Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Ted Besesparis
2023 NU/PIA Independent Insurance Agent Survey
Independent insurance agents: Thriving in difficult times Part One: The 2023 NU/PIA Independent Insurance Agent Survey | *Respondents are overcoming adversity. *see responses to individual questions at this link By Elana Ashanti Jefferson and Ted Besesparis The 2023 Independent Insurance Agent Survey revealed that today’s insurance professionals are overcoming challenges to serve clients and grow their businesses.
Insurance agents still challenged by carrier system integration
The commercial insurance industry continues to show strong premium growth due to favorable trends in new business formation and improved risk management. More recent trends mean that insurers need to continue to focus on efficiency, modernization and organizational agility. Download this white paper and learn how you can align your leaders to identify, define and execute a strategy to leverage the opportunity the digital tipping point provides.
Independent insurance agents: Thriving in difficult times
The 2023 Independent Insurance Agent Survey revealed that today’s insurance professionals are overcoming challenges to serve clients and grow their businesses. (Adobe Stock) Like many other businesses, independent insurance agents and agencies in 2023 are weathering financial uncertainty, budget constraints, challenging partnerships, shifting customer demands, fussy technology, staffing shortages and increased catastrophe risk.
Attention insurance professionals: Don't click on that!
Employee susceptibility to cyber threats could be considered an occupational hazard. (Miha Creative/Adobe Stock) Take a look around your insurance organization. Can you see your biggest cybersecurity risk? If you guessed people, you’re right. Insurance agencies and brokerages are known for stellar customer service, going above and beyond to help clients as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The path forward for flood
Expert Opinion PIA National VP Ted Besesparis looks at the history of the NFIP and federal flood reform, and offers a pathway forward.
Cautious optimism: Some insurance issues in Congress may be favorable to agents
Independent agents have specific stakes in several high-profile issues being debated in Congress, including healthcare reform, renewal and reform of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and passage of a new Farm Bill in 2018. The most contentious and unpredictable issue facing Congress is health care. The effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has hit many bumps in the road.
Significant changes may be ahead for P&C insurance with Republican president and Congress
What we're experiencing now in Washington, D.C., doesn't happen often. Seldom does the arrival of a new Congress and Administration raise the prospect of widespread, broad and rapid changes in public policy. As President Trump gets accustomed to his new digs at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and the Republican majority in Congress prepares its proposals, a real chance exists for significant change.
Significant Changes Ahead
What we're experiencing now in Washington, D.C., doesn't happen often. Seldom does the arrival of a new Congress and Administration raise the prospect of widespread, broad and rapid changes in public policy. As President Trump gets accustomed to his new digs at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., and the Republican majority in Congress prepares its proposals, a real chance exists for significant change.
President-elect Trump likely to back broad insurance goals
This is not a good time to be trying to predict with accuracy how the insurance industry will fare in the wake of the 2016 elections. Much remains unknown. One factor that will come into play is the extent to which President-elect Donald Trump differs on some specific issues from the Republican Congress. Usually, when the same party holds the presidency and majorities in both houses of Congress, the picture is clear.
Insurance issues on the campaign trail
Flood, state regulation and fiduciary rules among issues Congress may consider. (Image: iStock) Members of Congress are concerned about re-election and the political system is in a state of upheaval. Against this backdrop, it's fair to assume that there will be little action on significant insurance legislation until the dust settles. What is harder to predict is the shape of the post-election landscape's effect on insurance issues.
EgyptAir jet-crash search team retrieves voice recorder from sea
(Bloomberg) -- Air-crash investigators said the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir Flight 804 has been retrieved from the eastern Mediterranean, four weeks after the jet disappeared from radar screens with 66 people on board. The so-called black box was damaged but its memory unit is intact, Egypt’s Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement Thursday.
W.R. Berkley hires ex-Morgan Stanley banker for strategy
Former Morgan Stanley investment banker Jared Abbey has been appointed senior VP for corporate strategy and development at W.R. Berkley. (Photo: Thinkstock)(Bloomberg) -- W.R. Berkley Corp., the Greenwich, Connecticut-based commercial insurer, named former Morgan Stanley investment banker Jared Abbey as senior vice president for corporate strategy and development.
‘Orthodoxies’ keep insurers from disrupting themselves
The insurance industry is facing a number of existential challenges, yet most insurers have been reluctant to reinvent their products and operations, maintaining the status quo based on a series of long-held “orthodoxies” that may no longer shield them from long-term disruption.
Social media is a tool to fight insurance fraud
Social media can be used to influence consumers against insurance fraud. (Photo: Coalition Against Insurance Fraud) Insurance scams are popular chatter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and other well-trafficked social sites. Dwell there long enough, and you see a lot of honest people who think insurance fraud is repugnant. Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to PropertyCasualty360.com, part of your ALM digital membership.
French insurers meet to assess worst floods in 30 years
(Bloomberg) -- Insurance executives meet with government officials in Paris Monday to assess the cost of flooding in the Centre and Ile-de-France regions as the Seine river recedes from its highest levels in more than three decades. The river flowing through the French capital was 5.5 meters (18 feet) above its normal level at 6 p.m. Sunday after reaching at 6.10 meters at 2 a.m. on Saturday, according to Vigicrues, the French floods watchdog.
Road trip! 7 safe driving tips for new graduates
Summer’s almost here and new drivers will be on the road to celebrate. (Photo: iStock)Whether they’re graduating from high school or college, many new graduates will be on the roads this summer to celebrate their hard work. From parties to weekend getaways to road trips, young drivers will be on the road often this summer and need to keep some safety tips in mind. Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to PropertyCasualty360.com, part of your ALM digital membership.
Possible tropical system forecast to menace Florida next week
(Image: National Hurricane Center)(Bloomberg) -- The second tropical storm in about a week may be threatening Florida by Monday if conditions keep deteriorating in the western Caribbean Sea. An area of rain and thunderstorms now drifting toward Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has a 60% chance of becoming a tropical system in the next five days, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami.
People on the move in the P&C insurance industry: June 3, 2016
(Photo: Shutterstock/Rawpixel)Boston-based Property & Casualty insurer Liberty Mutual Insurance said it has made three senior promotions in its Commercial Insurance operating unit: Mike Fallon to president of national insurance from chief financial officer of commercial insurance. He joined Liberty Mutual in 1993. Steve McAnena to president of business Insurance from president of Liberty Mutual Benefits. He joined in 1993.
How long will congressional action be generally favorable?
For almost a year now, Congress has been acting favorably on many of the issues important to independent insurance agencies. The question is, how long will this last? The list of legislative victories to this point has been impressive. Some of the wins include the following: (Photo: Shutterstock)
How long will congressional action be generally favorable for independent insurance agents?
For almost a year now, Congress has been acting favorably on many of the issues important to independent insurance agencies. The question is, how long will this last? The list of legislative victories to this point has been impressive. Some of the wins include the following: Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to PropertyCasualty360.com, part of your ALM digital membership. Benefits: Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360.com content isn’t changing.
Business networking: How to end a conversation
If you don’t know how to start a conversation, ending one shouldn’t be much of a problem. Starting a conversation, however, is more important than ending a conversation. That said, both have to happen, and can be dicey if not done properly, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing or why you’re in the conversation in the first place. Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to PropertyCasualty360.com, part of your ALM digital membership.
7 ways to increase your work-at-home productivity
Working remotely can have many advantages ... and disadvantages. (Photo: iStock) Houston, we have a problem ... when the words "work from home" conjure images such as sinking into the couch, lounging at a trendy coffee house or sunning yourself in a beach chair. All of these are common stereotypes held by people who don’t work from home about those who do. Miriam Carey is a business owner who has worked from home for the past three years.
Let’s ax the “Cadillac tax”
Two bills have been introduced in Congress to fix a major flaw in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that threatens to deny health coverage to millions of middle-class Americans, and agents and brokers selling all lines of business ought to unite in support of those bills. Much has been said and written about a provision included in ACA that has been dubbed the “Cadillac Tax.” The tax is a 40 percent excise tax that will be levied on so-called “overly generous” employer-sponsored health plans.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Ted
Contact Ted, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack