AM Best Audio Podcast

Craig Schioppo, global head, Marsh’s Transactional Risk Group, discusses how a resurgence in M&A activity, growing demand for tax insurance, and expansion into emerging markets like Dubai and Latin America drove significant global growth in the transactional risk insurance market in 2024.

Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Nathan Houdek said the largest risks for property/casualty insurance are tied to severe weather and cyber. Another concern is consolidation in the health market with rising costs pressuring health insurance buyers. Houdek spoke at ReConnect 2025, a reinsurance conference in the Cayman Islands.

Natalie Kelly, head of life & health global underwriting, Swiss Re, explains why long-term health benefits from blood sugar regulators also depend on sustained behavior change, personalized underwriting and the strategic use of behavioral science.

AM Best Director Ann Modica explains that with first-quarter GDP unexpectedly shrinking by 0.3%, the Federal Reserve faces mounting pressure to navigate between curbing persistent inflation and avoiding a deeper economic slowdown.

In a book he co-authored, Sustainability and the Insurance Market: Trends and Challenges, University of Valencia’s Juan Bataller-Grau explores sustainability’s impact on insurance, shaping risk management, responsibility and profitability.

Brandon Nuttall, chief digital and AI officer for Xceedance, said generative AI is becoming more integral for insurance executives’ technology strategy, but moving from “buzz to business value” remains a challenge.

Louis Gritzo, chief science officer and staff senior VP, FM, said a new Science and Technology Center in Luxembourg, set to open in 2027, will drive innovation and risk mitigation in commercial property insurance across EMEA.

Lisa Harris, EVP of natural resources, CAC Specialty, discusses the insurance ramifications of the Keystone Pipeline spill, exploring risk mitigation strategies, environmental liability and how brokers and insurers can better collaborate with energy clients to manage critical infrastructure risk.

Michel Léonard, chief economist and data scientist, Triple-I, explores how inflation, interest rates, third-party litigation and global tariff uncertainty are reshaping underwriting, investment strategies and the industry's protection gap.

Carter Lawrence, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, said choices and competition in a business-friendly environment will help the insurance market meet the needs of the state’s growing population. Lawrence spoke with AM Best TV at the CIRCA ReConnect Conference in Grand Cayman.