Rising above geopolitical storms 

with Bruce McIndoe

The geopolitical storm is raging with many eyes at the center. Bruce McIndoe, Founder of McIndoe Risk Advisory LLC, joined us to unpick eight geopolitical risks that will likely shape our world and industry in the next 20 years.

Bruce touched on Russia’s war with Ukraine, China and Taiwan tensions, global energy and water shortages, AI’s acceleration to a polarized America and more. He got in to what the state of play is now, how he saw each of these challenges developing, and which new risk management tools are immerging to help our clients weather the storm.

Thank you to Bruce for giving us such a detailed geopolitical picture.

The state of the market

with Marshberry's Michel Schaft

The broking industry is alive and well according to leading risk and financial services advisor Marshberry, who was back to assess the state of the insurance market.

Demand for both commercial and consumer insurance grows at roughly 9% per year, with consumers and businesses getting wiser to emerging risks and how they can impact their businesses. More people are seeing the value in leaning on the advice of insurance specialists.

New players are coming into the market and driving up the competition which puts more pressure on us all to differentiate and watch our costs. Making the most of new technology is so important, along with finding ways to reduce expenditures and reinvent the client experience. Which is why making the most of the new technology is so important – finding ways to reduce expenditure and reinvent the client experience.

Thank you to Michel Schaft and Marshberry for breaking down the industry for us.

Bitcoin through an ESG lens

with Dante Cook

Dante Cook turned bitcoin mining preconceptions on their heads in Atlanta, giving us fascinating insights into the initiatives around the world harnessing bitcoin for good.

Methane is one of the biggest climate change culprits, producing 85 times more greenhouse gasses than carbon. A big methane producer is landfills, accounting for between 20-40% of US emissions. Renewable energy firm Vespene is turning trash into cash, and using emissions from landfills to generate power for mining stations. However, Vespene is just the tip of the bitcoin mining iceberg – miners are making use of all kinds of sustainable methods around the world. Not only are they helping to reduce emissions, but giving developing countries access to affordable energy and new ways to generate revenue.

Thank you to Dante Cook at Swan Bitcoin for reframing the argument for us. 

On the pulse

Sponsor Super Panel

WBN is backed by some of the leading global carriers – and our conferences always bring them together to tackle some of biggest issues shifting our industry and the wider world of business. In Atlanta, we turned our attention to M&A, uninsurable risks and AI.

They gave us insight on how the rising trend in M&A is impacting their relationship with brokers, and what it means to the client experience. We heard how they’re finding solutions for uninsurable risks, and what they’re doing to plan for the new wave of risks falling out from the pandemic and the global energy crisis.

Last, we got their take on how AI is changing our world, the potential of where it could end up and the places it should never play a part in.

Thank you to Andy Zoller at Zurich, Troy Mette at CNA, Kristin Rantala at UnitedHealthcare Global, and Brian Grabek at Sompo International.

Eddie Owen "Life is in the song"

Leadership Speaker Series

Atlanta local and music industry pioneer Eddie Owen brought the house down with his key note speech. We’re always interested in bringing fresh perspectives to our conferences, tapping into the minds, stories and values of people outside of our industry.

Eddie was the perfect headline act. Drawing parallels between the music world and the insurance industry, he reminded us that when creativity, collaboration and connection are present, “a crazy kind of magic happens.” 

Thanks so much Eddie.