AM Best Audio Podcast

AM Best Senior Vice President Lee McDonald and Senior Director Sridhar Manyem discuss the company’s 2027 Student Challenge, which invites college and graduate students to develop creative, real-world solutions to pressing insurance issues.

Senior Associate Editor Renee Kiriluk-Hill details her BestWire story that reports Progressive Insurance Group tied State Farm Group for the largest share of the U.S. private passenger auto insurance market last year, based on direct premiums written.

AM Best analytical staff and industry experts explore dynamic developments within the delegated underwriting authority enterprise segment.

Global Captive Podcast host Richard Cutcher explains how firsthand insight from captive owners, risk managers and industry leaders help uncover emerging trends and innovative risk-financing strategies.

Professors Mary Kelly, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Anne Kleffner, University of Calgary, discuss their research on California wildfire risk, exploring how it is reshaping insurance and the role of risk-sharing in sustaining insurer participation.

Over 10,000 acres of uncontained, fast-moving wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes, according to a newly released Best's Commentary discussed by AM Best Senior Director Sridhar Manyem.

In his book "The Forms and Functions of Tort Law (Concepts and Insights), Sixth Edition," University of Virginia School of Law Professor Kenneth Abraham explores tort law's evolving landscape and its impact on liability, insurance and risks.

The D&O insurance landscape continues to face mounting external pressures, including geopolitical instability, economic volatility, regulatory uncertainty and sustained soft market conditions. These dynamics are reshaping corporate risk profiles and influencing how organizations, boards and insurers assess governance, liability and exposure management. This briefing examined the key developments impacting the D&O market and the broader liability environment.

Senior Associate Editor Dave Pilla discusses AM Best’s 2026 rankings that show California still leading the nation in private passenger auto direct premiums written, followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Georgia.

Keith Golembiewski, AVP and director of annuity research, LIMRA, discusses the forces behind record annuity sales, rising demand for retirement security and the key trends driving the next phase of annuity growth and innovation.