DAVE OBENAUER

CEO CRC Wholesale Group Parsippany, N.J.

I believe the single biggest challenge for the wholesale and specialty insurance industry is also our biggest collective opportunity: delivering to the needs of clients in a fast-changing environment.

While there is a lot of focus on the potential disruptions from insurtech, the reality is that more meaningful immediate changes are already happening every day in our industry. Look at the distribution side of our industry in particular. If you think about it, it was not long ago that the best wholesale brokers and underwriters were individuals with strong domain expertise, transactional capabilities and strong client and carrier relationships. Those same characteristics remain critical — but now these “best of the best” wholesale brokers and underwriters are found at firms that can provide a robust, nationwide platform with the resources to meet the needs of retail clients.

As retail firms themselves are forced to up their game to win and retain business, they are increasingly expecting their wholesale partners to not only excel in transacting business but also be able to offer

It’s a new day.

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SAN DIEGO | WWW.WSIA.ORG GARY TIEPELMAN

Senior Vice President Western World Insurance Group Scottsdale, Ariz.

ln my opinion, the greatest
challenge facing those of us in
the insurance industry today —
in total, not just the Excess and
Surplus lines segment — is the
prolonged soft market we are
experiencing. Capacity, i.e.,
competition, in our market is
readily available and because
of this, insurance rates and
premiums for Property and
Casualty have been stagnant, at best (Casualty) and in many cases
facing significant downward pressure (Property).

This competition puts tremendous pressure on pricing, and in turn more importance is placed upon the risk-selection process. At the same time, this creates great opportunity as virtually everything is being shopped. Submission activity continues to be through the roof.

We view this as getting many “at-bats.”
That is the beauty of our segment of the industry: It is in the soft
portions of the insurance cycle that we truly get to shine. This is
when our underwriting (risk selection) is sharpest, and we are at our
creative best. This is when new products are developed, and when
new approaches to the business are created. This is our time.