Helping agencies and brokerage firms of all sizes to be Analytically-Based, Data-DrivenSM is the core mission of SIGMA.  In today's market, you hear a lot about the need for analytics.  Our good friends, Frank Pennachio and Susan Toussaint, at Oceanus Partners addressed this subject in a recent white paper.  This paper is featured in this […]

During the past few months, I have argued that becoming and being an "Analytical Broker" is key to continued success both as a producer and as an agency or brokerage firm. Here at SIGMA, we are committed to providing education and guidance to support your effort to improve your analytical capabilities. In this blog, I […]

As we continue with this year’s series on being an Analytical Broker, I wanted to emphasize the importance of fundamentals. Being an Analytical Broker requires certain fundamental “blocking and tackling” skills which must be mastered before higher level analytics can be considered.  In this case, “blocking and tackling” refers to your ability to interpret loss projections […]

A Confidence Level Analysis built using Monte Carlo simulation is a popular technique that every Analytical Broker should be familiar with.  This blog highlights three resources to give you a quick overview of the topic. 1.  This graphic gives a quick summary of the topic.  A PDF of this graphic can be downloaded from our […]

In the television drama, "Person of Interest," massive amounts of surveillance data, complex algorithms, and some interesting special effects help us imagine just how far data analysis and predictive analytics might someday go in order to predict risk. While the show’s early 2011 premiere was purely fictitious, the explosive case of N.S.A. whistle-blower Edward Snowden […]

Last month, I introduced the concept of an “analytical broker” and discussed the push for analytics from the C-Suite down through the organizations that are your clients. I also used a small vignette to raise the question, “what is an analytical broker?” This month, I introduce enterprise risk management from a new perspective. One of […]

Imagine that you are sitting across from a risk manager during a sales presentation. The company is a fast growing manufacturing firm and would be the largest new account for your agency this year. You’ve covered your firm’s capabilities and are optimistic about the account’s acquisition. Then, the risk manager throws a potential wrench into […]

I have found that interviews can often produce interesting results and insights. So, this month, I decided to sit down with Tony King, one of our actuarial analysts, and discuss the popular topic of loss development factors. The conversation has been edited for clarity, but I think you will find it a good review with […]

A few months ago, we conducted a survey concerning the utilization of analytics in the retention decision process.  As I continue through the PhD program at Oklahoma State University my prospective dissertation topic continues to move toward the study of analytical capabilities within an organization and its correlation with organizational performance. While the risk management […]

I spent some time this week outlining a concept for my PhD dissertation. It concerns the decision process related to selecting a workers compensation large deductible policy. I’m still a long ways from getting a formal proposal written, but I loved the brainstorming this effort created in the office this week. If you work with […]