A.m. Best Radio Podcast

AM Best News Editor David Pilla discusses reinsurers’ strong 2025 results, driven by underwriting gains and low catastrophe losses, even as softening pricing pressures revenue.

AM Best Director Joseph Zazzera discusses a new Best's Market Segment Report that finds strong health segment financial flexibility and capitalization despite major operating performance concerns.

Wild Horse Fire Brigade Founder and Executive Director William Simpson, an ethologist, discusses how super-hot wildfires create novel toxins, driving health and property risks, and why insurers must rethink prevention and modeling strategies.

Kate Steffanelli, associate director, AM Best, discusses a new Best's Market Segment Report that finds the US annuity market delivered another strong performance that continued into 2025, aided by retirement product demand, favorable rates and product innovation.

AM Best Senior Associate Editor Steve Hallo discusses how ACA, Medicaid and Medicare changes are reshaping U.S. health insurers’ strategies and margins in 2026.

This session, ideal for agents and brokers who need to efficiently track insurer financial strength, shows you how to set up custom notifications, monitor the carriers you work with and use timely alerts to protect your clients and stay ahead of competitors. (Event Date: February 26, 2026) View the Powerpoint Presentation.

Nick Abraham, CEO, Amwins Global Risks, discusses how abundant capacity, social inflation concerns, and growing delegated authority opportunities are shaping broker strategy and client outcomes in the London specialty insurance market.

Michael Streit, president, Ivans, discusses how real-time insights and seamless workflows are helping carriers become the partners of choice in today’s insurance market.

Professors Albert Cohen of Michigan State University and Annette Hoffman of the University of Cincinnati, discuss their study, Regretful Risks, revealing how the fear of future regret, rather than rationality, drives decisions about risk management.

Northeastern blizzard is expected to result in significant, but manageable losses for P/C insurers, according to a new Best's Commentary discussed by AM Best Industry Research Analyst Helen Andersen.

David Benyon, host of The Political Risk Podcast, explains how he connects geopolitical flashpoints from war, hybrid threats, trade policy and expropriation with the evolving needs of specialty insurance and reinsurance markets.

AM Best Senior Associate Editor Steve Hallo explains how state proposals to limit credit scores could impact insurance pricing and risk assessment.

Keith Golembiewski, AVP, director, annuity research, LIMRA, discusses 2025’s record-breaking annuity market and the evolving role of indexed products in retirement planning.

BestWire News Editor Dave Pilla reports how renewed investor interest and a push for capital efficiency are fueling rapid growth in reinsurance sidecars, reshaping capacity strategies and adding new dynamics to traditional pricing and long-term capital stability.

A new Best's Market Segment Report finds improved P/C underwriting and pricing, combined with moderate catastrophe losses, anchor strong 2025 results, with investment income a key earnings driver in 2026 despite headwinds, according to Jacqalene Lentz, senior director, and David Blades, associate director, both of AM Best.

AM Best Senior Associate Editor Renee Kiriluk-Hill examines how Hawaii’s homeowners insurers are responding to catastrophic wildfire losses with steep rate increases, tighter risk selection, and strategic decisions that may foreshadow trends in other catastrophe-exposed states.

Melissa Mulhern, assistant vice president of environmental underwriting at Philadelphia Insurance Cos., said their underwriters work with agents and brokers to help them understand that environmental risk includes operational risks not just limited to preexisting contamination.

The revision from negative to stable for the directors and officers liability insurance segment is owed to rate stabilization, low loss ratios, tighter underwriting, and reduced regulatory scrutiny, according to a new Best's Market Segment Report discussed by AM Best Elizabeth Blamble, senior financial analyst, AM Best.

Brooke Shirazi, vice president of property and ocean marine programs at Nationwide E&S Specialty, said policyholders benefit from the program offerings and the program administrator space because of the deep expertise they bring to the table in that segment and their clear understanding of what the insured needs in order to address risk concerns.

AM Best Directors Bridget Maehr and Ann Modica discuss a new Best's Market Segment Report that finds Caribbean insurers are highly reliant on reinsurance to manage capital, risk retention, and to expand their book of business.