Following the launch of E&S Insurer in November 2022, we are excited to introduce the inaugural E&S Insurer Conference and Awards 2023 held at the iconic Gotham Hall, Midtown New York City, on 22 March.

A first of its kind, the one-day event will be highly informative and include invaluable face-to-face networking, leaving you with a better understanding of where the E&S sector is heading through 2023. It will encompass a half-day conference and an evening dinner style awards ceremony, attracting over 300 market professionals from the US and overseas.

The Conference will highlight key trends, opportunities and challenges that are shaping the strategy and decision making of market participants. In addition to keynote speeches from leading industry speakers, the event will also include interactive panel discussions covering the hot topics of the day.

The Awards will celebrate excellence, success and achievement in a thriving sector which has been outgrowing the broader P&C industry for several years in a row, setting record after record.

Don't miss out on a fantastic opportunity to meet peers and be inspired by innovation, creativity and talent in the E&S sector!

About the conference

Come to the E&S Insurer Conference 2023 to hear from our three industry leader keynotes and three panel discussions that will highlight latest trends, opportunities and challenges within the sector.

Confirmed keynote speakers include Tim Turner, president – Ryan Specialty and chairman & CEO – Ryan Turner Specialty; and Bryan Sanders, president – Markel Specialty.

Attendees will also benefit from our interactive panel discussions during which panelists will address some of the most pressing issues of the day:

CEO panel: State of the E&S market
E&S property: the hard just got harder
The future of distribution

Further speakers will be announced in the upcoming weeks...

Speakers

Panel discussions

Hurricane Ian and the toughest reinsurance market in decades has triggered a re-hardening of the property market.

Among the topics our panelists will discuss are:

The latest on market conditions, pricing, coverage and terms as key mid-year cat renewals near
Capacity and where to find it – what brokers are doing to bridge the gap
Reinsurance crunch and the PML challenge
Underwriting cat in an inflationary environment
Modelling and underwriting risk in a world of frequency of severity
Wind and flood – lessons from Ida and Ian

Confirmed speakers for this session:

Chris Carlson, Director, Property Practice, CRC Group
Sarah Freitag, Head of E&S Specialty P&C, Aon
John Lavin, Executive Vice President, U.S. Excess & Surplus (E&S) Property, Sompo International North America Insurance
Wes Robinson, National Property President, Risk Placement Services
Chris Lee, Head of E&S Property, Axa XL

The relationship between wholesale brokers and their retail clients continues to evolve, with increasingly blurred lines and moves to cross the channel.

Among the topics our panelists will discuss are:

How retail consolidation spawned the wholesale giants
What retail clients really want from their wholesalers
The impact of PE and the retail aggregators
Retail brokers showing wholesale ambition – threat or opportunity?
Wholesale broker strategies for remaining relevant
Tech and the small account mousetrap

Confirmed speakers for this session:

Cristi Carrington, Chief Distribution Officer, Brown & Riding Insurance Services
Anna Kodryanu,VP, National Distribution - Wholesale, Arch Insurance Group Inc.
Jonathan Monks, EVP, Business Development, Sompo International
Mark Manzi, National Brokerage Leader, Risk Strategies
Marya Propis, Executive Vice President, Retail Distribution, RT Specialty

After another strong year of growth, the E&S market was expected to have gone past $100bn of premium volume in 2022, and in early 2023 there doesn’t appear to be any major shift in the growth trajectory.

Among the topics our panelists will discuss are:

Drivers of growth and how long they will last
The secular shift in business to the wholesale channel
E&S market hot spots and the P&C pricing cycle
Specialty product and the role of the E&S market in innovation
Evolution of the dedicated E&S insurer
The MGA explosion
Securing the future: talent and technology

Confirmed speakers for this session:

Mike Brennan, CEO, Commercial Solutions, CRC Group
Scott Purviance, CEO, Amwins
Carlton Maner, CEO of AXIS Wholesale
David Bresnahan, Global Chief Operating Officer, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
Matt Dolan, President, North America Specialty & Ironshore, Liberty Mutual Insurance

Conference timings:

8:00-9:00 | Breakfast

9:00-9:05 | Welcome from E&S Insurer

9:05-9:30 | Keynote: Tim Turner president, Ryan Specialty and chairman & CEO, Ryan Turner Specialty

9:30-9:55 | Keynote: Bryan Sanders president, Markel Specialty

9:55-10:40 | Panel: E&S property: The hard just got harder

10:40-11:10 | Coffee break

11:10-11:55 | Panel: The future of distribution

11:55-12:40 | CEO Panel: State of the E&S market

12:40-13:00 | Keynote: David Flandro, Head of Industry Analysis and Strategic Advisory, Howden Tiger

13:00 | Conference close

Register to attend

HOW TO ATTEND THE CONFERENCE

Standard rate: $995 per person

Subscriber rate: $845 per person* (applicable to subscribers to The Insurer)

3 delegates package: $1,950 in total* (applicable to bookings of three tickets from the same company)

5 delegates package: $3,000 in total* (applicable to bookings of five tickets from the same company)

*To secure your subscriber rate, or a group discounted rate, get in touch with Beatrice Boico at beatrice@wbmediagroup.com

HOW TO ATTEND THE AWARDS

Tickets only apply to the morning conference. If you wish to attend the evening awards ceremony, please get in touch with Spencer Halladey (spencer@wbmediagroup.com) or Andy Stone (andy@wbmediagroup.com) to book a table.

About the awards

Following the morning conference, we’ll reconvene in the evening for the inaugural E&S Insurer Awards ceremony and dinner.

This is an opportunity for you to shine and for us to recognise excellence in the market. It’ll also be a great environment for existing relationships to be nurtured and new ones to be formed.

Confirmed members of the independent judging panel include Stan Galanski, president and CEO of G58 Capital, and David Bull, North American editor, The Insurer.

Further panelists will be announced in the upcoming weeks...

How to enter

E&S Insurer's inaugural 2023 Awards ceremony is open to anyone who thinks that they, their colleague(s), team, company or client deserve recognition for an outstanding contribution to the E&S sector in the last year.

Entries can be accepted from the nominee, or you can nominate a candidate. Each entry should be a maximum of 500 words and lay out succinct evidence of achievement or an explanation as to why the achievement is significant.

You can enter as many categories as you wish, where applicable, although only one entry per category per company can be accepted.

Evidence within entries should be for initiatives that took place substantively in 2022 or the first months of 2023.

All the information contained in the entries will be treated as confidential and will not be released without the permission of the entrant/nominee. Outstanding contributor of the year will be decided independently by the judging panel. Entries for this category are not accepted.

Entries are now closed. The shortlist will be announced on 1 March 2023.

For any questions about the awards, please contact beatrice.boico@wbmediagroup.com.

Categories

E&S carrier of the year

This category is open to all insurance companies writing E&S business in the US. Successful candidates will be those that can demonstrate their commitment to the sector and the wholesale distribution channel. They will demonstrate their strategic importance E&S business within their portfolios, specialty expertise, strong underwriting performance relative to peers, and outstanding service and responsiveness to their distribution partners in the past year. They will also be judged on their ability to develop specialty product for their distribution partners.

Wholesale producer of the year

This award category is open to wholesale production individuals of all levels of seniority and aims to recognize industry talent for their contribution to their company and the E&S marketplace. The category will be judged on a range of criteria, including financial metrics around growth and performance of book (where demonstrable), ability to deliver solutions to retail clients, market influence with carriers. Nominations can include testimonial evidence and other supporting materials.

E&S underwriter of the year

This individual award category is open to underwriting executives of all levels of seniority and aims to recognize industry talent for their contribution to their company and the E&S marketplace. The category will be judged on a range of criteria, including underwriting results (where demonstrable), market influence and reputation, demonstration of expertise as a market leader, service to distribution partners and problem solving. Nominations can include testimonial evidence and other supporting materials.

Wholesale broking company of the year

This category is open to all intermediaries that are primarily focused on the wholesale distribution channel. Successful candidates will be those able to demonstrate their strong market position and ability to find specialty solutions and capacity for their retail clients. Although criteria under consideration will include financial performance, organic growth and M&A execution strategy, the category will look beyond scale and breadth of offerings to other factors such as industry expertise, product innovation, use of data and analytics and investment in talent.

Underwriting rising star of the year

Talent is key to the future success of E&S carriers, wholesale brokers and the market as a whole. This category is intended to recognize the best up-and-coming talent at E&S carriers that will form the next generation of leaders. Companies operating in the sector may nominate rising stars from within their organization or at counterparties and will be expected to detail the skills and achievements – both in the market and within their companies – of their colleagues to support their submission to this category.

Innovation in E&S

This category is for carriers, brokers and other market participants to enter where they can demonstrate they brought true innovation to the E&S sector in 2022. Innovation could be in the form of technology, product creation, capacity creation, initiative to attract and develop talent or any other relevant area. Entrants can be nominated by the companies or individuals directly involved, or by third parties. Entrants must be able to articulate why the innovation was needed and the impact hey expect it to have on the market.

Shortlist

2023 Winners

E&S carrier of the year

Axis

Wholesale broking company of the year

Amwins

E&S underwriter(s) of the year

Julie Dennebaum, Markel

Wholesale producer(s) of the year

Emma Garner, CRC Group

Underwriting rising star of the year

Brad Turner, Burns & Wilcox

Broking rising star of the year

Niko Matic, Risk Placement Services

Innovation in E&S

Ironshore – Dedication to energy transition: focus on carbon sequestration

Outstanding contributor of the year

Jack Kuhn

Lifetime achiever

Pat Ryan

Judges

Awards Timings:

17:30-19:00 | Champagne reception

19:00-21:30 | Three course meal and awards ceremony

21:30- 23:00 | Drinks and networking

Welcome to E&S Insurer

Conference & Awards 2023

About the conference

Speakers

Mike Brennan

CEO, Commercial Solutions, CRC Group

David Bresnahan

Global Chief Operating Officer, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance

Chris Carlson

Director, Property Practice, CRC Group

Cristi Carrington

Chief Distribution Officer, Brown & Riding Insurance Services

Matt Dolan

President, North America Specialty & Ironshore, Liberty Mutual Insurance

David Flandro

Head of Industry Analysis and Strategic Advisory, Howden Tiger

Sarah Freitag

Head of E&S Specialty P&C, Aon

Anna Kodryanu

VP, National Distribution - Wholesale, Arch Insurance Group Inc.

John Lavin

Executive Vice President, US E&S Property Sompo International, North America Insurance

Chris Lee

Head of E&S Property, Axa XL

Carlton Maner

CEO, AXIS Wholesale

Mark Manzi

National Brokerage Leader, Risk Strategies

Jonathan Monks

EVP, Business Development, Sompo International

Marya Propis

Executive Vice President, Retail Distribution, RT Specialty

Scott Purviance

CEO, Amwins

Wes Robinson

National Property President, Risk Placement Services

Bryan Sanders

President, Markel Specialty

Tim Turner

President, Ryan Specialty and chairman & CEO, Ryan Turner Specialty

Panel discussions

E&S property: the hard just got harder

The future of distribution

CEO panel: State of the E&S market

Conference timings:

Register to attend

About the awards

How to enter

Categories

E&S carrier of the year

Wholesale producer of the year

E&S underwriter of the year

Wholesale broking company of the year

Underwriting rising star of the year

Broking rising star of the year

Innovation in E&S

Outstanding contributor of the year

Shortlist

E&S carrier of the year

Wholesale broking company of the year

E&S underwriter(s) of the year

Wholesale producer(s) of the year

Underwriting rising star of the year

Broking rising star of the year

Innovation in E&S

Outstanding contributor of the year

Lifetime achiever

2023 Winners

E&S carrier of the year

Wholesale broking company of the year

E&S underwriter(s) of the year

Wholesale producer(s) of the year

Underwriting rising star of the year

Broking rising star of the year

Innovation in E&S

Outstanding contributor of the year

Lifetime achiever

Judges

Dawnmarie Black

Head of US Broker Practice, Lloyd's