Understanding Ceded Risk and Reinsurance with Ryan White
IN-the-Know
Ryan White serves as Assistant Vice President and Director of Ceded Reinsurance at UFG Insurance. He has held the roles of associate, commercial, and senior underwriter, underwriting supervisor, and the first underwriting manager of UFG Online. In 2021 he was named Assistant Vice President and recently transitioned into the newly created role of Director of Ceded Reinsurance. White holds extensive reinsurance experience, a BBA in Finance, and an MBA from the University of Iowa. He also holds the CPCU, ARe, AU-M, AU, and Associate in General Insurance (AINS) professional designations. He has...
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Product Strategy in the Ever-Changing Insurance Environment with Marisol Schulte
IN-the-Know
Marisol Schulte, CPCU, AIC, is a Senior Consultant of Personal Lines Strategic Planning and Insurance at TransUnion. Marisol supports in developing and executing TransUnion’s product strategy for the personal lines property and casualty markets. She has over 18 years of property and casualty insurance experience, beginning in claims, with additional positions in R&D and Product Management for State Farm, CSAA, and Farmers. Schulte attained her CPCU in 2017 and graduated cum laude from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in...
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Making Industry Risks into Opportunities with Dale Porfilio
IN-the-Know
In2Leadership keynote speaker Dale Porfilio, FCAS, MAAA, is the Chief Insurance Officer for the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) and President of the Insurance Research Council (IRC). In these roles, he leads the research and education activities of both organizations, working closely with Triple-I and IRC subject-matter experts to develop data-driven industry insights and analyses. Dale previously worked at Genworth Financial, Kemper, and Allstate for a total of 29 years. Dale is a Fellow of the Casualty Actuarial Society (FCAS) and Member of the American Academy of Actuaries...
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Developing Niche Products for Healthcare Providers with Maia Jarvis
IN-the-Know
As Vice President of Operations at BLISCare, Maia Jarvis provides executive leadership for the company’s MGU activities, spearheads product development, and oversees the ever-evolving BLISCare insurance management platform. With over 10 years of experience in the insurance industry (focused on creating innovative, niche solutions) and more than two decades of leadership under her belt, Maia has mastered the art of problem-solving and resource-wrangling. A key player in the launch of the BLISCare captive, Maia now serves on its Board of Directors. Maia earned her BA from the University of...
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The Evolution of Captive Insurance with Nick Hentges
IN-the-Know
Nick Hentges is CEO of Captive Resources, which represents over 6,700 shareholders in 48 member-owned casualty and medical stop loss group captives, with a total annual written premium of $4.7 billion. He has an extensive background in insurance company, brokerage, and captive consulting and management operations. As Captive CEO since 2022, Nick has presided over unprecedented growth in the company’s casualty and medical stop loss group captive business. He has been instrumental in supporting the further development and expansion of the Risk Management and Insurance program at the University...
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A 2025 of Service and Growth for the CPCU Society with Sherry McFadden
IN-the-Know
This episode of In The Know features incoming 2025 CPCU President Sherry McFadden. Sherry recently retired from her position as Director of Enterprise Customer Care in Phoenix, AZ. Throughout her 34-year career with State Farm, she held various leadership roles in human resources, personal lines underwriting, and claims. Ms. McFadden has completed several insurance designations including CPCU, CLU, ChFC, and FLMI. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Human Resources from the University of North Florida and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Tougaloo College, MS. Sherry has...
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Unlocking Insurance Careers with Rajesh Narayan
IN-the-Know
Rajesh Narayan is a seasoned insurance industry leader with experience in driving technology innovation, operations transformation, and business agility. In his early industry roles at Majesco, IDP, and ValueMomentum he has architected and deployed core insurance systems across on-premises, cloud, and SaaS environments. In the last decade, he has taken on global roles at Genpact (AVP, Underwriting Transformation), RMS (Sr. Director, Analytical Services), and Gartner (Senior Director Analyst). In these roles, he has led teams in underwriting transformation, digital-first operational...
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Building an Environmental Risk Management Program with James Pruitt
IN-the-Know
James Pruitt is the Vice President of Risk Management for GFL Environmental and is responsible for the risk management strategy, insurance and captive programs, claims management, and Enterprise Risk Management across North America. He joined GFL in the Fall of 2021 and served as a consultant to the CFO in a risk management capacity from 2018 to 2021. Prior to joining GFL, James was the Vice President of Private Equity Strategy at Risk International, where he was responsible for new business creation within the Private Equity space and led all due diligence strategy and program optimization...
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Advocating for Education and Inclusion in the Insurance Industry with Precious Norman-Walton
IN-the-Know
Precious Norman-Walton is an Account Executive with EG Bowman Co, based in NYC, and the Agent Program Manager for NAAIA (National African American Insurance Association). With over 18 years of Insurance Industry experience, she has served in Personal Lines Claims, Commercial Underwriting, and Agency Management. Prior to her current role, Precious was Director of Underwriting at Harbor AI, VP of Account Management at Insureon, and Chief Operating Officer for Diamond National Insurance Advisors. Precious is a member of the CPCU Society Leadership Council, and was Vice Chair of the...
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The Importance of Elevating the Adjuster with Nikki Jackson
IN-the-Know
Nikki Jackson is the Senior Vice President of Strategy & Marketing at MTI America. Nikki is a data-driven strategic executive leader with over 17 years of experience in the property and casualty insurance and benefits delivery industry. During her career, Nikki has affected almost every aspect of the claims management process, working with over 100 Fortune 500 companies, dozens of TPAs and carriers, and countless vendors in various roles from operations to strategy and marketing. She authored the insurance industry’s largest academic research study on the talent shortage and is...
info_outlineKara Skinner is a third-generation surety professional with an extensive background in surety, helping clients understand and obtain surety credit. Over the years, Kara has worked with many surety companies, retail agents, obligees, attorneys, engineers, and contractors. She has managed the surety bond department of a major insurance wholesale brokerage. Kara is a past President of the Surety Association of Washington, a member of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, and an active member of several committees of other insurance and construction organizations. In this episode of the In The Know podcast, Chris Hampshire and Kara dive into all things surety, including the process of how it works and how the 4,000-year history of surety is shaping the future of the industry.
Key Takeaways
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From ballerina to bonds, Kara is a third-generation surety professional.
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Surety is a financial product more than an insurance product.
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The surety process from both the commercial side and performance and payment bonds.
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An overview of the current state of the surety industry.
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The most exciting elements of the surety aspect of the insurance industry.
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Insights into the benefits of being a third generation in surety.
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Kara’s advice for going out on your own, especially as a woman in the industry.
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Lessons learned from forming her own business, starting with relationships.
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The value of getting involved in professional organizations.
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Sharing information about bonds so that everyone can access them.
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Teaching, for Kara, started as a marketing idea.
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Kara’s advice for anyone considering a career in surety.
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Being a female CEO in a male-dominated industry.
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Ideas for better supporting women of color in the industry.
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Addressing the talent gap in the insurance industry.
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The future of surety relies on its 4,000-year history, which includes typewriters.
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A look to the fast-moving future of insurance.
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Kara’s relationship advice for her early career self.
Quotes
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“I like to say that surety is the opposite of insurance.”
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“The idea in surety is that we underwrite to zero losses.”
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“Surety is an exciting part of the insurance industry because it’s really different.”
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“Going out on your own isn’t for everybody. It’s a lot of work, but I love it.”
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“This is such a unique and different product that everyone needs to know about it.”
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“I want to get other agents as excited about surety as I am.”
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“The concept of surety has been around for 4,000 years. It’s the most archaic part of the insurance industry.”
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‘The future is coming faster and faster, and we need to be ready for it.”