commentary that finds the executive order doesn’t immediately resolve insurance issues for cannabis-related businesses, but the move to reclassify marijuana under federal law could be a significant step for the insurance market.

AM Best Senior Associate Editor Steve Hallo breaks down Massachusetts regulatory approval of Liberty Mutual’s affiliate reorganization, including the conversion of several mutual insurers to stock companies and what the move signals about capital access.

Maria Long, chief underwriting officer, Resilience, discusses how emerging cyberthreats are transforming cyber insurance and driving the need for stronger underwriting and enhanced client resilience.

Stefan Holzberger, EVP and COO, AM Best, advises emerging leaders to determine use cases for AI and where they can leverage technology to make their work more efficient and to price risk and handle claims more effectively. Holzberger spoke with AM Best TV at the 2026 Emerging Leaders Conference in Nashville, Tenn.

Matthew Genazzini, executive director of the Microinsurance Network, details the emergence of microinsurance as a social safety net in many Asian, African and Latin American nations, while Rishi Raithatha, a member of the network, explains the supporting role of mobile technology in agriculture, life and hospitalization coverage in low-income nations.

Mark Berven, president and chief operating officer, Nationwide Property and Casualty, said that within the next decade, as much as 70% of job skills could be completely different than what they are today.

AM Best Associate Director David Blades and Industry Research Analyst Helen Andersen discuss a new Best's Special Report that finds a benign 2025 Atlantic hurricane season was predominant factor in the P/C industry's enhanced performance through the first nine months of 2025.