Welcome to Program Manager
Conference & Awards 2024
In May of 2023, more than 550 industry executives representing over 200 leading companies converged in the heart of Manhattan for our second annual Program Manager Conference & Awards, in a strong reflection of the health and vitality of the MGA sector as it continues to grow at a rapid pace.
In just its second year, the Program Manager Conference & Awards solidified its position as a key date in the industry calendar for face-to-face networking, as well as exclusive updates on the US program insurance sector to help shape decision-making and strategy.
And we are delighted to announce the return of this unparalleled one-day experience in 2024.
Mark your calendars for 29 May as Gotham Hall once again takes centre stage.
It promises to be a landmark event, offering unmatched opportunities for networking, knowledge-sharing and celebration as we bring together the brightest minds and key players in the market.
The format will once again feature an informative half-day conference with keynote addresses, interactive panel discussions and engaging Q&A sessions. Speakers will share their insights, expertise and vision for the future. We’ll also look at some of the challenges that emerged in 2023 and how the sector responded.
The evening will unfold seamlessly into a reception and dinner-style awards ceremony, creating an ideal setting for networking with senior peers from both the US and overseas. We'll be recognising outstanding contributions and raising a toast to the achievements that continue to shape our dynamic industry.
This is a great opportunity to celebrate another year of excellence and gain a deeper understanding of the trajectory of this fast-growing market. Save the date, and stay tuned for more exciting details!
Keep an eye out for announcements in the coming weeks as we unveil details of our line-up of industry leaders and experts.
2023’s event in numbers
About the conference
The Program Manager 2024 Conference will highlight key trends, opportunities and challenges that are shaping the strategy and decision making of market participants, welcoming program administrators, MGAs, MGUs, program insurers, fronting carriers, reinsurers, wholesale brokers, insurtechs, M&A advisors, service providers and more.
Delegates will be treated to three insightful keynote speeches from leading industry experts, as well as interactive panel discussions and engaging Q&A sessions on the following topics:
- Fronting carriers, collateral and the Vesttoo fallout
- M&A, capital and capacity
- The state of the market
Conference timings:
08:00 – 09:00 | Breakfast
09:00 – 09:05 | Welcome from Program Manager
09:05 – 09:30 | Keynote: William Pitt, Partner, Lexicon Associates
09:30 – 09:55 | Keynote: Kieran Sweeney, Executive Chairman, Dual Group
09:55 – 10:40 | Panel: Fronting carriers, collateral and the Vesttoo fallout
10:40 – 11:10 | Coffee break
11:10 – 11:55 | Panel: M&A, capital and capacity
11:55 – 12:40 | Panel: The state of the market
12:40 – 13:00 | Keynote: Terrence McLean, Co-Founder & CEO, SageSure
13:00 | Conference close
Keynote Speakers
Terrence McLean
Co-Founder & CEO
SageSure
William Pitt
Partner
Lexicon Associates
Kieran Sweeney
Executive Chairman
Dual Group
Panel discussions
Fronting carriers, collateral and the Vesttoo fallout
This panel will look at the state of play in the crowded fronting carrier sector. We’ll explore the growth prospects as new arrivals continue to emerge; the potential for consolidation; the evolution of the pure front v hybrid model; what alignment of interest really means; the specter of tail risk; and, of course, the use of collateral mechanisms and the fallout from Vesttoo.
Desmond Bohan
Managing Director, ProLink Solutions
BMS Re (moderator)
Ryan Armijo
President, Underwriting
Amwins
David Cleff
Executive Vice President
State National Companies
Matt FitzGerald
Managing Partner
Gallagher Re
Dawn Puro
Chief Underwriting Officer, EVP Casualty
R&Q Accredited
Greg Williams
Senior Director
AM Best
M&A, capital and capacity
The MGA sector is increasingly dominated by large platforms, often owned by retail or wholesale brokers. The panel will explore changing and increasingly strategic relationships with carriers and capacity; Lloyd’s appetite; the future for independent standalone MGAs; M&A valuations and activity and how they compare to the broader distribution space; the capital raising environment in 2024; access to alternative capacity; and more.
Michael Halsband
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery LLP (moderator)
Tony Ursano
Managing Partner/Co-Founder
Insurance Advisory Partners LLC
Steven Nigro
Managing Partner,
TAG Financial Institutions Group
Denise Walsh
General Counsel
Galway Holdings LP – Wholesale & Specialty Markets
Miles Wuller
President and CEO
Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers
Joe Zuk
Operating Partner
Altamont Capital Partners
The state of the market
The programs sector has been one of the fastest growing in the P&C industry. Our panel will look at the tailwinds propelling it forward; ask whether momentum will slow as headwinds emerge; look at the relationship with the wider market cycle; examine the role talent and technology is playing in driving the sector forward; identify emerging opportunities and threats; and more.
Erik Matson
Chairman & CEO
Transverse Insurance Group (moderator)
Simon Hedley
CEO
Acrisure Re
John B. Horton
Chief Market Officer, EVP
AmRisc
Kate Monahan
Head of Digital Partners, Insurance Programs
Munich Re
Tracey Sharis
President, North America Programs
Liberty Mutual Insurance's Global Risk Specialists Group
Amber Wayne
SVP, Professional Specialty Programs
Nationwide E&S/S Programs
Register
Earlybird rate: $1,095 per person (until 29 March only – $1,145 thereafter)
Subscriber rate: $995 per person (applicable to subscribers to The Insurer)
3 delegates package: $2,500 in total
(applicable to bookings of three tickets from the same company)
5 delegates package: $4,000 in total
(applicable to bookings of five tickets from the same company)
To secure your subscriber rate, or a group discounted rate, get in touch with Beatrice Boico at: beatrice@wbmediagroup.com
Conference tickets do not provide admission into the evening awards ceremony. If you wish to attend the awards, please get in touch with Spencer Halladey at spencer@wbmediagroup.com
or Andy Stone at andy@wbmediagroup.com to book a table.
About the awards
This event is almost sold out. If you are shortlisted but have not purchased a table you will unfortunately not be guaranteed a seat at the evening ceremony.
Following the morning conference, we’ll reconvene in the evening for the prestigious Program Manager Awards reception and dinner-style awards ceremony, providing a perfect setting for networking with senior peers both from the US and overseas.
This is an opportunity for you to shine and for us to recognise excellence in the market. It’ll also be a great environment for existing relationships to be nurtured and new ones to be formed.
For further details about the categories and how to enter, scroll down below or
click here to download the entry brochure.
Members of the judging panel will be announced in due course.
Awards Timings:
17:30 – 19:00 | Champagne reception
19:00 – 21:30 | Three course meal and awards ceremony
21:30 – 23:00
|
Drinks and networking
Attending the 2024 Awards:
Conference tickets do not provide admission into the evening awards ceremony. If you wish to attend the awards, please get in touch with Andy Stone andy@wbmediagroup.com to book a table.
Judges
Matt Beard
President - Global Programs
Howden Tiger
Tracey Carragher
Founder, Managing Partner
TCH Holdings, LLC
John Colis
President and CEO
Euclid Insurance Services President
Target Markets Program Administrators Association
Jeremy Hitzig
Co-founder
Starfish Specialty Programs
Christopher Munro
North American associate editor
The Insurer
Praveen K. Reddy
Advisor / Consultant
Former COO Velocity Risk, Velocity Specialty
Former Board Chair Insight Risk Technologies
Tracey Sharis
President, North America Programs
Liberty Mutual Insurance's Global Risk Specialists Group
Categories
INDIVIDUAL MGA OF THE YEAR
Entries to this flagship Program Manager award category will be MGAs, MGUs and Program Administrators in the US P&C marketplace, including those operating on larger platforms as well as independent players. Candidates must demonstrate a strong track record of delivering for their (re)insurance capacity providers in 2023 as well bringing specialty solutions to their distribution partners. Judges will consider evidence of premium growth and underwriting performance metrics where they can be provided (these will be treated as confidential information unless entries specify otherwise). The judging panel will also assess the impact of candidates on the sector through bringing new product, access to new markets for carrier partners, and providing a platform for entrepreneurial underwriting talent.
MGA PLATFORM OF THE YEAR
This category is open to platforms that house multiple MGAs, MGUs and Program Administrators, including established underwriting divisions of large intermediaries, start-up MGA platforms and incubator or infrastructure as a service platforms. The judging panel will assess the track record of candidates during the evaluation period (2023) in bringing new programs/MGAs to market, delivering consistent product and capacity to distribution partners, and providing a home for entrepreneurial underwriting talent. Judges will assess speed to market, infrastructure efficiencies, and for those platforms that are part of large intermediaries will evaluate the strategic role they play in their respective organizations. Judges will also consider any financial/underwriting performance metrics where they can be provided (these will be treated as confidential information unless entries specify otherwise).
PROGRAM INSURER OF THE YEAR
This category is open to all insurance companies writing program business in the US P&C sector as a traditional carrier. Successful candidates will be those that can demonstrate their commitment to the sector, the strategic importance of program business within their portfolios, strong underwriting performance and the provision of outstanding service to their distribution partners in the past year. They will also be assessed on their ability to innovate and develop unique specialty solutions that are the cornerstone of the US programs sector. Judges will consider any financial/underwriting performance metrics where they can be provided (these will be treated as confidential information unless entries specify otherwise).
FRONTING CARRIER OF THE YEAR
This category is open to pure fronting carriers and the growing number of hybrid fronting carriers operating in the sector. Candidates must demonstrate the value they bring to their reinsurance panels and MGA partners and must be able to clearly articulate what differentiates them in a crowded marketplace. They will be assessed on their ability to show that their growth and onboarding of programs is based on tight underwriting controls and due diligence, as well as the processes that provide their reinsurance partners with transparency around the performance of the programs they support. The winning candidate will be able to show that it is a long-term strategic partner that has the best interests of the health of the program sector at its core. Judges will consider any financial/underwriting performance metrics where they can be provided (these will be treated as confidential information unless entries specify otherwise).
PROGRAM INSURTECH OF THE YEAR
This category is open to insurtechs underwriting in the program sector that can demonstrate their use of new technology to bring product to the market. This can include the application of technological innovation to underwriting processes as well as distribution processes. Candidates must be able to show that the technology is at the core of their operating model and strategy and that its use is enabling programs to be written or distributed more efficiently and effectively, or to bring innovative new products to clients. They must also show traction and take-up in the market.
PROGRAM LAUNCH OF THE YEAR
This category is open to any new program launched in 2023. Candidates will be expected to articulate the unmet need their new program is designed to meet, the specialty aspect of it, any innovation involved bringing it to market, support from insurance and reinsurance capacity providers and take-up in the market post-launch. The winner will be the candidate that can best demonstrate the positive impact their new program has had on the marketplace and the specialty expertise and innovation behind it.
M&A ADVISOR OF THE YEAR
After another year of active M&A, fundraising and start-up activity in the US programs space, this category will award the advisory firm that made the most impact on the sector. Candidates will be expected to highlight the transactions they have been involved in and their role in bringing a successful outcome for all parties. The judges will not only look at the quantity and size of deals, but also their significance to the marketplace.
REINSURANCE BROKER OF THE YEAR
Reinsurance brokers are key to the process of launching programs and keeping them going by structuring reinsurance support and advising on almost all facets of the business. The category is open to all reinsurance intermediaries active in the US programs sector. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate the role they have played in securing capacity and structuring deals for new and established programs. The judging panel will also assess the scope of the practices of reinsurance brokers with a presence in the space, their investment in services to support the sector and their involvement in bringing innovative product to the marketplace.
INNOVATION IN PROGRAMS AWARD
This broad category is open to any participant in the US programs sector that can demonstrate they brought true innovation in 2023. Innovation could be in the form of product at the front end, providing infrastructure to rapidly launch programs, or new structures and sources of underwriting capacity from alternative capital providers. Candidates must articulate why their innovation was needed and the impact they expect it to have on the market. Judges will assess the level of innovation, the way it has been brought to market and the amount of traction it has gained in the market.
PROGRAM MANAGER RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
Talent is at the very core of the future success of the US programs sector. This category is intended to recognize the best up-and-coming talent at MGAs, MGUs, program administrators, program carriers and other participants in the sector that will form the next generation of leaders. Companies operating in the sector may nominate rising stars from within their organization or at counterparties and will be expected to detail the skills and achievements of their colleagues that warrant their inclusion in this category.
Program Manager outstanding contributor (no submissions)
The judging panel will grant this award to an individual they believe has made an outstanding contribution to the US programs sector in their career.
How to enter
Program Manager’s 2024 Awards ceremony is open to anyone who thinks that they, their colleague(s), team, company or client deserve recognition for an outstanding contribution to the program sector in the last year.
To submit a nomination, simply choose your category, write your entry and email it to Isabelle Brooker on isabelle.brooker@wbmediagroup.com, indicating what category you are submitting for and the title of your submission.
Entries can be accepted from the nominee, or you can nominate a candidate. Each entry should be a maximum of 500 words and lay out succinct evidence of achievement or an explanation as to why the achievement is significant.
We encourage nominations to include testimonials from colleagues, clients and other market participants as part of the submission, as well as any materials providing evidence of performance or other factors in support of the entry. We recommend that where possible for company submissions financial metrics are included that help demonstrate relevance and performance in the marketplace.
You can enter as many categories as you wish, where applicable, although only one entry per category per company can be accepted.
Evidence within entries should be for initiatives that took place substantively in 2023 or the first months of 2024.
All the information contained in the entries will be treated as confidential and will not be released without the permission of the entrant/nominee.
Outstanding contributor of the year will be decided independently by the judging panel. Entries for this category will not be accepted.
For any questions about entering the Program Manager Awards, please contact Isabelle Brooker at isabelle.brooker@wbmediagroup.com.
Entries close the 19th of April.
Venue
Headline sponsor
Sponsors
For all enquiries regarding the conference and awards ceremony, please contact Beatrice:
For all enquiries regarding sponsorship or to book a table at the Awards ceremony, please contact Spencer or Andy:
