< Previous78BEST’S REVIEW • SEPTEMBER 2022 Industry Updates CONNECT WITH AM BEST The Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube & Facebook logos are trademarks of Twitter, Inc., LinkedIn Corporation, Google & Facebook, Inc. www.ambest.com On Twitter @AMBestCo @AMBestRatings On LinkedIn ambest.com/corplinkedin ambest.com/ratingslinkedin ambest.com/infoserviceslinkedin On YouTube www.ambest.com/ AMBestYouTube/ On Facebook www.facebook.com/ ambestcompany/ Via Multimedia Channels 21.MK011JA California Regulator Puts Auto Insurance Rate Approvals on Hold Auto insurers warn consumers will be left without coverage. C alifornia Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is pumping the brakes on private passenger auto rate hike requests from carriers, including Geico, which he said overcharged policyholders during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, according to spokesperson Gabriel Sanchez. Insurers facing higher claims costs have sought widespread increases but have faced pushback in California. Rates appear to be stuck in the state, said Kemper President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Joseph Lacher Jr., and he thinks the market will seize up in the near future. “They’re going to have a social and cultural problem where they’re not going to be able to have people bind or change auto insurance,” Lacher said during a second-quarter earnings call. For 27 months Lara has “instructed his staff not to open or review rating plans” for private-passenger insurers, American Property Casualty Insurance Association spokeswoman Nicole Mahrt-Ganley said. That has left dozens of filings in limbo as carriers grapple with skyrocketing costs from inflation and more severe auto accidents in California, she said. “Left to their own devices, insurance companies will charge more, not less,” Sanchez said. “The California Department of Insurance is reviewing data from private passenger auto insurance companies deemed to have the largest gaps between what was owed and has been refunded to determine how best to close the gap on auto- insurance premiums owed to drivers.” Executives at Allstate and Liberty Mutual named, or alluded to, California and New York recently when speaking about trouble attaining what they said will be rate adequacy as economic and social inflation and other factors, such as changed driving patterns and supply chain issues, escalate claims severity. Absent CDI action on rate requests, auto insurers are “forced to make difficult decisions to manage solvency,” said Mahrt-Ganley. Drivers may soon have difficulty finding coverage, she warned. In addition to seeking rate hikes, carriers have cut marketing for personal auto and taken other actions, such as requiring full payment at the start of a policy, to offset losses. 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To learn more about The Nelson Collection at Lloyd’s, visit www.ambest.com/nelson. BACKSTAY80BEST’S REVIEW • SEPTEMBER 2022 The Last Word T he first time Michael Roberts sang in front of a group of people, he was 13 years old and performed a baritone solo. He was at a boarding school in New Hampshire, and he was singing as part of the school’s performance of Ernest Bloch’s “Sacred Service,” a famous sacred Hebrew oratorio. He sang it in Yiddish and was accompanied by a conductor, a 40-piece orchestra, and a 60-person choir. Today, he finds himself going before a different audience. As executive vice president and chief marketing officer for MetLife Inc., Roberts designs experiences that help the second-largest U.S. life insurer ranked by 2021 admitted assets, according to AM Best, build enduring customer relationships. But that musical performance was not a one-off, long-forgotten occurrence. “All of my degrees are in music,” said Roberts, the youngest of four siblings who all played instruments and sang. He went to graduate school and he performed in front of what he estimates to be thousands of people. The highlight of his career came when he sang in the church at the Duomo in Orvieto, Italy, in 2018. Construction on the Duomo began in 1290, and it is home to a number of renowned sculptures and paintings. In that famed venue, he performed with Coro Mundi, an international choir consisting of highly skilled professional and amateur singers from around the world. However, that performance came years after Roberts already discovered that singing was not going to be his professional career. When he came to New York after graduate school, the man who discovered he was good at singing at a relatively young age discovered he wasn’t yet ready for a career in the arts. Instead, Roberts joined the consulting world in 1999. He spent the first half of his career in strategy before he went into marketing. “I found that there were things about strategy and things about marketing that I found could be very fulfilling and very satisfying for me to spend my time and to practice,” he said. “Art is made to transform and connect through communication,” Roberts said. “As a marketer, we essentially do the same thing, but for different ends. Our goal is to really understand the needs of the customer, the stakeholders that we’re interacting with, the context in which they operate, and find ways to help them do something different.” And while singing was his passion and his area of educational expertise, Roberts didn’t have tunnel vision when it came to performing as a profession. “I had a pretty classic liberal arts education, so early in my education, there was never a specific focus,” Roberts said. “What I thought of more was how I could apply my skills to do something I could excel at that would also be fulfilling. The fact that I found it in consulting, strategy, financial services and now insurance is really because I found the things that motivated me in those areas at those specific times in my career. “I try to find a few hours a week to continue to practice and to sing. Every once in a while, I find an opportunity to perform. I still love doing it.” BR From Baritone to Boardroom: MetLife Executive’s Overture Was on the Opera Stage Before he was the executive vice president and chief marketing officer at MetLife, Michael Roberts enjoyed a brief opera career. by Anthony Bellano Anthony Bellano is an associate editor. He can be reached at anthony.bellano@ambest.com. Michael RobertsDriving ChangeWorkers’ Compensation • Transportation – Liability & Physical Damage • Construction – Primary & Excess Liability Homeowners – Including California Wildfire & Gulf Region Hurricane • Fine Art & Collections • Structured Insurance Financial Lines • Aviation & Space • Environmental & Pollution Liability • Property • Warranty Fronting & Program Business • Reinsurance ...And More To Come. MORE TO LOVE FROM APPLIED. ® MORE IMAGINATION. ©2022 Applied Underwriters, Inc. The seven insurance companies collectively referred to as North American Casualty Group (AMB #: 018683) each have an AM Best Financial Strength Rating of A. Insurance plans protected U.S. Patent No. 7,908,157. It Pays To Get A Quote From Applied. ® Learn more at auw.com/MoreToLove or call sales (877) 234-4450Next >