The Next Big Thing at the Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium

The property/casualty insurance industry is undergoing substantial changes, from regulation to product delivery to technology.

One conference that tackles some of the most innovative ideas on how the insurance industry can change and grow is MarketScout’s annual Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium in Dallas, Sept. 14-15.

In its fourth year, the Symposium will host some 400 of the industry’s top forward-thinkers, says Richard Kerr, founder and CEO of MarketScout. Attendees range from C-level insurance company executives, to top retail and wholesale brokers, and even insurance industry investment bankers.

One thing all attendees have in common, according to Kerr, is their desire to find the next great idea for the insurance industry.

This is not the conference for complacency, Kerr says. “All of the people that are attending will be looking for the next new idea,” he says. “The people that are here are forward thinkers.”

Such innovators can also be found in the conference’s 14 speakers this year, which includes Aon’s former chairman, Patrick Ryan, who will be talking about his new and somewhat controversial venture Ryan Specialty Group. Other speakers include:

• Louis Caltavuturo, Partner at Hales & Company

• Robert Courtemanche, CEO of ACE Private Risk Services

• Lance J. Ewing, Vice President of National Accounts for Chartis

• Rod Fox, CEO of Tiger Risk Partners

• Henry Good, Risk Management Consultant for Wells Fargo

• William Hartnett, GM of Insurance, U.S. Financial Services Industry at Microsoft

• Kevin Kelley, CEO of Ironshore

• Richard Kerr, CEO of MarketScout

• John Kraska, Managing Partner at Hales & Company

• Dane Leavitt, Chairman and CEO of The Leavitt Group

• Clyde Owen, GM at LexisNexis

• Robert Purdy, Senior VP for Workers’ Compensation at ACE USA

• Jack Sennott, Jr., Executive VP & Chief Strategy Officer for AWAC

• Frank Sentner, Director of Strategic Technology at CIAB.

Insurance Journal is the official Media Partner for the Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium.

Kerr says he founded the Symposium because there was no forum in the industry to promote innovation and creativity.

“Each year there is an incredible number of new initiatives that are launched or connections made that end up being good for the industry as a whole,” Kerr says. As an example, Kerr says many of the investment banks that attended in previous years left the event with at least one deal completed. Many attendees come prepared with new business plans and new ideas, just the right fit for industry investors.

Attendance is capped at 400 to foster the right kind of environment for such dealings, Kerr says. Even so, last year the Symposium had attendees from 39 states and four foreign countries. Attendance will be similar this year, Kerr says.

For more information about attending, sponsorship or exhibiting at the Entrepreneurial Insurance Symposium, visit www.eInsuranceSymposium.com.