Thursday, Sept. 8, saw insurance professionals from across thecountry gather in Dallas for the second day of the 10th annualEntrepreneurial Insurance Symposium 2016.

They were eager to hear more from insurance industry leadersabout the ways the industry is changing, and has to change, tocontinue to thrive and remain relevant to future insurance buyers.Most important, attendees were looking forward to hearing moreabout what those leaders have done right, what they've done wrongand what they would do differently — or not.

Attendees also had the opportunity to hear from sixentrepreneurs in a competition modeled after the ABC televisionshow, "Shark Tank," and vote on which one they thought wasbest. It will be interesting to see how well the audience agreedwith the judges, whose decision has not been finalized. Inaddition, networking opportunities were available to learn fromeach other what vendors, agents, brokers and claims professionals,among others, are doing right now in their own offices.

Here are some highlights from the second day of theconference:

William T. Hold, president and co-founder of the NationalAlliance for Insurance Education & Research, and KathleenZortman, president of Property & Casualty for QBE NorthAmerica. (Photo: Eileen Blumenthal)

William T. Hold, president and co-founder of the National Alliance forInsurance Education & Research, greeted the audience withan overview of the first day of the conference for those whoweren't able to attend, and a preview of the second day.

Hold also introduced Kathleen Zortman, president of Property& Casualty for QBE North America. Zortman, whose experience includesa stint as president of Professional Risk Solutions LLC and aconsultant with Deloitte Consulting, spoke about "Leading forTransformational Change," touching on her experience in thestrategic repositioning and sale of Personal Lines Insurance, asubsidiary of Chubb and Son.

TigerRisk Partners CEO and Managing Partner Rod Fox. (Photo:Eileen Blumenthal)

Rod Fox, CEO and managing partner of TigerRisk Partners,in his presentation titled "Where Are We (Going)?" reviewed theinsurance industry's financial picture, noting that capital willcontinue to flow, but investment returns continue to lag.Distribution compression as well as relationships continue toevolve, he observed, driven in large part by technology and theinternet. He concluded by noting that "Value is key and skills inbringing risk to capital will be a winning formula."

Richard "Gordy" Bunch, CEO and president of the WoodlandsFinancial Group (Photo: Eileen Blumenthal)

Gordy Bunch, CEO and president of the Woodlands FinancialGroup, started his presentation, "The Future of InsuranceDistribution," by acknowledging the military veterans in attendanceand got the audience to its feet as he led them in reciting thePledge of Allegiance. Bunch acknowledged that he found a job ininsurance after a four-year stint in the U.S. Coast Guard byaccident, but it turned out to be the best thing that happened tohim.

"Go where your clients are," Bunch advised the audience. "Youhave to work around what they need and be where they want you whenthey want you. It may mean using video conferencing, having themcome to your office at odd hours, or visiting them at home."

Robert Bauer (from left), managing director of commercialstrategy and innovation at American International Group; StevePretre, founder of Metromile; Todd Henderson, law professor at theUniversity of Chicago; Trey Bowles, CEO and founder of theDallas Entrepreneur Center; and Jonathan Dotan, chiefstrategy officer for Otoy Inc. (Photo: EileenBlumenthal)

Robert Bauer, managing director of commercial strategy andinnovation for American International Group, moderated a panel on"The Internet of Things: Evolution or Revolution." Jonathan Dotan,chief strategy officer for Otoy Inc., a graphics company, discussed usingtechnology such as virtual reality and augmented reality to producebetter modeling tools. "The brain has the ability to absorb datavisually much better than by analyzing a spreadsheet," he said.

Trey Bowles, CEO and founder of the nonprofit Dallas EntrepreneurCenter, explained how the center works in bringing togetherentrepreneurs and mentors. He noted that technology outpacescontent, policy and regulation.

Steve Pretre, founder of Metromile, a San Francisco-based car insurancestartup that offers pay-per-mile insurance and a driving app,observed that a major challenge for start-ups is that of dealingwith insurance regulation across 50 states while technology has noborders.

Todd Henderson, a law professor at the University of Chicago andan engineer by training, reminded the entrepreneurs in the audiencethat they need product liability insurance as they develop newproducts, especially when they are part of a longer supplychain.

Related: Disruption in the insurance industry: Displacementor innovation?

Richard Kerr, founder, chairman and CEO of MarketScout, andEvan Hecht, founder and CEO of the Flood Insurance Agency(Photo: Eileen Blumenthal)

Evan Hecht, founder and CEO of FloodInsurance Agency, explained how the National Flood InsuranceProgram works —and doesn't work — andhow private flood insurance can be used to fill the gap forhomeowners. Hecht's private flood insurance program insures morethan $3 billion of property and has registered more than 2,000independent agencies in 37 states to market the program.

Related: Time to act on flood bill

Hank Watkins, president, Lloyd's North America, moderatingthe "Shark Tank" panel. (Photo: Eileen Blumenthal)

Moderated by Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd's North America, six buddingentrepreneurs each had 10 minutes to explain their ideas to theaudience and to the judges during a panel styled after the ABCtelevision show, "Shark Tank." The judges also had an opportunityto ask questions of each entrepreneur about their ideas, theirrevenue models, their customer base and their competitors. Theaudience voted on which one they thought was the best, as did thejudges. Votes are still being tabulated.

About the symposium

Now in its 10th year, the Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium was created byDallas-based MarketScout to showcase innovation andentrepreneurialism in the insurance industry. In 2010, MarketScoutformed the Entrepreneurial Insurance Alliance ofcompanies supporting innovation in the insurance industry. EIAparticipants include companies from the investment, underwriting,technology, processing and distribution segments of the insuranceindustry.

The goal of the organization is to ensure that good ideas reachthe market and are not lost in the morass of legal, investment andprocessing challenges. Members provide support, includinginvestment capital, administrative services, accounting systems,software implementation, access to underwriting capacity andworldwide distribution.

Each year more than 400 insurers, intermediaries and agentsattend the symposium to share  ideas, trends and conceptsin insurance distribution, underwriting and automation. TheNational Alliancefor Insurance Education and Research offers symposium attendeesthe opportunity to receive continuing education credit, and thesymposium qualifies for a CIC or CRM update.

Related: Key takeaways: The Entrepreneurial InsuranceSymposium, Day 1

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save