Nicholas Gurgone
Robert J. Walling III
Gregory W. Fears, Jr.
Derek W. Freihaut
Erich A. Brandt
Aaron N. Hillebrandt
Laura A. Maxwell
Darcie R. Truttmann
Joseph A. Herbers
The consulting team truly understands our business and the factors which affect it.
Pinnacle helps alternative market risk owners, captive managers and service providers determine risk retentions that optimize the balance between the cost of risk transfer and loss volatility.
Pinnacle strives to construct benchmarks for any analysis, whether ratemaking, loss reserving or some other use, as close as possible to replicating the nature of the underlying data being reviewed.
Pinnacle provides loss reserve analyses and other diagnostics in support of collateral negotiations associated with deductible and/or self-insured retentions.
Pinnacle is experienced developing cost allocation mechanisms by member or department in the most equitable manner using elements such as – exposure, geographic cost differences and actual loss experience.
Pinnacle’s consultants are experienced in helping lawyers ask the right questions and understanding the answers in depositions of other actuarial expert witnesses.
As one of the largest industries in the world, the transportation industry includes a wide variety of companies that face constant liability exposures.
Regardless of your industry segment, you must deal with these exposures every day. Taxicab and livery risks depend on unique workers compensation laws and dramatically different usages by operator. Bus operations face a variety of legal differences by state. Trucking companies deal with issues ranging from pollution claims for tankers, cargo liability for less than trailer load (LTL) operations, and spoilage risk for agricultural and refrigerated trucking, just to name a few.
At Pinnacle, our focus is to quantify your claims liabilities’ expected ultimate costs and reflect your risk exposures’ unique characteristics. Our extensive experience indicates such exposures are not only manageable, but are controllable. Effective loss control, risk management and safety programs are essential to keep costs in check.
To help address your needs, we consider the multitude of your operation’s real world circumstances to the maximum extent possible. Our reserve analyses estimate proper accruals for prior years’ claims. Our funding studies can estimate expected costs for next year’s claims. We can also help insurers design a specialty insurance product for your specific business requirements.
Whether your goals involve developing rates for trucking, taxi and school bus insurance products, funding feasibility studies for single parent and homogeneous group captives owned by trucking and public livery companies, analysis of transportation reinsurance programs or more, Pinnacle provides the tools and solutions you need to achieve your goals.
Our expertise with transportation companies includes:
March APEX Webinar Commercial Auto Insurance: Moving Right Along Authored by Gregory W. Fears, Jr..
July 2019 APEX Webinar Causes of Recent Reserve Development Authored by Erich A. Brandt and Gregory W. Fears, Jr..
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Captive Dividend Assessment More »
An onshore, single parent captive was concerned with the amount of retained earnings and wanted to establish a policy for the minimum capital for the program to trigger dividend distributions. Pinnacle compared the program’s capitalization to a wide variety of industry standards for similar programs from rating agencies, regulators, and other sources. The results of this analysis lead to a recommended board policy regarding a minimum capital threshold for dividend distributions and ultimately to a significant dividend being declared to the parent company.
Cayman Captive More »
Pinnacle serves many of the largest group captives in the world, many of them domiciled in the Cayman Islands. These reserve analyses are typically produced twice a year and serve multiple purposes. First, they provide a range of reasonable estimates which management uses to determine their best estimate of ultimate losses and unpaid claims liabilities. Second, these reserve estimates can then be allocated to individual members to determine the outstanding liabilities and potential future assessments, if any. Finally, the allocated ultimate losses become the basis for renewal pricing estimates for each member. Pinnacle’s approach to estimating and allocating reserves in group captives is unique in the industry and sets our alternative practice apart with its efficiency and accuracy.
Retention Analysis More »
Pinnacle was asked by a large self-insured regional transportation authority to assess the impact of increasing their self-insured retentions for both workers compensation and automobile liability. We developed a stochastic simulation analysis, based on the program’s historical claims experience and industry benchmarks, that examined not only the increase in expected losses but the program’s additional potential loss variability. Finally, we discussed with the customer the relationship between their current capital position, as well as the current reinsurance market, to ensure the retention they selected for their program was appropriate for them. The authority ultimately increased their retentions, put some of their excess capital to work, and realized substantial savings in their reinsurance costs.
At Pinnacle, we partner with you to explore whatever path it takes to find the answers you need.
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August 18, 2022 August APEX Webinar - Perspectives on Peer Review