100 Finest Insurance coverage Leaders within the USA | Sizzling 100

“Leaders have been compelled to make peace with chaos. To adapt quicker than regulation permits. To rebuild belief in an age when headlines journey quicker than assist,” says Jeff Arnold, founding father of RightSure. 

The Jacobson Group’s president, Corey Pinkham, paints a equally powerful image of the state of affairs dealing with trade leaders. 

“Organizations are being hammered by excessive prices, inflation, and enormous payouts from latest catastrophes – seeing their margins and profitability constrained. On the identical time, there’s rising strain for leaders to make high-cost technological investments to remain aggressive, particularly in AI,” he says. 

Insurance coverage Enterprise America’s eleventh annual Sizzling 100 listing honors those that have risen to the problem and overcome the hurdles on their path. The 2026 listing was narrowed all the way down to those that have formed the insurance coverage trade over the previous 12 months and are one of the best the trade has to supply. 

A commonality amongst IBA’s Sizzling 100 has been coping with employment points. 

Zippia analysis means that the common insurance coverage agent’s age is 46 years outdated, whereas the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that just about half of the insurance coverage workforce can have retired by 2038. 

Some are impacted by a expertise hole and never seeing sufficient candidates with the required expertise. Nevertheless, the prevailing state of affairs is leaders unlocking expertise sources with initiative options and coupling that with modern tech to totally leverage their staff’s expertise. 

Hitting $2 billion in premiums in 2025, up from $600 million simply three years in the past, is a testomony to the powerhouse efficiency of the agency’s finance staff. Together with enjoying his half within the rise, Mortimer has confronted retirements and addressed this by rebuilding the staff from the bottom up. 

“The way in which it labored earlier than was there’s a staff, all people doing a little bit of the whole lot,” says Mortimer. “So, within the first yr, I actually wished to outline the roles and obligations and ensure individuals understood what they owned. While you give possession and accountability, there’s a way of empowerment that they will management what’s occurring.” 

As CFO, Mortimer guides guides the enterprise in a fiscally accountable manner but additionally makes a degree of understanding the place the agency goes.  

“Should you’re all the time going to say no, you’re not going to get a seat on the desk. It’s good to be understanding and listen to different individuals’s perspective and talk at a degree that they perceive in the case of finance. You need to just remember to’re speaking in a manner that they really feel that once they have issues, they’re heard,” he says.

 

“I’ve to be myself on this function and convey my very own ability set, however I have to even have a staff round me that may actually assist with my shortcomings”

Philip MortimerHeffernan Insurance coverage Brokers

Mortimer has additionally shifted the view of the finance division’s function.

He explains, “After I got here in, my aim was to maneuver us from a back-office operate to a enterprise companion. The one manner you may actually do that’s to be sure that everybody feels empowered to carry their concepts to the desk.” 

Mortimer has inspired this follow from day one and ceaselessly does one-on-one conferences to maintain his finger on the heartbeat. 

“I ask the staff, ‘The place do you need to be in a yr or two years?’ I mix that with what the corporate goes to want as we transfer ahead from a method perspective. I all the time need to be sure that the individuals right here have the primary alternative when new roles come up and new asks are required from the enterprise.” 

Preserving this pipeline of expertise alive is a precedence for Mortimer, however he by no means loses perspective on what the corporate wants. The technique is to align each initiatives. 

“We’re all the time speaking about, ‘What’s the plan? Who’s the subsequent individual up?’ And if the plan wants to vary for no matter cause, we will pivot. We’ve recognized some high expertise right here at Heffernan who’re able to take that subsequent step of their profession,” he says. 

Crawford & Firm’s GTS staff has undergone 250 % progress during the last three years by specializing in addressing more and more advanced and bigger losses with specialised expertise and a team-based strategy, enabling quicker and simpler claims administration. 

To realize this and tackle the expertise hole, Crawford & Firm revamped its Protégé Program, which reduces the method to turn into an government basic adjuster from 10–15 years all the way down to round 5. This system attracts expertise of various backgrounds, a few of whom are straight out of faculty and others already working in different industries.  

Kottler says, “They aren’t mid-career as a result of it’s the youthful crowd that’s becoming a member of, however they’re very good, and we pair them with our government basic adjusters or managing government basic adjusters. They’re getting on-the-job coaching from day one.” 

 

“We particularly goal expertise and convey them in. We’ve got CPAs, funding bankers, typical Wall Road sorts, and teachers becoming a member of our ranks”

Paul KottlerCrawford & Firm 

With three a long time of expertise, he remembers when insurance coverage firms didn’t prepare their very own individuals. 

“With the escalation of losses and the scale and complexity of the insurance policies, we’ve actually wanted to shut that hole. And the Protégé Program permits us to rapidly get individuals into higher-level positions,” he says. 

Bringing in this sort of expertise with diverse levels and trade expertise (e.g., finance, regulation, engineering, and know-how) has made the claims groups extra adaptable and succesful, with youthful professionals driving technological adoption and operational effectivity. 

One other of Kottler’s initiatives was the profitable relaunch of the Ocean Marine Division, facilitated by securing specialised expertise and a focused, expertise-driven strategy, recognizing the complexity and significance of marine and inland transport in world commerce. 

“It’s one thing that we’ve had our eye on, however you must have the specialists to do it. It’s a really specialised ability set,” he says. 

The staff is conscious of worldwide implications, but additionally all of America’s home waterways transporting the whole lot from oil to grain provides. 

Kottler says, “The vast majority of items are transported by water out and in of the US, and we have now among the largest ports on this planet on either side of the nation.” 

McKenna has headed a staff that has seen exceptional progress in each income and expertise, with the goal of servicing Fortune 3000-level firms.  

MSIG USA’s latest product expansions have been pushed by leveraging its world community, monetary energy, and underwriting expertise to enter markets the place these differentiators matter, with a deal with considerate, long-term progress.

 

“We’re a corporation that’s been round for over 350 years. We need to be sure that we’re going to be right here for the subsequent 100 years”

Peter McKennaMSIG USA

There was spectacular progress throughout the staff, as 180 individuals have been employed within the final 12 months, with 13 government leaders. Discovering this wave of latest expertise has allowed MSIG USA to be on the forefront of the trade’s digital revolution. 

“Modernizing the underwriting expertise has attracted us much more individuals, particularly the youthful people,” McKenna says. “It permits us to watch the enterprise extra effectively and alter course if we have to, if issues within the market are altering towards us.”  

A part of this modernization has seen the overwhelming majority of MSIG USA’s high leaders changed during the last 18 months. McKenna describes the surroundings as “new blood all over the place”. 

The brand new senior leaders have been chosen for expertise exterior of their core insurance coverage roles, to allow them to make sure the agency has a expertise pipeline to allow it to proceed thriving for years to come back. 

“They’re all acknowledged inside the trade as being very competent of their roles, but additionally have good reputations for working in creating staff environments,” says McKenna. “They’ve constructed companies earlier than, however what I’m most happy with is how they’re spending a whole lot of time with these youthful people. They’re coaching them up and probably the most spectacular factor is we’re altering the tradition at this group.” 

Main by instance and making certain his staff is ready to develop is a spotlight for Karlinsky. 

He says, “I need my staff to work laborious, and I need them to be educated about points. I attempt to be the toughest working man on the staff.”  

He retains everybody sharp by ensuring they’re all the time within the loop on the newest trade information and developments. Along with his dedication to fixed analysis and staying knowledgeable, Karlinsky ensures his staff is one step forward. 

 

“I imagine in main by instance in the case of expertise improvement. I try to set a normal for laborious work, and I encourage my staff to remain continually knowledgeable and engaged with the problems our purchasers face”

Fred KarlinskyGreenberg Traurig’s World Insurance coverage Regulatory and Transactions Apply Group

“It requires quite a bit being on the high of your sport on a regular basis. That’s what I anticipate from myself and that’s what I anticipate from the staff, and when the staff will get to that time, they’re positioning themselves finest for skilled improvement in addition to for serving to our purchasers,” he says. 

One other level that Karlinsky advocates is specialization. He encourages workers to turn into greater than generalists to allow them to provide outlined worth. 

“We don’t see a whole lot of circumstances of first impression, and even once we do, there’s some semblance of a whole lot of issues we’ve finished earlier than,” he says. “Specializing to me is a vital element of being one of the best skilled you will be and being environment friendly for purchasers.” 

Abilities shortages are being solved not solely by modern recruitment however by tapping into tech. IBA’s Sizzling 100 are supporters of utilizing programs and platforms to drive efficiencies and bridge the expertise hole. 

Pinkham lays out the advanced and evolving nature of the present market within the US. 

“There’s rising strain for leaders to make high-cost technological investments to remain aggressive, particularly in AI. Not all leaders should be AI specialists, however they should familiarize themselves with it and deal with constructing groups that possess the precise know-how,” he says. 

Arnold believes future leaders should be “half technologist, half humanist”. 

He explains, “An distinctive chief within the insurance coverage trade of 2026 isn’t measured by coverage counts or premium quantity. They’re measured by the human affect they create – in how they merge know-how with belief and information with empathy.” 

Arnold states that probably the most urgent problem is integrating new AI-driven tech whereas remaining targeted on consumer outcomes.  

“We’re watching an trade as soon as outlined by paper and endurance remodel into one powered by prediction and personalization,” he says. “AI and automation are now not buzzwords, they’re the spine of recent operations. It’s not about who has the most recent device – it’s about who can join the dots finest. Techniques speaking to programs. Leaders studying to steer by information and never simply round it.” 

Kottler spoke of how know-how is necessary however isn’t as innovative as some anticipate. He says, “The efficiencies of know-how insurance coverage are nonetheless a long time behind different industries, however I believe it’s catching up, and introducing these newer people into our enterprise is absolutely going to make it excel.” 

He additionally notes that whereas the quicker and extra correct entry to info has elevated efficiencies, the technical expertise and human judgment essential to be a high-level adjuster stay the identical. 

One type of tech that has vastly improved Kottler and his staff’s capabilities is the usage of drones and satellite tv for pc imagery to quickly assess claims. 

“If we have now an information middle that’s a $100-million loss, we’re placing drones on it instantly to calculate the sq. footage. We’re asking, ‘What’s the injury? What specialists do we have to get on it?’” 

Mortimer additionally ensures his staff is well-versed within the newest instruments to boost their capabilities.  

“If the transactions are the identical, we should be AI, and we should be know-how to have the ability to do these faster,” he says. 

One AI-powered device is Comulate, which permits Heffernan to automate the reconciliation course of. It makes use of a mixture of OCR know-how, machine studying, and AI to carry ahead a course of that used to take days to an hour.  

“We’re attempting to do this to free the parents. We pose inquiries to account managers, industrial traces managers, and different executives, similar to, ‘What’s the info you’ll want to see to make one of the best choices?’ We wouldn’t have been in a position to do this earlier than as a result of we simply wouldn’t have had the time,” he explains. 

Mortimer stresses how tech and folks can come collectively in an ideal storm. 

He says, “I see there’s a lot expertise on the staff and there’s a lot extra we will do. If we leverage these kind of know-how, we will really carry the enterprise ahead as a companion and supply insights that perhaps we wouldn’t have had time beforehand to offer.” 

Mortimer’s staff can be utilizing Workday Adaptive Planning, an EPM software program that has allowed them to extend effectivity in monetary reporting, budgeting, planning, and income evaluation. 

Karlinsky highlights the chances for improved pace and accuracy inside claims, fraud detection, and underwriting resulting from AI. He does, nonetheless, emphasize the significance of diligent use, with human oversight being an important element of know-how adoption. 

“You actually want to ensure there isn’t any unintended bias or unintended penalties. And you’ll want to be sure that human eyes are on issues once they should be on them,” he says.  

Whereas AI implementation has drastically modified many roles inside insurance coverage, McKenna explains that underwriting capabilities have seen a drastic shift, with underwriters now in a position to assess threat by a quicker course of and extra full information. 

“What we’re attempting to do is construct a data-driven platform. Our underwriting workbench is one hundred percent digital, so the underwriter doesn’t should look by troves of paperwork. It’s all AI ingested.” 

McKinsey’s “The way forward for AI within the insurance coverage trade” report highlights fraud detection by superior information analytics as a pertinent alternative for insurance coverage corporations to capitalize on. That is an space the place MSIG is lively, with McKenna noting the necessity to root out fraudulent claims to stay worthwhile.  

McKenna additionally highlights that MSIG USA just isn’t burdened with the legacy tech programs that another corporations function below, which has allowed for easy implementation of latest know-how.  

He provides, “We’ve been in a position, during the last yr, to break down a whole lot of this into one element that we’re classifying as our enterprise information platform. That’s permitting us to have finance, operations, claims, and underwriting in a single ecosystem. Not separate ones coming collectively, however multi functional, which permits for higher pace and consistency.”  

McKenna believes there isn’t any lack of expertise, however concedes there’s a have to do extra with fewer individuals within the trendy trade. 

“It’s necessary to know who we’re attracting to fill our roles. After I discuss data-driven insurance coverage firms, what we’re attempting to do is enabling the underwriting to happen in a way more considerate manner.” 

The 2026 Sizzling 100 honorees have distinguished themselves by efficiently navigating a turbulent trade dealing with challenges from all instructions. These leaders have enabled their organizations to thrive below tough circumstances by discovering new expertise to allow greater efficiency, together with supercharging the present expertise inside their ranks. 

• Integrating know-how and human expertise: merging know-how with belief and information with empathy whereas specializing in the human affect
  
   

• Accelerating expertise improvement packages: fast-tracking expertise by structured mentorship and coaching, permitting high-potential people to achieve management positions faster whereas additionally infusing the group with new views
  
   

• Modernizing programs to draw and retain expertise: making corporations extra enticing to youthful professionals and permitting adaptation extra rapidly to market adjustments, supporting each operational effectivity and expertise retention
  
   

• Selling collaboration and enterprise partnership: empowering groups to contribute insights and drive firm technique, additional unlocking expertise potential