Alive in Atlanta

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

We always talk about a culture of care at WBN – it’s our promise that wherever in the world our multinational clients work with us, we make sure they get the same level of service.

It’s a group where WBN collects honest and direct feedback and input from clients and prospects, so that our solutions and way of working are always lined up to what they need.

“The Client Advisory Council is a strategic global forum to develop innovative solutions to the most challenging issues that our network and industry is facing.

“Sharing and learning from industry insights first-hand is invaluable in ensuring the needs of our clients remain front and center in everything we do in 2023, and beyond. The group also provides a networking opportunity for our clients who face complex global issues in their everyday business operations.”

It’s important to get our client perspectives at our global conferences. It gives us a closer look inside their businesses, so we can help unpack the problems they’re up against and make sure we’re better able to respond and help them thrive.

We always take a long-term view at WBN – and look for ways in which we can help our clients achieve sustained success. This client panel gave us a great insight into how they’re future proofing their businesses, and where we can fit in to support their growth.

Thank you to Jen Blair at BOSE, Aakash Mehta at Mastercard, Robin Smith at Mueller Water Products, and Shaila Bettadpur at Mohawk Industries.

The second of our panels got in to how our clients are handling the great resignation.

The pressure to retain and appeal to talent is changing the client-broker relationship. It’s no longer just a once-a-year conversation – clients are constantly in contact, making sure they’ve got a meaningful benefits program to offer.

They’re doing as much as they can internally. That includes treating employees more like customers, reshuffling the workforce to find roles that better suit them, promoting DE&I through affinity groups and much more.

Thank you Stacie Mundahl at InComm Payments, Gus Stavropoulos at Tribute Communities, and Carolina Pinheiro at Groupo Boticario.

We celebrated more graduates passing through the program in Atlanta – huge congratulations to Amy Bohn, Sarah Lopez, Jimena Pacheco, and Sierra Pierce for completing the Catalyst Academy.

Now it’s on to the Board Mentorship Program, where our Board members will help shape and guide the next stage of their career.

Atlanta was full of more opportunities for Catalyst members to advance their career. Including a full-day workshop on the opening day of the conference with Jenn Urso.

A certified leadership coach with a long list of leadership roles under her belt, Jenn helps professionals develop across all kinds of industries, including tech, financial services, health care, education and more.

Her ethos is about helping ambitious professionals live out the careers they want, but without coming at the expense of a healthy work/life balance. A big thanks to Jenn for all of her leadership and career wisdom.

The WBN Catalyst Program fast tracks the careers of our network’s rising stars. We’re proud to be the only global network that offers a program like it.

Catalyst is for people that are new to insurance across our network. It gives them access to a group of likeminded people who are starting out in insurance that they can lean on and collaborate with.

It’s also a formal educational program, which combines leadership coaching, industry-specific training, and workshops at our global conferences. Catalyst is there to help them accelerate up through the ranks and into leadership roles in their firms.

Once they graduate, they then move onto our Board Mentorship Program, and are guided by some of the most experienced leaders in our industry.