By Jeff Cohen, Senior Vice President, Industry Relations, Zywave

Zywave’s 2026 Casualty Insights Conference is where the casualty market’s most important conversations will happen before the upcoming RIMS Conference in early May. Zywave brings together the entire ecosystem of risk managers & insurance buyers, brokers, underwriters, claims leaders, reinsurers and attorneys for a one-day deep dive into today’s most disruptive casualty trends. This one-day program on Thursday, March 5 in midtown New York City provides valuable insight via our 33 speakers into market dynamics, emerging exposures, and the strategies needed to build more resilient casualty programs in a volatile environment.

Why this conference matters

Casualty buyers are facing a challenging mix of rising premiums, shrinking limits, and higher attachment points that are reshaping tower design and renewal strategies. Corporates are increasingly focused on securing adequate limits for business continuity rather than just negotiating marginally better pricing. This event is designed to arm senior insurance buyers with the practical context and timely market intel they need to navigate these pressures and best prepare for near-term marketplace shifts. 

Now in its 16th year, the Zywave Casualty Insights Conference has earned a reputation as a premier, practical thought leadership forum for the industry with an advisory board of experts who keep the agenda grounded in current market realities and the topics e.g. catastrophic claims and emerging risks, which are causing marketplace angst.

Why should you attend Zywave’s Casualty Conference?

A different kind of industry forum

Unlike carrier- or broker-led symposiums, this conference is built as a neutral, multi-stakeholder platform where all sides of the market—buyers, distributors, and capacity providers—can engage in real & candid dialogue. This year’s agenda designed by our Casualty Advisory Board chaired by Zurich North America’s Bill Chepulis dives deep into the casualty market’s most pressing issues and opportunities. Sessions include:

• Dave Obenauer keynote address: As CEO of CRC Group, Dave will share a wholesaler’s perspective on market trends, capital deployment, and where brokers and buyers should focus next.
• Workers’ compensation spotlight: A new session, “Is Workers Compensation Winter Coming?” will examine how advances in medical technology are driving the severity and cost of catastrophic claims while keeping injured workers alive longer.
• Emerging risks panel: This hallmark discussion will explore exposures generated by societal and technological change, including lithium battery incidents, PFAS and other “forever chemicals,” cyber risks, and aviation-adjacent risks like drone collisions.
• AI and organic growth: “The Agent Uprising: How AI Agents Are Rewriting the Rules of Organic Growth” will look at how agentic AI and analytics can help brokers and carriers deliver a higher level of service & engagement to their policyholder clients.
• Claims and catastrophic events: Dedicated sessions will address how carriers and claims professionals are responding to large loss trends, severity increases, and social inflation, and what that means for reserving and program structure.

Throughout the full day, attendees will hear a mix of market analysis, technical insights, and case-based discussions to bring back to their organizations as added perspectives.

Key themes shaping today’s market

Several recurring themes will weave through this conference content as speakers examine the shifting casualty landscape including:​

• Capital vs. limit compression: While industry capital remains available, carriers are deploying it more cautiously, cutting limits from 10m down to 5m per layer while tightening underwriting standards.
• Rethinking that “one-million-dollar” limit: With economic and social inflation pushing up claim values, long-standard 1 million primary limits may no longer provide sufficient protection, forcing some buyers to re-evaluate their program structure.
• Fraud! There’s no dispute that fraud detection is rising rapidly on the priority list for insurers.  These sessions will explore how organizations are using data, technology, and collaboration to reduce fraud and manage severity.
• Social and legal trends: Litigation funding, nuclear verdicts, and judicial hellholes are shifting the carrier calculus of when to pursue a jury verdict, and these factors feed back into pricing, attachment points, and coverage availability.

Beyond education: Connections that drive outcomes

In the casualty arena, relationships remain central to placing unique & challenging risks, resolving complex claims, and negotiating difficult renewals. With 350 attendees expected, Zywave’s Casualty Insights Conference is structured to maximize meaningful networking, too. The conference timing is also strategic, serving as an ideal lead-in to the RIMS RISKWORLD®  conference in early May. This forum is repeatedly cited for providing the macro context behind rate movements and underwriting behavior before buyers dive into account-by-account discussions at RIMS. For carriers and brokers, it offers a chance to test market narratives and refine messaging before the broader conference season ramps up.

Who should attend and how to register

The 2026 Casualty Insights Conference is designed for senior professionals responsible for casualty strategy, placements, and portfolio performance. Typical attendees include corporate risk managers and full-time insurance buyers; retail and wholesale brokers, producers, and account execs steering renewals; carrier underwriters, claims leaders, and actuaries; reinsurers and reinsurance brokers; coverage attorneys, consultants, and service providers.

Zywave is proud to host the 2026 Casualty Insights Conference supported by a tower of 17 sponsors: Old Republic, Arch, CRC Group, Sompo, Wilson Elser, Zurich, Allied World, Aon, AXA, Nationwide, Safety National, Howden, Starr, QBE, Lockton, RIMS New York Chapter, and Spencer Educational Foundation.

Register for this once-a-year event.