Category Archives: Insurance Industry

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Corporate Social Responsibility, Insurance Industry

Helping the community get through a tough time

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Tough times bring out the best in many people, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.

Citizens around the world are donating to crisis response organizations, sewing masks and gowns for medical workers, delivering groceries to homebound neighbors and boarding shelter animals.

Corporations also are rising to the occasion. MetLife (a Triple-I member company) is providing parking lots at its St. Louis office location for the local hospital, Mercy South to use for coronavirus drive-through testing.

And the MetLife Foundation has committed to donating $1 million to food banks across the U.S. to help them deal with increased demand for their services as a result of coronavirus.

Food banks face the challenge of getting shelf-stable food into people’s homes as quickly as possible, especially now that vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, have been advised to practice social distancing. In addition, food banks face greater need from families with children who no longer have access to meals at schools.

MetLife Foundation will donate funds to food banks in communities where MetLife, Inc. has a significant presence, such as the greater New York City area, Cary, N.C., Tampa, Fla., and Warwick, R.I.

“We want to help those impacted by coronavirus,” said Mike Zarcone, head of Corporate Affairs for MetLife and Chairman of MetLife Foundation. “That includes the communities where we work and live. We know that children out of school and seniors face food insecurity as a result of COVID-19, and we are committed to help.”

Prudential also is helping. Over the weekend, the Newark, N.J.-based insurer donated more than 150,000 protective face masks and respirators to the state.

The gift will benefit health workers, some of whom have complained about having to reuse surgical masks amid an increasing shortage of supplies.

“A least one New Jersey hospital” NJ.com reported, “is now down to a four-day supply of gowns and surgical masks.”

The masks and respirators, expected to provide a two-week respite for hospitals, were in storage at the company’s Newark headquarters. They had been stockpiled after the 9/11 terror attacks as part of the company’s emergency preparedness efforts.

If your company is helping those affected by the pandemic, email me at marias@iii.org and tell me about it.

Disaster Preparedness, Disaster Resilience, Insurance Industry

Triple-I’s Internal Response to COVID-19 Had Its Origins in 2012’s Superstorm Sandy

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To help arrest the spread (“flattening the curve”) of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19), businesses and schools everywhere are supporting social distancing by expanding remote workspace opportunities. At the Triple-I’s main offices in New York City and Arlington, Va., we encouraged our team members effective Thursday, March 12, to avoid unnecessary business travel and select the workspace arrangements that best support social distancing.

Laura Favinger, Triple-I’s Chief Administrative Officer explained in a Q&A session with James Ballot, the Triple-I’s Senior Advisor, Strategic Communications, the organization’s Human Resources policies concerning COVID-19, as well as some potential consequences of widespread remote work during the crisis.

Q: How prepared is Triple-I to ramp up to extended duration remote work?

LF: The Triple-I is very prepared to conduct its business away from its two main offices for an extended period of time, if need be.

We talk a lot about resilience because we’ve experienced first-hand why resilience works. During Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Triple-I’s main office in New York’s Financial District was forced to close for nearly two weeks because 110 William Street was inaccessible due to the flooding in lower Manhattan. The situation left most Triple-I team members without access to vital equipment and information. Times like this, unfortunately, are also when people need the Triple-I most. With this in mind, we’ve built out capabilities to ensure that we’re able to fulfill our mission to be the “trusted source of unique, data-driven insights on insurance.” We’re here to educate and inform the media, consumers, regulators, educators and others with as little disruption as possible. Since Sandy we’ve prepared for a wide range of contingencies by migrating to a decentralized information backbone (cloud-based file sharing and storage), accessible to the entire Triple-I team by laptop and tablet computers and mobile devices.

Since I arrived at the Triple-I just over two years ago, we’ve made significant strides toward creating even more robust, user-friendly and, yes, resilient standardized IT platforms. One collateral benefit of this effort is that we’ve brought on staff full-time subject matter experts and researchers who are based throughout the U.S., which has increased our ability to deliver fact-based information and answers to our many audiences. We had no idea a pandemic was coming, but I guess that’s the essence of resilience: assessing and mitigating your potential risks.

Q: What factored into the decision to encourage your team members to choose the workplace situation that best supports preventing the spread of Corona Virus Disease?

LF: For starters, we were prepared to do this, which made the decision easier. As mentioned, our team is geographically and demographically diverse. COVID-19 poses a greater threat to persons over the age of 60 and those with existing health complications. We’re encouraging them to decide for themselves what’s best. To simplify things, we’re making full-time remote work available to everyone at the Triple-I’s NYC and Arlington, Va. offices for the foreseeable future. We’ve set Friday, March 20 as our first milestone for review.

Q: Any potential “curveballs” that you’re becoming aware of?

LF: Well, the closing of schools is a bit of a disrupter because it gets crowded at home when parents and their school-aged children spend all day under the same roof. But supporting remote work in general has allowed us to balance professional and personal concerns. One thing we all need to monitor, however, will be the prospect of millions of people working and studying from remote locations at the same time—and this includes increased load from streaming media (which already accounts for more than two-thirds of all Internet traffic).  We’ll need to monitor the possibility of overloaded information networks and other infrastructure-related consequences and explore ways to mitigate the effect on the Triple-I’s productivity.

But the main goal—the only goal, actually at least for the foreseeable future—is for us to do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Careers and Employment, Insurance Industry

Barbara Bufkin, an Insurance Maverick

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By Loretta L. Worters, Vice President, Media Relations, Insurance Information Institute

When Barbara Bufkin started in the insurance industry nearly four decades ago, she didn’t think about women’s roles.  She started her career as a commercial underwriter, then a casualty facultative underwriter to a reinsurance intermediary.  In fact, in the first five years of her career she had four job changes – unheard of at that time. 

Today, many would say she has exceeded her goals.  She is Chair of the International Board of Governors of the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), directly engaged in the global and national Women in Insurance Conference series, and President of the Association of Professional Insurance Women (APIW). Concurrently, she advocates for the value of the insurance industry as a career of choice in her role as Co-President and Board of Trustee of Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) and as a keynote speaker on The Power of Purpose in various insurance industry forums. In these initiatives, she has been driving the Big Tent of culture, inclusion, innovation, sponsorship, mentoring talent and the power of networks.

In addition to her Board responsibilities, Bufkin is on the advisory board of ODN, an early round InsurTech. She is Ambassador of The Insurance Supper Club, and member of the Dallas Host Committee for 2020 Women on Corporate Boards. In June 2019, she completed the EY Course: Board Readiness in a Transformative Age and has now taken on a new role as senior advisor to AmWINS Access.

But this success didn’t come easy. Bufkin recognized that there were corporate barriers which she had to learn to navigate.  But through that navigation she learned how to negotiate, a skill greatly needed in the business world.  She had the courage to build the career she envisioned for herself by seeking out mentors whom she trusted. 

Barbara Bufkin, senior advisor, AmWINS Access
chair, Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation

One area Bufkin could identify with was not only having a successful career but balancing that career with children as well as being a caregiver for aging parents; being responsible for a family.   “It was a very… productive time,” she grinned.

Bufkin said it was important now to help build up the industry during a time of rapid replacement of talent.  “For young woman who choose a career in insurance, it’s a great business to be in.  It’s much more secure during cyclical changes and economic downturns.”

Bufkin noted that there is a great need for women’s training. “We need to make sure that women’s voices when they are not in the room are being heard,” she said, adding that “we need to prepare women for executive roles.  Giving women strong coaching to be more conscious of their own capabilities and confidence, to overcome ‘imposter syndrome’ and consider themselves for a position when they may not have felt ready for it.” 

“When I transitioned over to the capital side of the business, I really didn’t know what a glass ceiling was.  When I confronted it, it had to be shattered; I didn’t think of it any other way.” 


Bufkin said that the statistics and studies that are being conducted now are creating a true awareness around the importance of gender equality and pay equality.  “There’s an intentional and committed focus around this,” she said.

“We as women need to be fearless; to accept the challenges and sometimes to understand defeat.  And by doing so, can we stand back up and do it better, bigger, greater and stronger.”

Careers and Employment, Insurance Industry

Women’s History Month: Honoring Women in the Insurance Industry

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By Loretta L. Worters, Vice President – Media Relations, Insurance Information Institute

Women are advancing throughout the insurance industry. Hard work is one factor behind their success, but so are perseverance, supportive mentors, and willingness to take risks with their careers. 

Women’s History Month is a time to reflect on the work that still needs to be done, but it’s also a time to celebrate the inroads that have been made. The Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), has created a series of interviews showcasing dynamic women leaders — trailblazers who have built successful careers in the industry. We’ll hear their stories, providing insight on how they made it to the C-suite and their advice to young women just entering insurance. 

Check back to see the interviews by clicking on this link: #womenshistorymonth

Challenges remain

Studies have found that greater gender diversity can help organizations be more innovativeand higher performing. Many female CEOs have led their companies’ stocks to outperform the index in terms of cumulative total returns during their tenures. Some have managed to produce triple- and even quadruple-digit percentage gains.

More specific to the insurance industry, a McKinsey report found that while women outnumber men at entry-level positions, their representation of the workforce is significantly smaller near the top of the organizational chart.

Women of color in insurance hold only 12 percent of entry-level roles and a mere 3 percent of direct-reporting roles to the CEO.  And black, Hispanic, and Asian women altogether make up only 3 percent of the insurance C-suite.

Growing Wages for Women Helped Narrow Gender Pay Gap, Though Women Still Lag Behind Men in Pay

According to PayScale.com women are often undervalued for the work they do, are more likely to hold lower-level, lower-paying jobs, and tend to stagnate in their careers, still making only $0.79 for every dollar made by men in 2019. Moreover, Hired.com’s  State of Wage Inequality in the Workplace found that companies pay women on average 4 percent to as much as 45 percent less than men in the same jobs — and these numbers haven’t changed since the company released its second annual 2017 report. In addition, 60 percent of the time men are offered higher salaries than a woman, for the same role at the same company.  The survey further reveals that of the 61 percent of women who discovered they were being paid less than men at the same role in their company, 16 percent found the difference was at least $20K.

Women’s experiences in the workforce also vary vastly by race.  PayScale.com noted that black and Hispanic women experience even wider pay gaps than white women, start their careers in lower-paying positions, and are less likely than white women to make it to the C-suite.

And disparity in earnings inevitably leads to a disparity in retirement savings, according to the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare, which has further implications for women, who generally have a longer life expectancy than their male counterparts.

Swiss Re Institute estimates that a 26 percent increase in global GDP in a scenario of labor market gender parity would yield an additional $2.1 trillion in global insurance premiums by 2029. 

How the Industry is Working to Make a Difference

“By focusing on solutions to achieve gender parity, insurers and reinsurers can address a key driver of the widening protection gaps facing individuals, families and societies.”

–Marianne Gilchrist, Head Global & South Asia, Hong Kong, Swiss Re

Insurers are making significant strides to improve gender diversity by creating sponsorship programs and addressing unconscious bias. There is, for example, the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, which tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency.The 2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index includes 325 companies across 50 industries, including insurance headquartered in 42 countries and regions.

Here are a few of the organizations that are making a tremendous difference:

  • Association of Professional Women is dedicated to encouraging women to embody the future of insurance through participation, progressive education, and engagement with forward thinking industry professionals. 
  • Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) and their Women in Insurance Conference Series, led by pioneer Elizabeth (Betsy) Myatt, vice president and chief program officer of IICF.
  • Women’s Insurance Networking Group (WING) which helps increase awareness through events and are a platform to share skills and knowledge.
  • Women in Insurance Initiative (WII) is a consortium of organizations throughout the insurance industry, which is taking substantive and measurable action by recruiting, mentoring, and sponsoring women to drive equality in career advancement and leadership throughout the insurance industry.
Disaster Preparedness, Earthquakes, Insurance Industry

Earthquake Shakes San Diego Day After National Earthquake Conference

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Last week (March 4-6) the National Earthquake Conference —  attended by hundreds of  experts, including academics, engineers, government leaders, insurance professionals, and scientists – took place in San Diego.

The day after the conference, as if to make a point, a 5.5. magnitude earthquake that struck Baja California, Mexico, shook San Diego.

While no damage was reported, a study released at the conference by the San Diego chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute showed that a magnitude 6.9 earthquake on San Diego’s Rose Canyon Fault could damage 100,000 residences, cause widespread road and bridge failures, and make parts of Mission Bay sink about a foot. Such a quake would inflict an estimated $38 billion in building and infrastructure damage, displacing 36,000 households and wreaking havoc on San Diego’s $245 billion economy.

Don’t be scared, be prepared

Conference goals were to improve life safety when earthquakes occur, to help communities learn how to recover faster, and to help prevent or minimize physical earthquake damage through stronger building practices, including research-informed, model building codes and standards.

Janet Ruiz, Triple-I’s Director of Strategic Communications, who was one of the attendees, said one of the great points of the conference was: “Don’t be scared, be prepared.”

Earthquake risk is insurable

One of the ways to be prepared for any disaster is to make sure you have adequate insurance. But as few as 13 percent of California homeowners have earthquake insurance.

Glenn Pomeroy of the California Earthquake Authority said earthquake risk is insurable. The average annual cost of earthquake insurance for a typical home in San Diego is between $100 and $444. Renters can secure financial protection from CEA for as little as $35 per month.

Insurance Industry

Insurance Industry Charitable Giving Nears $600 Million Annually, IICF/McKinsey Study Finds

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By Loretta Worters, Vice President, Media Relations, Insurance Information Institute

Millennials – the generation born between 1980 and 2000 – have begun to influence charitable giving.  They prefer to work for companies that are involved in charitable causes, seeking a greater desire to make a social impact through their work, compared with previous generations.  In addition, they tend to share these values on social media.  These are some philanthropic trends in insurance industry Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), identified in “Charitable Giving in the Insurance Industry,” a report by the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), released in partnership with McKinsey & Company. The report, along with IICF’s 2019 Philanthropic Showcase, highlight each of its Key Partner Company’s charitable endeavors in 2019.

The McKinsey report found that the level of giving has remained consistent, with a focus on education, health and social services, and community. One key factor behind this finding is industry consolidation, which has lowered the number of companies engaged in corporate giving. Insurers are also orienting philanthropy more around volunteerism. As a result, industry-wide giving has held steady between $560 million and $600 million in cash, grants, and other donations since 2015.

In addition to the influence of millennials on the types of charitable engagements companies pursue within their communities, the report offers a glimpse of the industry’s philanthropic commitment and highlights opportunities to expand programs and fuel community engagement. Charitable giving in the insurance industry continues to be an important focus. 

Some of the report’s key findings, based upon responses from property and casualty companies and for the first time since 2011 life insurance and wealth management segments of the industry, include:

• The industry’s desire to work toward a single cause has increased to 33 percent in 2019 from 17 percent in 2015.

• The importance of giving within their own communities was evident as about 30 percent of respondents in 2019 prioritize contributions where employees live and work and where significant business is already done.

• Insurers have shifted their charitable focus toward increased volunteering opportunities, recognizing millennials prefer to work with companies directly involved in charitable efforts and activities, rather than those making only monetary donations.

• Measurement of charitable giving has increased, to 41 percent in 2019 from 26 percent in 2015, as more companies use key performance indicators to evaluate the impact of their philanthropy.

For organizations looking to amplify either the impact of their philanthropic efforts or the range of causes, the findings point to a few key opportunities including planning for greater employee engagement, with a special focus on millennials to further employee-focused giving strategies;  to measure the impact of philanthropy to identify and build on charitable successes and refine metrics and giving standards; to rethink roles across the giving organization as CSR leadership and employee-driven engagement become increasingly common and CEOs continue to set broad direction; and finally to consider the value and benefits of a united, collaborative industry approach to CSR.

Business Risk, Health & Safety, Insurance Industry, Webinars

Triple-I Webinar Covers COVID-19’s Economic and Health Implications

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The Insurance Information Institute invited its members to a webinar titled “Covid-19’s Impact on Health, the Economy and Growth” on March 5 at 11:00 a.m. EST presented by Triple-I Vice President and Senior Economist Michel Léonard, PhD, CBE.

Dr. Lèonard will discuss the following key points:

• Economic impact likely to continue into Q3/Q4 2020 and 2021
• Could reduce global growth by as much as 1 percent and delay recovery by up to 12 months
• Fiscal and monetary policy, rates cuts, unlikely to be effective
• Insurance industry to see higher claims, reduced premium growth

He will also preview the Global Macro and Industry Outlook report before it is made available to the public.

To find out more about the benefits of Triple-I membership click here.

Insurance Industry

Preparing for a pandemic should be part of every household’s emergency plan

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Health officials in the U.S. have advised businesses, schools and communities to prepare for a possible outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus. On Tuesday, February 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said a wider spread of the virus in the U.S. can be expected, but the agency is uncertain of the severity of the threat.

The disruption to everyday life could be severe.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

Being prepared for a pandemic should be a part of every household’s emergency plan. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Ready.gov website offers the following tips:

Before a Pandemic

  • Store a two-week supply of water and food.
  • Periodically check your regular prescription drugs to ensure a continuous supply in your home.
  • Have any nonprescription drugs and other health supplies on hand, including pain relievers, stomach remedies, cough and cold medicines, fluids with electrolytes, and vitamins.
  • Get copies and maintain electronic versions of health records from doctors, hospitals, pharmacies and other sources and store them, for personal reference. Get help accessing electronic health records.
  • Talk with family members and loved ones about how they would be cared for if they got sick, or what will be needed to care for them in your home.

During a Pandemic

  • Limit spread of germs and prevent infection.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
  • When you are sick, keep your distance from others to protect them from getting sick too.
  • Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing.
  • Washing your hands often will help protect you from germs.
  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth.
  • Practice other good health habits. Get plenty of sleep, be physically active, manage your stress, drink plenty of fluids, and eat nutritious food.

Here at the Triple-I blog, we’ve been following the news of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus disease both from an insurance industry and a public safety perspective over the past few weeks. For Triple-I members, we also make available a database of news abstracts. Members can access the latest news pertaining to COVID-19, by clicking here (scroll down on the page to the coronavirus in the news section).

Insurance Industry

Triple-I at 60: New World, Same Powerful Mission

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Sixty, many say, is the new 40. People living longer and in better health than ever before have opportunities for work, leisure, travel, and self-expression that previous generations could only dream of or regret not having seized.

Insurance has played a critical role in these improved circumstances by absorbing and distributing risks that otherwise would have made many types of investment prohibitively expensive — investment that directly affects everyone’s quality of life. And for the past 60 years, the Insurance Information Institute has supported the property/casualty insurance industry by helping the public understand risks and the products that help mitigate them.

“Property insurance is an integral part of our national economy. It is vital to business enterprise and to the establishment of credit. Nearly every individual American is directly affected by it.”

These words, from a 1959 announcement of the establishment of Triple-I, are as true and relevant now as they were then. But where that announcement referenced “fire, automobile…fidelity and surety, and inland marine insurance,” we would need to mention “cyber, terrorism, business interruption, supply chain, workers compensation, professional and management liability,” along with numerous other products and features that keep emerging to address the changing risk landscape.

The industry’s history of developing forms of coverage to meet businesses’ and individuals’ changing needs is evocatively illustrated in the following, from a 1962 Triple-I ad:

“During the same year that America’s property and casualty insurance companies provided special coverage for the first Telstar communications satellite, they also wrote more than $100,000 in horse and wagon policies. This year will also see a brisk business in false teeth coverage, rain protection, wedding gifts floaters and other unusual forms of insurance.”

As we continue to support the industry by advancing public awareness and understanding, we’re taking advantage of new tools and technologies to do so.  Sixty years ago, print, telephone, and face-to-face communication were the only games in town. Today, we reach broader and more targeted audiences through social media, webinars, blogs, conferences, and more.

A great example is the recent launch of a Risk and Resilience Hub in partnership with Aon and the Colorado State University Department of Atmospheric Science.  The Hub uses data visualization to help people understand natural catastrophe risks and make data-driven decisions when it comes to managing their exposures.

Far from slowing down and feeling creaky at 60, Triple-I is maintaining its strong pace and going where the industry and consumers need us to be.

The 1959 announcement I cited above invited “written or telephone inquiries” from “researchers, editors, writers, educators, students, librarians, civic groups, and the general public.”

Today, you can follow and engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. #TripleI60 

Insurance Industry

Aimu and Triple-I Amplify: An effective marketing and communications partnership

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When John Miklus joined the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) as president six years ago, he discovered the association had been in partnership with the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) for more than 20 years. But he wasn’t quite sure just what Triple-I did for their organizations.  He understood that Triple-I provided marketing and communications services – such as writing speeches and talking points on marine insurance issues for past presidents Walter Kramer and James Craig. But what Miklus soon came to realize and appreciate, was Triple-I’s profound understanding of the insurance business that no other marketing and communications firm provided, and the powerful partnership they had forged. 

In years past, AIMU had been hesitant, if not reluctant, to engage the media, according to Miklus.  “Working with the Triple-I changed all that. With adequate coaching and introductions to targeted media outlets, Triple-I facilitated a process that was comfortable and thoughtfully prepared. As a result, we got placement in high level media like the Wall Street Journal, and insurance trade press like Reactions magazine and AM Best-TV: taking us places we’d never been before and never thought we’d go.”  The partnership has not only heightened awareness of AIMU in the insurance industry, but with the public, making them more fully aware of the challenges facing the shipping industry and insuring marine risks.”

Triple-I Amplify is a PR consultancy built expressly for insurance organizations like AIMU, and Miklus says that partnership with Triple-I Amplify provides unique advantages his organization can’t get anywhere else. 

“It not only raises the visibility and credibility of AIMU, but also the importance and relevance of the marine insurance industry, in general,” he said.  “It’s never been more vital for a smaller niche product line to be connected to the rest of the insurance industry; our partnership with the Triple-I secures that connection.”

“This industry is much more complex than most people understand, but it’s our job to help translate subject matter into accessible information that’s easy to comprehend,” said Sean Kevelighan, president & CEO of Triple-I. “Working with our Amplify partners, we can quickly eliminate any learning curve and immediately provide marketing and communications services to meet their needs. We know this industry; we know how to communicate effectively; it’s what we do.”

The Triple-I Network

Triple-I serves approximately 70 percent of the U.S. property/casualty market (members) as well as industries that support the Triple-I mission such as trade associations, academia and think tanks (clients). We are the trusted source of unique, data-driven insights on insurance to inform and empower our clients. Another value Triple-I brings is access to distribution channels that tie clients to key industry stakeholders such as the carrier, broker and agency communities.

For 60 years, the Triple-I has been a trusted source of actionable, timely insight for consumers and professionals seeking insurance information.  We are the number one online source for insurance information. Our website, blog and social media channels offer a wealth of data-driven research, studies, whitepapers, videos, articles, infographics and other resources solely dedicated to explaining insurance and enhancing knowledge.

Amplify provides the following marketing and communication services to help elevate your brand:

If you’re interested in learning how Triple-I Amplify can help your non-profit or insurance trade association with marketing or communications services, please contact John Novaria, Managing Director, Amplify at johnn@iii.org.