Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee

	Gary Tiepelman   Chair

Committee Charter

The Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee serves the WSIA membership and wholesale insurance industry across all segments of the marketplace by collaboratively identifying, evaluating, discussing and providing useful knowledge that will enable the membership to better analyze, manage and underwrite emerging issues and trends.

In the News

"How important will blockchain be to the world's economy?" "Zurich makes commitment to UN pledge to take on climate change" "Why We Will Never See Fully Autonomous Commercial Ships" "In Race to AI, Who Guards Our Privacy?" "Tesla's Autopilot System Confuses Drivers About Extent of Automation: Safety Report"

"State of the Cyber Insurance Market" "War Risk Insurance Premiums Surge for Oil Tanker Owners After Gulf Attacks" "The good, the bad, and the unlikely in Tesla CEO's plan" "Driverless Electronic Truck Dlivers Freight on Public Road in Sweden" "Hackers Steal 7,000 Bitcoins Worth $40M from Cryptocurrency Exchange Binance"

Committee Research

2019-2020 Committee Members 

Robert Aheart, RT Specialty Karen Alford, Nationwide E&S/Specialty Michael Bachman, SCOR Reinsurance Company Ryan Collier, RPS Chicago Derek Crumpler, Burns & Wilcox Ken Distel, Atlantic Casualty Insurance Company Matthew Dunn, JenCap Holdings Kyle Enderle, Great American Insurance Group David Enichen, IFG Companies Steve Genett, Navigators Management Company Emma Gros, Liberty Specialty Markets Alyssa Guerrieri, Nautilus Insurance Group Bryan Guilbeault, All Risks, Ltd. Davie Holt, Imperial PFS Barbara Ingraham, Verisk Insurance Solutions Mitchell Jawitz, Anderson and Murison

Mike Jones, SCU Elissa Kelly, Nationwide E&S/Specialty Joshua Korver, The Insurance Center David Laquidara, JimCor Agencies Justin Lehtonen, Worldwide Facilities, LLC Dana Lipp, Subro Smart Frank Martino, All Risks, Ltd. Matt Meyer, RPS Lexington Milos Rados, Outsource Insurance Professionals, Inc. Mark Rector, Lloyd's New York Aleksa Stojicic, Outsource Insurance Professionals, Inc. Steven Tunks, Oxford Insurance Brokers Joe Valenza, Virtue Risk Partners Jessica Wehrum, Bell & Clements Inc. Patrick White, RSUI Group, Inc.

Heat Map

The WSIA Heat Map is developed and published every two years by the committee. Members are surveyed to identify developing trends in the surplus lines industry and define their influence on business. The committee compiles the survey responses and from them develops the Heat Map, which identifies the predominant themes and is available to members. WSIA  incorporates the results into future planning for education program curriculum and topics, member webinars and research topics for RMI students. 

Committee Staff Support

Julie Fritz
Justin Mohn