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Builders Mutual Named to Ward’s 50 Top Performing Companies for Safety, Consistency, and Performance

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Builders Mutual Named to Ward’s 50 Top Performing Companies for Safety, Consistency, and Performance

RALEIGH, N.C. – Builders Mutual is proud to announce it has been named to the prestigious Ward’s 50 group of top performing companies for the second consecutive year. The recognition focuses on Builders Mutual’s outstanding financial results in the areas of safety, consistency, and performance over a five-year period (2015-2019).

This annual designation from the industry-leading organization, Ward Group, identifies companies that pass financial stability requirements and measure their ability to grow while maintaining strong capital positions and underwriting results. To be awarded this designation, insurance companies must pass thresholds of performance and excellence.

“Being recognized by the Ward Group in the esteemed Ward’s 50 for the second consecutive year is a testament to Builders Mutual’s continued financial strength over the past 5 years,” said John Boggs, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Earning this recognition is a team effort that begins with our employees.  As a company, we are committed to caring for our customers, valuing teamwork and delivering results.”

Ward Group is the trusted leader of benchmarking and best practices services for the insurance industry. For the past 30 years, the firm has analyzed the financial performance of nearly 3,000 property-casualty insurance companies and 700 life-health insurance companies, identifying the top performers per segment.

About Ward Benchmarking: Ward Group is the leading provider of benchmarking and best practices studies for the insurance industry. They analyze staff levels, compensation, business practices, and expenses for all areas of company operations and help insurers to measure results compared to peer groups, optimize performance, and improve profitability. Since 1991, Ward has performed more than 3,000 operational and compensation benchmarking exercises for companies of all sizes, including more than half of the top 100 U.S. insurance carriers. For more information, visit ward.aon.com.

About Aon: Aon plc (NYSE:AON) is a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Their 50,000 colleagues in 120 countries empower results for clients by using proprietary data and analytics to deliver insights that reduce volatility and improve performance. For further information on Aon capabilities, visit http://aon.mediaroom.com.  

About Builders Mutual: Headquartered in North Carolina, Builders Mutual is one of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast’s leading writers of commercial insurance for the construction industry.  Since its inception, Builders Mutual has broadened its territory beyond North Carolina to include the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. The company provides coverage to more than 26,000 policyholders through more than 5,000 sales agents and employs more than 370 staff at its Raleigh headquarters.

Keystone Expands in Mid-Atlantic Region With the Rick Leet Agency in Pennsylvania

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Keystone Expands in Mid-Atlantic Region With the Rick Leet Agency in Pennsylvania

NORTHUMBERLAND, Pa. – Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) continues its expansion in the Mid-Atlantic region by bringing the Rick Leet Agency of Lakewood, Pennsylvania into its community.

“The Rick Leet Agency is another perfect fit for Keystone’s community,” said Jim Trotter, interim state vice president for Pennsylvania. “This partnership will provide resources that strengthen their agency while allowing them to remain independent.”

“We are excited to partner with Keystone, as they share our core belief that relationships matter,” said Rick Leet, owner, and agency principal. “With Keystone’s support, we will be able to continue to implement agency best practices and be our clients’ preferred agency for generations to come.”

About the Rick Leet Agency–The agency was established in 1938 by principal Rick Leet’s grandfather. His father took over the agency which became Nationwide Insurance in 1961. Rick came on board in 1983 and started an agency from scratch as his father was not ready to retire. He doubled the agency in three years. In 2019, Rick went independent from Nationwide and created his own firm. The agency writes a sizeable share of financial services business.

About Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) — Keystone started in 1983 when four independent insurance agencies teamed up to pool their experience and expertise. Growing to almost 300 independent agency partners in 14 states, Keystone provides its agents with a community of like-minded agencies, industry expertise and access to specialized products for their clients. Keystone is ranked number three on Insurance Journal’s 2019 list of Top 20 Agency Partnerships. For more information, go to www.keystoneinsgrp.com.

AIR Worldwide Releases Updated Hurricane and Inland Flood Models for the United States

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AIR Worldwide Releases Updated Hurricane and Inland Flood Models for the United States

BOSTON — Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide (AIR) announced today that it has updated its Hurricane and Inland Flood Models for the United States. The update for the hurricane model features a new module for precipitation-induced flood risk, while the flood model includes major enhancements to both hazard and vulnerability, including a new, higher-resolution digital terrain model. Taken together, the updates to these models will help insurers and reinsurers enhance their risk management and have a unified and comprehensive view of flood risk across the United States and for all property lines of business. AIR Worldwide is a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business.

The 2017 and 2018 Atlantic hurricane seasons set records for precipitation and left lasting impacts from the severe flooding brought on by intense storms. In addition to non-tropical extreme precipitation events, stalling tropical systems have increased in frequency and severity over the past century. In August 2017 Hurricane Harvey flooded Texas with record-breaking rainfall, and in September 2018 Hurricane Florence brought severe flooding to the Carolinas. The extreme precipitation events in the past decade have brought to the forefront the importance of modeling flood risk outside floodplains.

“By leveraging innovative methodologies that realistically simulate rainfall patterns of tropical cyclones using advanced machine learning techniques, we updated the hurricane model to include the explicit and probabilistic modeling of precipitation-induced flooding associated with hurricanes,” said Dr. Boyko Dodov, vice president, research, AIR Worldwide. “Together, these models provide a unified view of flood risk from all sources—tropical and non-tropical precipitation on- and-off the floodplains and coastal storm surge—across the contiguous United States.”

The updated AIR Inland Flood Model incorporates a physically-based 2-dimensional (2D) shallow water wave model to simulate off-plain flood risk over the contiguous U.S. By more accurately modeling all surface water flooding during an event, modeling both the flow from rivers onto land and the flooding over areas away from rivers, the updated Inland Flood Model provides a complete view of U.S. inland flood risk, both on and off the floodplains.

In addition, the model leverages several loss data sets for model loss validation. Close to USD 70 billion of actual National Flood Insurance Programs (NFIP) loss data were used in validating the model, taken from over four decades, from 1978 through 2018. To evaluate non-residential losses, the model relies on more than a decade of private market insured loss data assets from Verisk businesses Xactware® and PCS®, as well as company claims data.

Engineers at AIR validated each component of the model to ensure the most robust results. For validating precipitation-induced flooding damage functions vast amounts of data was collected from such sources as the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

The AIR Hurricane and Inland Flood Models for the U.S. employ the same, component-level vulnerability framework to quantify losses from inland flooding and hurricane precipitation events. The same primary and secondary risk features are available and applied for both of the models. In the case that information about secondary features are not available, AIR offers the first market-wide solution to account for community-level flood regulations, including sound first-floor height assumptions. In addition, the framework explicitly models large industrial facilities, accounting for different types of mitigation features, and other specialty lines.

“When the AIR Hurricane and the Inland Flood Models for the U.S. are used in combination, they provide one unified view of precipitation hazard,” said Dr. Cagdas Kafali, senior vice president, research, AIR Worldwide. “These high-resolution, physically-based catastrophe models can simulate both tropical and non-tropical precipitation realistically, allowing insurers to expand into new markets profitably and cover the flood insurance gap.”

The AIR Hurricane and AIR Inland Flood Models for the United States are available in the 2020 releases of Touchstone® and Touchstone Re catastrophe risk management systems.

About AIR Worldwide
AIR Worldwide (AIR) provides risk modeling solutions that make individuals, businesses, and society more resilient to extreme events. In 1987, AIR Worldwide founded the catastrophe modeling industry and today models the risk from natural catastrophes, terrorism, pandemics, casualty catastrophes, and cyber attacks globally. Insurance, reinsurance, financial, corporate, and government clients rely on AIR’s advanced science, software, and consulting services for catastrophe risk management, insurance-linked securities, site-specific engineering analyses, and agricultural risk management. AIR Worldwide, a Verisk (Nasdaq:VRSK) business, is headquartered in Boston, with additional offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.air-worldwide.com.

Keystone Expands in Great Lakes Region With Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors in Illinois

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Keystone Expands in Great Lakes Region With Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors in Illinois

NORTHUMBERLAND, Pa. – Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) continues its expansion in the Great Lakes region by bringing Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors (Dansig) of Decatur, Illinois into its community.

“Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors is a longstanding, well-respected and growing agency in their community. Dan, Darren, and the agency are excited to continue that growth with Keystone by utilizing our exclusive risk management services and the intellectual capital they’ll gain from other partners,” explained Matt Fink, state vice president for Illinois. “Working with the agency the past few months, I have come to respect the dedication they have for their clients and business. This is the exact agency we look for in a Keystone partner.”

“I have had the great opportunity to meet Keystone’s Illinois partners and hear the interaction from other like-minded principals,” said Dan Reynolds, Dansig president and CEO. “The carriers, efficiencies, and value-adds that Keystone brings for our clients were key in our decision to join. With this partnership, Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors remains independent and family owned. Dansig’s trademarked ‘Risklock’ process and now Keystone will bring more advantages to our clients.”

About Dansig Insurance Risk Advisors–The agency was established in 1972 by Dan and Darren’s father and has grown to over 30 employees today with a strong mix of commercial and employee benefits business. The agency targets the Decatur, Springfield and St. Louis regions. They actively support community organizations including youth sports and the Decatur Regional Chamber of Commerce. For more, visit https://dansig.com/.

About Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) — Keystone started in 1983 when four independent insurance agencies teamed up to pool their experience and expertise. Growing to almost 300 independent agency partners in 14 states, Keystone provides its agents with a community of like-minded agencies, industry expertise and access to specialized products for their clients. Keystone is ranked number three on Insurance Journal’s 2019 list of Top 20 Agency Partnerships. For more information, go to www.keystoneinsgrp.com.

A.M. Best Affirms Rating of “A+” (Superior) for Western National Insurance Group, Upgrades Affiliate Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company to “A” (Excellent) Rating

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A.M. Best Affirms Rating of “A+” (Superior) for Western National Insurance Group, Upgrades Affiliate Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company to “A” (Excellent) Rating

Western National Insurance Group today announced that A.M. Best Company has affirmed the Group’s “A+” (Superior) financial strength rating and upgraded affiliate Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company’s Financial Strength Rating (FSR) from “A-“ (Excellent) to “A” (Excellent), effective immediately.

According to A.M. Best, the affirmation in rating reflects the Group’s strong operating performance, risk-adjusted capitalization, and balance sheet. The outlook for Western National Insurance Group and Michigan Millers ratings are “stable.”

“We are pleased to have our Group’s long-term performance and stability as well as our affiliate’s consistent performance recognized by A.M. Best,” said Rick Long, President of Western National Insurance Group. “Both of these rating results point to the hard work of our employees and agency partners, as well as to the successful execution of our business plan. We look forward to building on these positive results throughout 2020 and in the years to come for the continued financial protection of our policyholders.”

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the insurance industry. The company is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source.

Western National Insurance, headquartered in Edina, Minn., is a super-regional group of property-and-casualty insurance companies. The Group writes business through eight active insurance companies—Western National Mutual Insurance Company, Western National Assurance Company, Pioneer Specialty Insurance Company, Western Home Insurance Company, Arizona Auto Insurance Company, Umialik Insurance Company, American Freedom Insurance Company, and Nevada General Insurance Company — and is affiliated with Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company. Together, the affiliated companies write over $800 million in personal and commercial Direct Premium in 22 states across the Northern, Midwestern, and Western U.S. as well as in Alaska; and surety bonds in 41 states. All of the affiliated companies’ products are sold exclusively through professional Independent Insurance Agents.

Liberty Mutual Appoints Janelle Edem Senior Vice President, Global Risk Solutions

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Liberty Mutual Appoints Janelle Edem Senior Vice President, Global Risk Solutions

BOSTON – Liberty Mutual Insurance has appointed Janelle Edem Senior Vice President, Global Risk Solutions (GRS), Liberty Mutual’s global commercial and specialty lines (re)insurer, which provides a full range of innovative traditional insurance, specialty and reinsurance risk solutions to businesses around the world.

Reporting to GRS President Dennis Langwell, Edem will lead GRS’ strategic planning and process excellence work. She will continue to serve as GRS Chief of Staff, a position to which she was appointed early last year.

“Janelle has been a valued member of the GRS executive leadership team over the past 15 months,” notes Langwell.  “Her knowledge of our industry, business and customer expectations will be important to our long-term vision and strategy planning process. She has been a model leader, helping to foster a diverse, inclusive culture at Liberty Mutual through her active engagement with our employee resource groups and commitment to mentoring others.”

Edem joined Liberty Mutual in 2005 after graduating from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, with a Master of Business Administration. Since joining Liberty Mutual as a management consultant in the corporate strategy group, she has held roles in managed care, claims, advanced analytics and client management.

Edem – recognized in 2015 by Wharton School’s Boston chapter with the Joseph Wharton Alumni Leader Award – also participated in the Next Generation Leadership program from The Partnership Inc., a leading organization that supports multicultural professionals at all levels in an increasingly diverse and global workforce. Additionally, Edem is a member of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Leadership Board.

Second Annual Nationwide Survey Conducted by Church Mutual Shows More Worshippers Feel Safe from Physical and Cyber Dangers in 2020 Than in 2019 – Despite Their Top Fears of Malicious Attacks and Natural Disasters

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Second Annual Nationwide Survey Conducted by Church Mutual Shows More Worshippers Feel Safe from Physical and Cyber Dangers in 2020 Than in 2019 – Despite Their Top Fears of Malicious Attacks and Natural Disasters

MERRILL, Wis. – As coronavirus restrictions ease and places of worship slowly begin to open their doors, many worshippers are eager to return to their spiritual sanctuaries. Surprisingly, considering these turbulent times, the overwhelming majority of Americans polled by Church Mutual Insurance Company feel their houses of worship are, indeed, safe sanctuaries – even more than in 2019.

“All faith leaders want to offer their members a safe place to worship”

According to the second annual House of Worship Safety and Security Study1 by Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. (a stock insurer)2, the nation’s leading insurer of religious organizations, 96% of Americans now say that they feel safe where they worship, compared to 88% polled in 2019. The national online survey, using a sample representative of the U.S. census, was conducted during the week of February 24, 2020. It surveyed 1,009 adults who identified with a religious denomination and reported attending religious services.

For many respondents, the increased feeling of safety stems from knowing their religious organization is taking steps to prevent what they consider to be the top two dangers: the threat of physical violence from malicious armed intruders and natural disasters, respectively. In the new survey, when respondents were asked whether they knew of their church or house of worship implementing a prevention/response plan, only 20% said they didn’t know, compared to 30% in 2019.

While feelings of safety have increased since 2019, most worshippers still expect their institution to keep them informed of preventive measures and response planning – whether or not they knew if a plan was in place. When asked what a church or place of worship should do to make its members feel safer, the top response, at 59%, was “communicate and educate congregants,” closely followed by “train staff and volunteers,” “work with local law enforcement” and “implement response plans.”

Armed intruders and physical violence remain worshippers’ top safety concern in 2020, as in 2019. Yet according to FBI data, places of worship accounted for only 4% of 250 active shootings in the United States between 2000 and 2017. Congregants are also becoming increasingly concerned about sexual misconduct.

“All faith leaders want to offer their members a safe place to worship,” said Rich Poirier, Church Mutual president and CEO. “Fortunately, some of the most effective safety prevention tactics are the simplest – from controlling access to entrances during services to teaching members to report the warning signs of violence.”

“We recommend that faith leaders invest the time to create formalized safety and security plans – and to review them regularly while conducting practice drills. Not only do these plans have the potential to save lives, but by keeping members informed of your preventive measures, you’ll also help to alleviate their fears.”

Churches and places of worship can get a head start on their safety and security plans at no cost, using a robust toolkit of resources created by Church Mutual to help assess risks and create and implement a safety and security plan.

About Church Mutual

Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. (a stock insurer)1, founded in 1897, offers specialized insurance for religious organizations of all denominations, public and private K-12 schools, colleges and universities, senior living facilities, secular and non-secular camps and conference centers, and nonprofit and human services organizations throughout the United States. Church Mutual markets most lines of commercial property and liability insurance, including multi-peril, workers’ compensation and commercial auto insurance. In addition to insurance, Church Mutual provides a spectrum of value-added solutions that benefit its customers. Church Mutual holds the following honors:

  • M. Best Company “A” (excellent) rating
  • BenchmarkPortal Top 10 National Customer Service Center
  • Wisconsin 75 Top Private Company by Deloitte US, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019
  • Wisconsin 75 Distinguished Performer: Innovation by Deloitte US 2019
  • Futuremakers Partner by Wisconsin Technical College System
  • Celent Model Insurer for innovation and emerging technologies
  • Award in Innovation for entrepreneurialism and innovation by National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies
  • 2018-2019 Employer of the Year by Northcentral Technical College

1Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I., conducted an online survey through SMS Research Advisors, The Church Mutual House of Worship Safety and Security Study in February 2020 with a nationally representative sample of 1,009 ages 18+.

2Church Mutual is a stock insurer whose policyholders are members of the parent mutual holding company formed on 1/1/20. S.I. = a stock insurer.

The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Honored With 2020 Disability Matters Award

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The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company Honored With 2020 Disability Matters Award

ORSHAM, Pa. – The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company (Penn Mutual), a Fortune 1000 company, recently received a 2020 North America Disability Matters Marketplace Award recognizing efforts for outreach and engagement with consumers with disabilities and those who have children and other dependents with special needs. Meg Muldoon, assistant vice president, advanced markets, accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Penn Mutual was honored for developing Advocating for a Bright Future – a company-wide initiative to train and equip Penn Mutual field leaders and financial professionals on how to incorporate the benefits of life insurance as part of a comprehensive special needs plan. In the first two years of the program, 50 financial professionals and staff members attended training forums to learn how to best work with and serve the special needs community.

“Knowing that nearly one-fifth of all Americans — more than 56 million people — have a disability, and close to 30% of all families have a family member with a disability, we recognized the need to educate our field leaders, financial professionals and staff members on how life insurance can be used to help families facing these challenges,” said Muldoon. “Penn Mutual encourages financial professionals to provide meaningful financial guidance that addresses the complex needs of this community.”

The Disability Matters Awards, presented annually by Springboard Consulting, honors companies for their innovative programs in the special needs market. The Honorees represent the “best of the best” when it comes to the commitment required and actions necessary for disability inclusion; shining a spotlight on companies that have had successes in mainstreaming people with disabilities in their workforce, workplace and/or marketplace. Amazon, American Airlines, and Royal Caribbean International were also recognized with 2020 Marketplace Awards.

About The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company
Since 1847, Penn Mutual has been committed to helping people live life with confidence. At the heart of this purpose is the belief that life insurance is central to a sound financial plan. Through our network of trusted financial professionals, we are dedicated to helping individuals, families and businesses achieve their dreams. Penn Mutual supports its financial professionals with retirement and investment services through Hornor, Townsend & Kent, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Visit Penn Mutual at www.pennmutual.com.

EMC Receives Two Innovation Awards from National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies

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EMC Receives Two Innovation Awards from National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies

DES MOINES, Iowa — EMC Insurance Companies was recognized as the winner of two innovation awards: the Best in Category – Creativity and Best in Category – Conference Alignment awards, by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) during their annual Award in Innovation presentation on July 1, 2020.

“We are so grateful to NAMIC for recognizing the great strides we’ve made in our innovative journey over the past few years,” said EMC President and CEO Scott Jean. “In addition to our extensive involvement in the insurtech space, we have been particularly focused on engaging all of our team members in fostering a culture of innovation. These efforts have helped move our organization forward, and we are eager to capitalize on our innovative momentum through the remainder of 2020 and beyond.”

These national awards were created by NAMIC in 2014 to recognize mutual insurers that exemplify the vision and entrepreneurialism it takes to stay relevant in changing times.

“EMC clearly believes innovation is re-shaping our industry and that it is critical we respond to, research, embrace and implement innovative technologies, processes and ways of thinking to move our industry forward,” said Chuck Chamness, NAMIC president and CEO. “Innovation ensures that the industry stays competitive and provides the high level of service policyholders have come to rely on. I am grateful for the ingenuity and commitment EMC has contributed to the insurance industry.”

Founded in 1895, NAMIC is the largest property/casualty trade association in the country, and serves its 1,400 member companies in the areas of advocacy and education.

EMC Insurance Companies Named a 2020 Top Workplace in Minnesota

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EMC Insurance Companies Named a 2020 Top Workplace in Minnesota

DES MOINES, Iowa — EMC Insurance Companies has been named a 2020 Top Workplace in Minnesota by the Star Tribune. The rankings in the Star Tribune Top 150 Workplaces are based on survey information collected by Energage, an independent company specializing in employee engagement and retention. Nearly 3,000 companies were invited to participate and rankings were composite scores calculated purely on the basis of employee responses.

“We are so proud to be named one of Minnesota’s top workplaces and are grateful to the Star Tribune for this recognition,” said Jerry Harlow, Resident Vice President and Minneapolis Branch Manager. “It’s an honor for me to work alongside this team, and every day I see the incredible dedication they bring to serving our agents and clients. This award is a reflection of that.”

Produced by the same team that compiles the 29-year-old Star Tribune 100 report of the best-performing public companies in Minnesota, Top Workplaces recognizes the most progressive companies in Minnesota based on employee opinions measuring engagement, organizational health and satisfaction. The analysis included responses from over 76,000 employees at Minnesota public, private and nonprofit organizations.

Star Tribune Publisher Michael J. Klingensmith said, “The companies in the Star Tribune Top 150 Workplaces deserve high praise for creating the very best work environments in the state of Minnesota. My congratulations to each of these exceptional companies.”

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