The 100 Best Insurance Leaders in the USA | Hot 100

Non-life (property and casualty) sector:

• Underwriting gain of $9.3 billion in the first quarter of 2024 – a significant recovery from the $8.5 billion loss in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.
   

• The industry’s combined ratio improved to 94.2 percent in the same quarter, year over year, driven by multiple rate increases in the personal lines sector, which outpaced claims costs.
   

• Pretax operating income increased by 332 percent to US$30 billion in the first quarter of 2024, year over year, which was bolstered by underwriting gains and a 33 percent increase in earned net investment income. The sector’s net premium growth of 7.4 percent, combined with a 2.2 percent reduction in incurred losses and loss-adjustment expenses, further strengthened its financial position in the same period.

Life and annuity sector:

• Total US annuity sales increased 23 percent year over year to US$385 billion in 2023, led by a 36 percent jump in fixed annuities, to US$286.2 billion.
   

• In the first half of 2024, total US annuity sales rose 19 percent to US$215.2 billion, year over year, with registered index-linked annuities and fixed-income annuities setting new records. 

Another of the Hot 100, Deborah Dioguardi, Jencap’s professional lines national practice leader, relates her success to getting back to basics amid fierce competition.

“It’s a soft market in professional liability and there’s a lot of capacity, a lot of people to keep happy, a lot of carriers that we’re dealing with. It’s not an easy marketplace for us to grow, but we are growing,” she says.

And Dioguardi, who took on her role in March 2023, continues, “I’m proud of how hard everyone has worked on the team to grow. We’re substantially a new business, which is amazing in this marketplace right now for professional lines. We’re going out and looking for it, we’re getting it and being successful with it.”
 

The US insurance market is projected to:

• reach a market size of $3.79 trillion in gross written premium (GWP) in 2024
   

• have an average spend per capita expected to amount to $11,080

The US also holds the highest nominal value globally and is expected to grow to 3.49 percent annually, resulting in a market volume of $4.50 trillion by 2029.

Nate Reznicek, also part of the Hot 100, has played his part in this upward trajectory.
 

“We are fiercely independent. If we don’t save our clients a whole bunch of money, then we don’t get paid anything and that’s where we’re always focused”
Nate ReznicekCaptives Insure

As president of Captives Insure based in Knoxville, TN, he finds ways for clients to take risks and transactions where their captives act as reinsurers. In the instance where they don’t want to keep all the liability, he helps find others reinsurance so clients keep as much of their money as possible inside of their own insurance companies.

“Our whole business model is centered around making sure that we get as much money back in premiums that our clients are paying into their own captive insurance company. So, the more successful we are at doing that, the more profitable our clients become, and then the better they manage their own risk,” says Reznicek.

Over 2024, he has moved the needle by:

• writing a net-new GWP of $63.4 million 
   

• solutions returning anywhere between 50 percent and 85 percent of GWP as reinsurance premium to the captives; these placements returned a combined $41 million

Captives Insure also launched the first open distribution, turnkey captive reinsurance solution, EmpoweredRE. It targets clients, particularly in property and casualty, who pay high premiums but don’t have a lot of claims – and it has been well received.

“For folks over the past 12–18 months that may have been in your habitational spaces or dealing with wildfire exposures, for general liability or any need for property coverage, our solution has been quite a boon for them as they’ve been fighting the trend of the insurance market going up, while they’re also trying to keep all of their costs down as low as they possibly can,” Reznicek says.

Similarly satisfied with a banner year across 2024 is Jeff Rodriguez, president and CEO of Brown & Riding, one of the nation’s largest fully independent privately owned E&S wholesale brokerages. However, he didn’t expect it to be that way.
 

“My strength is recognizing my weaknesses and finding partners that are complementary and supportive of each other”
Jeff RodriguezBrown & Riding

Rodriguez says, “If you watch the earnings reports of all the public brokers, both retailers and wholesale, where available you are seeing a tapering of organic growth and earnings. To some extent, I would have thought that would have been more this year. I didn’t think it was going to be as good a year for us.”

Rodriguez pinpoints dealing with uncertainty as the biggest challenge insurance leaders like him have navigated.

“Planning is much more challenging today than it’s ever been and more difficult because of the uncertainty as the indicators are not as clear maybe as they have been in the past.”

That Brown & Riding has delivered even though planning is a challenge is testament to their approach and, under Rodriguez's leadership, the firm follows a consistent strategy.

“That is to invest in our people and focus on our customers to build an organic growth machine and a people development machine. The tactics around that may change from year to year depending on circumstances, but the strategy is always the same, so we’re very boring in that way,” he explains. “We’re committed to remaining independent and that’s our number one goal, and we don’t have radical shifts in strategy. We stay in our lane and do what we do well and do it right.”

Insurance is adjusting the inclusion of ESG into its process along with a greater focus on climate change.

Jencap’s Canaan Crouch, executive vice president of environmental and energy practice, is perfectly placed to guide his firm. As a former geologist, his science background allows him to add value beyond insurance expertise.

Crouch and his team find coverage solutions for hard-to-place risks, including construction and demolition sites, storage tank installation and removal, hazmat cleanup, industrial manufacturing, plus mold, asbestos, and lead abatement.

He says, “I get a number of common questions: one is climate change, one is ESG, and neither of those are insured in the domestic insurance marketplace in the US. Some climate change exposures may be addressed in the reinsurance market, but what we’re doing is we’re cleaning up contaminated properties.”

“I swing my feet over the bed every morning, I get up and I grind”
Canaan CrouchJencap Group

Over the past 12 months, Crouch has managed $60 million GWP in business.

“It was a challenging year. Looking at production of revenue, it was difficult because of compression in pricing. There’s quite a bit more competition, not only in the carrier community but also in the broker community. So, you have to defend your existing book of business, and you’re grinding really hard to gain new unit counts and grow that book,” he explains.

Apart from relying on expertise and reputation, Crouch is like many of his fellow Hot 100 in that he doubled down in 2024 to get through a tough time with price compression.

“I think it’s because I was an athlete growing up. I enjoy adversity and the challenge. I don’t give up,” he says.

Another member of the Hot 100 who can relate to that is Nora Deveau.

Back in August, Arch Insurance North America acquired the US MidCorp and Entertainment insurance businesses, including select specialty insurance programs, from Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS), for $450 million.

“My style is to listen to people. I want their input. I like contrarian voices. I want different ideas at the table and then I balance what the best result is for the organization”
Nora DeveauArch Insurance

The businesses acquired written by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and its subsidiaries collectively totaled $1.7 billion of gross premium written in 2023.

“I had not managed an acquisition or an integration like that before. We are currently knee deep in it and it’s been good, but each day presents a different challenge,” explains Arch’s deputy chief claims officer. “Whether it’s a system or process gap or something that we need to figure out, all the while we’re trying to ensure that our new colleagues invest themselves in our culture, that they avail themselves of it, and that we are reaching out to them as much as we can.”

Also on the Hot 100 is Arch Insurance’s Mark Lange. As the acquisition was announced, he was promoted to chief middle market executive. In his new role, the challenge was for him to pull back and focus his attention on where it mattered.
 

“I was fortunate early in my career to have a few people that took me under their wing. Now, I’m in a position where I can give that back to others and help them learn and share some of my mistakes”
Mark LangeArch Insurance

“It’s a big business that we’re acquiring, and when we’ve done acquisitions, I’ve been used to being able to have my hands on everything,” he shares. “I couldn’t do that in this case because it was such a big and complicated transaction. There were so many people involved and so the opportunity for me was to really learn how to rely heavily on the great team that we have. I had to understand what are the areas that I should be spending my time on and where I can create value.”

While conceding that the buck stops with her when any claims adjuster gets involved, Deveau’s leadership style has been a big part of why the integration has gone smoothly.

She says, “I’m very personally invested, transparent and committed. I like people to feel that they’re part of the decision-making process, that they understand how they affect the outcome.”

And she continues, “Where I might be a little different from maybe others outside and I think we have a team of leaders in Arch who are like this, we really are interested in the larger success and in each other’s success. I’m in constant communication, trying to understand the other divisions’ problems. I can’t necessarily solve all of them, but I try to partner with what claims can do and do our part.”

Alliant’s Pipitone is part of the Americas division and oversees the East region where all the property and casualty managers report to her. Part of her success is down to remaining on top of things.

“I meet with the managers every other week. I get a report on what’s happening in all of the offices and where some offices might be struggling, whether it’s with the facility not working, or the staffing not being there, or the process not being followed, or maybe they’re not compliant,” she comments.

The biggest challenge of 2024 for her was bringing people back to the office, not just for their benefit but the greater good, which she explains as being about maintaining culture, which in her view is harder to do with remote working.
 

“I try to make sure that I have my ear to the ground, and I understand what’s happening in every single office, so we keep pushing the culture, the message, and the support to be successful”
Catherine PipitoneAlliant Insurance Services

“It was about trying to get everyone to come back and understand that this is not meant to be punitive in any way. It’s really about bringing everyone together to strengthen the business, and to also help them grow and develop. The hardest thing was having people understand why it was important to come back, be present, and develop,” says Pipitone.

This chimes with Jencap’s Dioguardi, who is responsible for recruiting new talent. Ensuring new people fit the culture is crucial and that means being both self-motivated but also a team player.

“We’re really trying to build a culture of Jencap. When I’m looking for producers, I want to know if they are a person who wants that support and doesn’t want to necessarily be on an island by themselves. They have to know it’s not all about themselves, but at the same time realize they have to build revenue for themselves as well as for the company,” she says.

Dioguardi is another who feels remote working prevents a culture being created. She adds, “A lot of what I hear from remote workers is they are on an island by themselves and don’t have anyone to run something by. I want someone to have a home and somewhere to come back to, and for us to work as a collaborative team.”
 

“I know everything that my team is doing and everyone on my team, I’ve done their job. I wasn’t hired in an upper management position. I think starting from the bottom has a lot to say and working your way up in an organization”
Deborah DioguardiJencap Group

Mark Lange: “We think there’s going to be a lot of consistent themes in 2025 to what we’ve seen in 2024.  I think we see that the casualty market continues to be firm. There’s still a lot of companies dealing with reserve development from late 2016 into 2019 and beyond. Then, you add in social inflation and other factors that are going on today. We think that’s going to cause the market to continue to be hard. And we think on the property side, the area that we’re in, the middle market in particular, continues to be firm. It’s an area we have a lot of solutions for and we’re going to continue to participate in.”

Deborah Dioguardi: “I think it’s going to be the same. We will still have to hustle and go back to basics. I hope to add on some really good additional producers to help with this. I just don’t see the marketplace really changing rapidly. And of course, you don’t wish bad things to happen within the world that will make a change. We will probably see some insurance carriers have some issues with claim activity, like cyber liability, ransomware and that stuff, but I don’t think you’re going to see anything drastic to change the needle right now. Maybe in 2026, we’ll start getting a little more rate changes, but I don’t think it’s going to be this year.”

Nate Reznicek: “I do believe that we’ll continue to see the trend of more funding and reinsurance carriers enter into the captive insurance space, specifically where they will be willing to maybe seed and share risk with captive insurance companies. That additional competition will continue to drive costs and barriers of entry down, which should hopefully allow for more and more middle-market businesses to be able to play in the space, where now they may not be able to just because it’s not quite financially viable due to costs.”

The 100 Best Insurance Leaders in the USA | Hot 100

• 
  Nate Reznicek
  President and Principal Consultant
  Captives.Insure
   
  
• 
  Catherine Pipitone
  Senior Operations Manager and Executive Vice President
  Alliant Insurance Services
   
  
• 
  Danette Beck
  Executive Vice President and National Director of Broker Operations
  Astrus Insurance Services
   
  
• 
  Edward McCormack
  Chief Executive Officer
  RT Specialty
   
  
• 
  Janice Hamilton
  Chief Financial Officer
  Ryan Specialty
   
  
• 
  Kevin Doyle
  Chief Executive Officer
  Risk Placement Services
   
  
• 
  Michael Cusack
  Executive Vice President and Senior Managing Director, Alliant Specialty
  Alliant Insurance Services
   
  
• 
  Nick Carozza
  Area Senior Vice President
  Risk Placement Services
   
  
• 
  Ron Borys
  Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Alliant Financial Institutions
  Alliant Insurance Services
   
  
• 
  Sharon Novasel
  Area Vice President, Marketing and Risk Services
  Risk Placement Services
   
  
• 
  Tiffany Calhoun
  Regional Product Leader and Deputy Head of Cyber, Tech and Media
  Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
   
  
• 
  Timothy Turner
  Chief Executive Officer
  Ryan Specialty
   
  
• 
  Amanda Fioretti
  Vice President
  Amwins
   
  
• 
  Andrew Grim
  Executive Director of Specialty and National Casualty Practice Leader
  Brown & Riding
   
  
• 
  Canaan Crouch
  Executive Vice President, Environmental and Energy Practice
  Jencap
   
  
• 
  Deborah Dioguardi
  Professional Lines National Practice Leader
  Jencap Group
   
  
• 
  Jacob Ingerslev
  Senior Vice President, Underwriting Cyber & Tech
  Tokio Marine HCC – Cyber & Professional Lines Group
   
  
• 
  Jeff Rodriguez
  President and Chief Executive Officer
  Brown & Riding
   
  
• 
  Mark Lange
  Chief Middle Market Executive, Arch Insurance North America
  Arch Insurance
   
  
• 
  Nora Deveau
  Deputy Chief Claims Officer, Arch Insurance North America
  Arch Insurance
   
  
• 
  Riva Dumeny
  President, Group Benefits Division
  Amwins
   
  
• 
  Ryan Armijo
  President, Underwriting
  Amwins
   
  
• 
  Sara Masaeli
  Chief Information Officer
  Brown & Riding
   
  
• 
  Serene Davis
  Global Head of Cyber
  QBE
   
  
• 
  Shawn Woedl
  Chief Executive Officerand President
  REInsurePro
   
  

• Aimee Bernadicou
  Wholesale Lead Broker, M.J. Hall & Company Insurance Brokers
  Assistant Vice President and Lead Broker, Wholesure
• Amanda Bryant
  Director of Operations
  ARU
• Andrew Wynn
  Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
  Ascend
• Anthony Rapa
  Director
  WTW
• April Osmundson
  Associate Vice President
  Chubb
• Brennan Paris
  President, Binding Authority
  CRC Insurance Services
• Cam Serigne
  Chief Executive Officer and Founder
  vQuip
• Carolyn Olsen
  Vice President, Data Science
  Clearcover
• Charles Allen-Walter
  E&S Senior Property Underwriter, Lexington Insurance Company, AIG
  Link USA National Co-Chair & National Treasurer, Link USA the LGBTQ+ Insurance Network
• Charles Williamson
  Chief Executive Officer
  Victor
• Chartenya Cleveland
  Director of Underwriting Solutions
  The Hanover Insurance Group
• Chris Carlson
  COO & National Property Practice Group Leader
  CRC Insurance Services
• Christa Peterson
  Transportation Claims Director
  Higginbotham
• Clark Wormer
  Managing Director, M&A
  HUB International
• Cory Friedman
  Managing Director, Veterinary Division
  Alera Group
• Crystal Cathcart
  Product Sales Executive
  Verisk
• Crystal Ottaviano
  Global Risk Solutions
  Liberty Mutual Insurance
• Curt Chalmers
  Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer
  Nautilus Insurance
• Dan Saulter
  Group Chief Executive Officer
  Davies
• Daniel Ginden
  Managing Director
  Novatae Risk Group
• Danielle Lombardo
  Chair, Real Estate, Hospitality, and Leisure (REHL) Division, Corporate Risk and Broking (CRB) North America
  WTW
• Danielle Stewart
  Chief Operating Officer
  Everest Evolution™
• David Clausen
  Chief Executive Officer
  Coastal Insurance Solutions
• Dawnmarie Black
  Market Development Director – US
  Lloyd’s
• Dax Craig
  Co-Founder and President
  Pie Insurance
• Despina Buganski
  Head of North America Personal Lines
  WTW
• Dhara Patel
  President and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, North America
  Davies
• Jeffrey T. Benson Jr.
  Managing Partner
  Prominent Insurance Services
• Emma Garner
  Executive Vice President
  CRC Insurance Services
• Evan Silverio
  President and Chief Executive Officer
  Silverio Insurance Group
• Felicia Rawlin
  Executive Vice President and Head of Brokerage Property
  Dellwood Insurance Group
• Francis Johnson
  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
  Johnson & Johnson
• Frank P. Pulcini
  Agent/Partner Shareholder
  IOA
• Fred Zutel
  President, Property and Casualty
  Lockton Companies
• Garrett Droege
  Senior Vice President and Director, Innovation and Digital Risk Practice Leader
  IMA Financial Group
• Jack Kudale
  Founder and Chief Executive Officer
  Cowbell
• Jamie Carsey
  Chief Claims Officer
  Markel
• Jason Bishara
  Financial Practice Leader
  NSI Insurance Group
• Jill Wagner Kelly
  Executive Vice President, Chief Distribution and Affiliate Officer
  Grange Insurance
• Jodie Kaufman Davis
  Co-President
  H.W. Kaufman Group
• Johnell R. Holly
  Senior Vice President, Global Client Service, Sales, and Marketing
  FM
• Jordyn Arons Rosen
  DFW Market President
  IMA Financial Group
• Joseph Messina
  President and Chief Executive Officer
  Maximum Independent Brokerage
• Josh Sojda
  President
  Weller Insurance
• Jude DiBattista
  CUO Product Leader – Casualty
  Starr Insurance
• Kara Higginbotham
  Head of Professional Liability and Cyber
  Zurich North America
• Kean Driscoll
  President and Chief Underwriting Officer
  Dellwood Insurance Group
• Ken Crerar
  Executive Chair
  The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers
• Kristin H. Martin
  President and Chief Executive Officer
  Utica National Insurance Group
• Lael Chappell
  Chief Commercial Officer (Fractional)
  Tribute Specialty
• Laura Beckmann
  President and Chief Operating Officer
  AmRisc
• Laura Drabik
  Chief Evangelist
  Guidewire Software
• Lauren Karagozian
  President – Colorado Market
  IMA Financial Group
• Leandro DalleMule
  General Manager
  Planck
• Lisa Pechan
  Business Insurance Field Vice President
  Travelers
• Luke Parsons
  National Private Equity and Venture Capital Practice Group Leader
  Woodruff Sawyer
• Lyndsey Christofer
  Executive Vice President, Construction and Real Estate and Hospitality Industry Practice Leader
  Chubb
• Marcie Stephan
  Senior Vice President
  Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
• Maria Fisk
  Vice President
  International Insurance Center
• Mark Peterson
  Managing Director
  Aon
• Mark Todd
  Director of Strategic Partnerships and DEI Leader
  Ori-gen
• Mary Boyd
  Chief Executive Officer
  Hiscox USA
• Matt Engle
  Vice President and Shareholder
  Insurance Office of America
• Michael J. Sicard
  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
  USI Insurance Services
• Mickey Siegel
  Broker
  Risk Placement Services
• Nadia Hoyte
  Cyber National Practice Leader
  USI Insurance Services
• Nikki-Ann Thomson
  Insurance Risk
  Priderock Capital Partners
• Omari Aarons-Martin
  Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer
  NAAIA
• Patrick Hennessy
  Northeast Zone Leader
  Marsh
• Rebekah Ratliff
  President
  Capital City Mediations
• Rick Krouner
  President, Specialty Programs Division
  MiniCo Insurance
• Ronald Keller
  Director, Underwriting and Operations – Casualty Group
  Tokio Marine HCC
• Steve Blakey
  President
  Starr Insurance
• Tim Ryan
  US President
  Lockton