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Insurance Business Review: Specials Magazine
What factors have contributed to IPMG’s sustained growth and high client retention? Very few companies in claims management showcase the value of sustained growth and client loyalty as effectively as Insurance Program Managers Group (IPMG). Founded in 1998 as a modest, $2 million operation, it has grown to a valuation of over $100 million, with a 95 percent client retention rate over 25 years. This growth trajectory reflects the firm’s commitment to cultural values, technological agility, and personalized service. At the helm of this transformation is Michael Castro, senior vice president, whose leadership has embedded a client-first philosophy that treats every partnership as a pragmatic and strategic journey rather than a transactional exchange. Today, IPMG specializes in workers’ compensation and liability claims, serving diverse industry specific commercial sectors as well as an industry leader in the public entity space, which includes law enforcement, fire districts, school districts and beyond. As the company expands its footprint to the East and West Coasts, it remains grounded in its “homegrown feel,” ensuring that scale never compromises the intimate, expert-driven support that has defined its success. In an industry often plagued by outsourcing pitfalls and impersonal processes, IPMG's model integrates in-house expertise across claims adjustment, risk management, and managed care, delivering tangible bottom-line results. “Despite our tremendous growth, IPMG will never lose sight of its cultural values, which underpin our success,” Castro states. ... Read More
Top Insurance Broker Service 2026
How does centralized accountability influence complex project delivery? For owners, developers, and public-sector stakeholders accountable for project outcomes, responsibility in architecture and engineering determines where risk ultimately sits. When projects become complex, that responsibility shows up in how teams communicate, follow through, and advocate on the client’s behalf. When ownership is clear, accountability stays concentrated, and decisions move faster. When it isn’t, coordination fragments, intent gets repeated across specialists, and approvals stall between building departments and partners. RPM Team operates on the principle that ownership of intent, coordination, and momentum must rest with a single accountable party. As a project-manager-led architecture and engineering program management company, it centralizes communication so client intent is captured clearly and translated consistently across architecture, structural, electrical, mechanical, life safety, and other project requirements. With responsibility held in one place, projects move forward without requiring clients to manage coordination, repeat intent, or chase updates. “Collaboration is a baseline in this industry. What matters is how clients experience those interactions—whether conversations feel frustrating or genuinely productive and enjoyable. That experience has a direct impact on how a project unfolds,” says David Renard, president. ... Read More
Top Wholesale Insurance Broker 2026
What inefficiencies in traditional wholesale brokerage workflows affect retail agent operations today? Independent retail agents have long faced a familiar frustration: placing commercial risks means juggling multiple submission portals, waiting days for quotes, and re-entering client data from scratch for every carrier. It’s a workflow problem the wholesale industry has largely accepted as the cost of doing business. London Underwriters is no longer accepting it. The national wholesale broker has built what it calls a unified placement model: a proprietary digital platform paired with a specialized underwriting team, all operating from the same environment. The result is a wholesale relationship where appointed agents can move from real-time quoting to expert underwriting support — without restarting submissions, re-entering data, or navigating separate systems. A Platform Built In-House, For Agents How does an integrated platform streamline quoting, binding, and carrier access for agents? At the heart of the model is LU One, London Underwriters’ proprietary multi-rater platform developed entirely by the company’s internal technology division, London Labs. Through a single sign-on interface, appointed agents access more than 30 admitted and surplus lines markets, including specialty carriers and InsurTech partners, without switching platforms. ... Read More
CXO INSIGHTS
Supporting Employees During Covid
LaToya Lee, Vice President, Crew Safety Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers
Staying Poised in a Dynamic Industry
Seddrick Hubbard, Manager of Underwriting, The Cincinnati Insurance Companies [NASDAQ: CINF]
Futureproofing Claims Careers: Adapting to AI in Insurance
Cade Williams, Assistant Vice President, Risk Management-Claims, Marriott Vacations Worldwide [NYSE: VAC]
Navigating Complexities: Insights from 35 Years of Commercial Claims Experience
Dewayne Mundell, Head of Litigation & Property Claims, Next Insurance
Outlearning The Algorithm: Is Continuing Education a Viable Tool for Tomorrow's Talent?
Cydney F. Albert, MBA, CPCU, APD Claims Manager, Amica Insurance
IN FOCUS
Transforming Insurance Operations: Strategic Evolution of Claim Management Services
Claim management services enhance efficiency, transparency, and customer trust by combining technology, analytics, and process expertise across insurance ecosystems.
Specialized Solutions: The Evolving Landscape of Wholesale Insurance Brokerage
Wholesale insurance brokers connect retail agents with specialized carriers, structuring complex risk placements and enabling access to tailored coverage solutions.
EDITORIAL
Building Trust through Precision and Performance
Insurance companies today are under pressure to improve speed, accuracy and client service across claims management, underwriting and brokerage operations. Firms are increasingly evaluated on how effectively they combine technology, industry expertise and operational execution. This edition of Insurance Business Review examines how organizations are improving service models, operational efficiency and client relationships across the insurance industry.
At the center of this issue is the cover story on Insurance Program Managers Group, recognized as the Top Claim Management Service 2026. The company has grown from a regional operation into a national claims management organization with a 95 percent client retention rate. Led by Michael Castro, IPMG combines in-house claims expertise, proprietary technology and specialized risk management teams serving law enforcement, fire districts and school systems.
London Underwriters was awarded Top Wholesale Insurance Broker 2026 for innovating wholesale placement through its central online marketplace and underwriting environment. It leveraged its proprietary technology and traditional underwriting talent to simplify commercial placement and accommodate complex specialty businesses.
RPM Agency, recognized as Top Insurance Broker Service 2026, has built a verification-first brokerage model focused on accuracy, preloss preparation and long-term client advocacy. Its focus on proactive documentation and customized risk evaluation reflects the growing importance of building trust before claims occur.
Glen Gahrman, Director of Inside Claims at American Integrity Insurance Company, shares his perspective on how claims organizations are balancing accuracy and customer support as expectations for faster and more transparent insurance experiences continue to rise. Rumen Ketipov, Associate Director, Information Security Management, Helaba, examines the evolving and changing cyber-insurance within today’s connected digital economy.
As the insurance industry continues to evolve, the organizations and leaders featured in this edition show how adaptability, operational discipline and client trust are shaping lasting growth. We urge readers to discover ideas and methods that will guide the industry's future.
