[ad_1]
In this #Solar100 interview, Isaac McLeanresponsible for the property kWh analysistalk to Josh JenningsChief of Inland Shipping and Property Aspen insurance.
Josh Jennings has always been a visionary in the insurance industry. He started his career young and honed his skills in inland shipping underwriting at Nationwide and Hartford. Today, as head of his Inland Marine at Aspen Insurance, Josh continues to lead the way by developing secure renewable asset capacity through a partnership with kWh Analytics. With his innovative approach and exceptional leadership, Josh is changing the landscape of the insurance industry. Galileo revolutionized our understanding of the universe. Galileo’s breakthrough discoveries included recognizing the sun as the center of the solar system and changing the way people thought about the universe. Just as Josh has changed the way telcos approach renewable energy underwriting.
road to property
Isaac McLean: Josh, you have a history in inland shipping and insurance as well as renewable energy. Can you tell us about your career so far and how you got to your current position as Head of Inland and Property at Aspen Insurance?
Josh Jennings: Everyone has their own background in getting insurance. For me, it started in college. My parents ran a Nationwide insurance agency, and while I was at the University of Akron, I attended classes two days a week and worked three days a week at the agency as a junior commercial producer. . Both of my parents are major agents, so I got a front row seat to see how small businesses operate, the highs and lows, and I loved all of it. It was a great experience to get hands-on experience with insurance. The relationships I built and the feeling I got from making people feel safe through insurance also drew me in from day one.
After school, I left the family business and joined Hartford as an inland carrier in Cleveland. At the time, I wasn’t sure about the underwriting business. Because it looked like I was processing numbers all day at my desk. But I quickly learned that the role was focused on relationship building, problem solving, and partnering with various agents and brokers. I gave it a try and really enjoyed it, also benefiting from its early success.
After about a year at Hartford, management moved me to Chicago. I was so excited to work in a big city. Early in my career, I was passionate about building my brand, my market advocates, and my reputation. So I did the business bookkeeping and progressed my career with promotions to various leadership roles. That was when we started providing risk coverage to power plant builders from the ground up. This line of coverage is relatively new to the market and felt like something that has been around for a long time. I believed it had a future.
see the similarities
McLean: Inland shipping has been the cornerstone of your career, how has it shaped your view of renewable energy? Are there any key differences or crossovers?
Jennings: Has a crossover. Inland Marine coverage has an art to the underwriting process. Not all accounts are cookie-cutter, and the same can be said for renewable energy. Technology is constantly evolving and new applications are coming to us from different parts of the country. Aspen, for example, will see applications from more battery energy storage facilities. This is a rapid evolution and a natural opportunity for the insurance industry to be agile, creative and find solutions in its field.
McLean: What are the biggest challenges you see in the solar insurance market?
Jennings: The biggest challenge is that the increasing severity and frequency of weather are increasing the number of renewable energy offerings on the market. That means convective storms as well as named storms. From an industry perspective, Cat capacity is tight, so the market needs to be consistent on pricing and risk and price accordingly. We believe that managing the evolution of consolidation and restrictions is critical for the market to be sustainable over the long term, and that the industry needs to be a consistent supporter in this area.Renewable Space Performance Results Peaks and troughs should be avoided to avoid exits and further capacity limitations.
McLean: yes i agree. That’s definitely an issue we can work on together. Have you seen any impact on rates and terms due to the hurricanes and recent storms?
Jennings: Yes, there is a named storm trickle-down effect, and the price of that capacity has increased. Cats are generally very sensitive so I would expect some overall price increase based on where the market is going. Owners and insurers are taking on more risk due to increased retainage and deductibles. It’s a necessary move to maintain the desired pricing.
McLean: yes i agree. I think it’s hard for some of these smaller industries when they say that Hurricane Ian wasn’t a big loss factor for our industry but pricing and terms are being impacted as a result . The shared capital pool that backs all these risks and exposures is affected. Solar is not isolated from the broader market dynamics.
Jennings: I think there needs to be better communication between insurance companies, solar manufacturers and solar installers. For example, you need to understand how your panels react in different weather patterns, what pre-controls are and what they do. [the solar manufacturers] Expand and differentiate. A clear understanding of how an insured’s particular product is made and installed is critical to limit pricing and term changes and to compete with peers in the market .
McLean: Yes, that’s insurance technology. Being able to distinguish between these manufacturers and the various hardware configurations we see.
Jennings: For example, kWh has access to information that no one else has, so it’s not industry-wide. We analyze insurance on an individual basis and price the risk accordingly.
Lessons Learned from Writing Solar
McLean: Aspen has written some large, utility-scale solar. Do you have anything to share from the business of the day book?
Jennings: In terms of utility scale and residential applications, we take them equally, but still different. With homes worth billions of dollars, there is a great deal of risk pervasive. This means, from a portfolio and overall management standpoint, be prepared to understand your exposure to potential significant or black swan type events, and how much exposure you have in one area, such as individual utility type solar. You are usually location based, you know where the project is, you can take it, you know the details, you know the panel, you know its structure, you know Nat Cat Know your exposure. The challenge with some utility-scale solar products is where they are manufactured. Often in rural areas. I think some of the cat modeling has been very off over the last decade or so. It was a little too aggressive based on what it should be. The industry has seen inaccurate and inconsistent results about cat performance against hail, tornadoes, and various other weather-related events, based on cat pricing and rural areas. , which has since become more conservative. Panel design and manufacturing are developed to withstand more events than ever before.
McLean: We have a lot of data, and the industry is fine-tuning the cat model to buildings, but solar power isn’t immune to various hazards, especially as you mentioned, severe convective storms. They perform differently against some. We are tailoring them to asset classes and have learned quite a bit but unfortunately the industry has suffered over the last 5 years .
words of wisdom
McLean: Do you have any advice for professionals getting into insurance?
Jennings: Insurance is not typically promoted in college as a career option. This is unfortunate. Because it is a time in a student’s life when they are considering different career paths. Without insurance, society would not function and there are many career opportunities in the insurance industry. We are in positions that allow people to be creative, analytical, meet new people, travel, manage different projects, solve problems, and work independently or as part of a team. I have. I have been fortunate enough to visit some amazing places in the world that I wouldn’t have seen if I had chosen a different career path.
Having a mentor early in my career helped me to succeed early on. I had some great mentors in the business and used them as mentors. You have to put yourself out there and nurture those relationships. Now I can give back and mentor others. This is very rewarding. Never forget who helped you and tell people to put the elevator back together to help the next generation. Finally, I advise young professionals to take control of their careers. no one is going to do that for them. Be patient, but don’t be too patient. Things take time, but these individuals need to be proactive too.
Follow me please twitter or LinkedIn. check out my website.
[ad_2]
Source link