Trying to out-smart market timing can be dicey business. I'm not a stock broker, but investment professionals I trust warn against a market-timing investment strategy–essentially banking on timing your buys at the trough and your sales at the peak. It may work in the short run, but over time this has proven to be a very risky strategy dogged by low returns and unexpected losses. Despite that, I am told that brokers routinely deal with investors who are sure they can beat the system, mesmerized by the allure of grabbing just a little more of a good thing.

Some of the best insights in life come through restating the obvious. Here's something we all know: the insurance market, and the medical-professional liability market in particular, has been stuck in an unprecedented soft cycle, producing downward price pressure that has delighted our clients for more years than most of us would care to admit.

As things drag on with no clear inflection point in sight, it's tempting for even the best clients and brokers to become obsessed with squeezing every last soft-market dollar of savings possible out of this unique market situation.

That said, let me suggest a few obvious insights I've seen brokers and clients walk right past in their drive for cost savings:

1. Premiums at historic low levels mean everyone's prices are low–from A+ rated carriers to unrated carriers and everything in between. Premier quality coverage hasn't been this affordable in a long time. Saving a few dollars with a low or unrated carrier at this point falls clearly into the realm of market-timing risk–trying to out-guess the tipping point of the next hard market only to squeeze out those last few dollars of savings. History suggests that gambling with client dollars and your reputation is probably not the best long-term strategy given the options available. Clients can move to high quality at great prices and be well positioned for the next hard market.

2. Many coverage add-ons included with policies make nice competitive talking points, but really don't provide adequate protection for clients' needs. A classic example is the cyber liability endorsement included by many carriers at no additional cost. Cyber liability protection is a legitimate need in today's market, but these add-ons come nowhere near real-world protection.

The quick math goes something like this: Most physicians have a panel of 5-10K patients. A cyber breach puts into motion several required actions, the first of which is notification of all effected parties. Notification runs between $2 to $3 per affected party–around $20,000 in our example, and consuming nearly all of the $25,000 coverage limit typical of these policies.

That's just the starting point. A typical breach will also require forensic research, credit monitoring for effected third parties, IT expert consultation, legal representation and often crisis PR and communications to manage impact to the physicians' reputations.

3. Many options exist for differentiation. With price competition so fierce, there are other offerings available that make attractive points of differentiation, adding real value for the client. We can add real value by providing a cyber policy that includes not only adequate coverage limits, but the cyber crisis team so crucial to dealing adequately with these serious and emotionally draining incidents. While these represent an additional cost to the client, they too are priced very competitively. Presenting this to your client, you have the opportunity to provide real value and expert advice and deliver affordable pricing.

Another example is in the realm of risk management. While we all know physicians take risk management CMEs primarily for the premium discounts, there are innovative approaches being introduced that attract physician engagement on topics of high interest to them. One program, from a company called Astute Doctor, engages physicians on the “soft skills” (not clinical issues) that recent research verifies drives 70% to 80% of malpractice litigation. Topics like “The 10 things a physician should never say to patients” reflect this real-world approach. These interactive courses are peer-research based, practical and focused on skills development and transfer. This program proved so compelling, it was recently endorsed by Cleveland Clinic Foundation Center for Continuing Education.

I'm certainly not going to try to out-guess market timing for the hard market turn. We know it's coming, but when is anyone's guess. However, I recognize value when I see it. It seems to me we are sitting on a historic opportunity to bring that value to our clients and set them–and ourselves–up for a successful and profitable ride into the hard market on the horizon.

Special Reports /

The value of value in a soft market

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