WSIA members sound off on emerging insurance trends

The organization's Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee is working to determine future trend reports and webinar topics.

Pandemic-related business, workplace and insurance issues are among the new topics that WSIA’s Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee may take up in 2022. (Visual Generation Inc./Shutterstock)

The Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee is tasked with identifying and evaluating information about emerging trends and innovations impacting the surplus lines industry.

This group also produces the biennial Heat Map, with member feedback and expertise as the driving factors behind the publication. The 2022 update, which is now in process, will help determine future trend report topics for the committee and inform WSIA programming.

“The Heat Map is developed for WSIA members, and it is also developed by them,” said Markel Specialty Executive Territory Officer (West) Wendy Houser,  who also serves as WSIA’s Emerging Issues & Innovation Committee chair. “It is a direct result of survey responses from our colleagues, which makes it a great resource because we’re surveying people working in the field to determine topics of greatest impact for all of us.”

The 2021 Heat Map survey was sent to all WSIA members this fall and sought feedback on 21 emerging trends and issues. Members were asked to indicate whether they believe each trend is emerging or ongoing; how likely it is to impact the E&S industry; how likely the industry is to be able to mitigate or respond to the issue; and when they believe the issue will impact the industry. The top 15 will be ranked by the probability and perceived severity of those impacts in the published Heat Map in early 2022.

Houser said that several new topics appear in the Heat Map list this year. She said that COVID-related topics were incorporated to help ensure that the issues under consideration are reflective of current events. Those include the construction boom, general pandemic considerations in underwriting and return to work post-pandemic.

WSIA Project Coordinator Lindsay Holland said that the Heat Map results influence the organization’s Insurtech Conference session topics, WSIA education program curriculum and Emerging Issues & Innovations webinars, organized by the committee for all WSIA members.

]During 2021, the committee hosted webinars included “Cyber, Now and in the Future,” “The New Normal,” “Navigating a Hard Market 101,” and “Diversity & Inclusion in the Insurance Workforce,” with more than 700 total participants.

“Participating in the Heat Map process is important, because the responses drive other WSIA work,” Houser said. “In 2021, several WSIA University session topics were the direct result of Heat Map feedback. A course on transportation innovations was presented by a panel that included university faculty and industry professionals, and several other sessions on climate change, social inflation, post-COVID impacts on professional liability and digital transformation were directly influenced by this committee’s work.”

The WSIA Heat Map and 19 trend reports are available to view and download on the publication page, located under the News tab on the WSIA website. All trend reports now include a written analysis as well as an infographic layout outlining the implications, opportunities and threats associated with each emerging trend.  Committee members collaborate to publish the reports on emerging impacts for the industry. Member volunteers work in teams on the research and final reports.

WSIA solicits committee volunteers each year. Anyone interested in participating in the Emerging Issues & Trends Committee is invited to apply during that process in early 2022.

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