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A.M. BestTV: Inland Marine Sector Looks to Training, Digital, Automation and Fresh Workforce
[May 24, 2017]

A.M. BestTV: Inland Marine Sector Looks to Training, Digital, Automation and Fresh Workforce


In this A.M.BestTV episode from the Inland Marine Underwriters Association Conference (IMUA) in Braselton, GA, leaders in the sector said they are expecting that a new wave of younger workers, advancing technology and a greater reliance on automation and artificial intelligence will remake the industry. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=imua2517nc to view the entire program.

Kevin O'Brien, president and chief executive officer, IMUA, gave his perspective on how he sees the industry in the next five-to-10 years.

"The industry presently has millennials coming in and baby boomers retiring. That means that IMUA has to step up its educational efforts," said O'Brien. "Over the past years, insurance companies have really scaled back on their in-house education. The situation today provides a unique opportunity for IMUA, since we are very well-positioned to provide the education that is needed within the industry."

Looking at increased competition in the inland marine industry, William Rosa, divisional vice president, XL Catlin Re, said he finds the increased capacity troublesome.

"Competition is always a good thing for the consumer, but we in the industry are all fighting for the same business, which drives prices down. As coverages get broader, people start chasing premium dollars. Since most of us work for publicly traded companies, quarterly results matter, and so the increased competition leads to a softening market, which leads to underwriting losses as prices go down and conditions broaden. This is really adversely affecting our industry," he said.

For full video coverage of the IMUA conference, including exclusive executive interviews, visit http://www.ambest.tv/imua17.

Other people that appear n this episode:



  • Richard Pye, senior vice president, inland marine, QBE North America Insurance Group; and
  • Bruce Jervis, executive vice president, commercial and inland marine, Chubb Limited.

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A.M.BestTV covers exclusive A.M. Best information and reports, targeted topics and key developments in the (re)insurance industry every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Sign up for alerts of episodes at http://www.ambest.com/multimedia/ambtvsignup.html. View A.M.BestTV episodes at http://www.ambest.tv.


A.M. Best is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

Copyright © 2017 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


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