The Travelers Institute, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV), today announced the upcoming sessions of the Wednesdays with Woodward^® series. The webinars will explore a variety of topics, including investigating insurance fraud, the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, a behind-the-scenes look at the Travelers Championship golf tournament, and a deep dive into telematics and usage-based insurance.

“Our programs will continue to focus on the trends and market dynamics that are shaping the current outlook for businesses,” said Joan Woodward, President of the Travelers Institute and Executive Vice President of Public Policy at Travelers. “We look forward to providing our agents, brokers and customers with expert insights into the challenges and opportunities that impact their lives both at work and at home.”

Following is the schedule of upcoming webinars:

• March 30: “Ready to Take Over? Driver Distraction in the Age of Automation” – Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) research scientists Dr. Ian Reagan and Dr. Alexandra Mueller will discuss the ongoing danger of distracted driving on our roadways and share insights into IIHS’ new safety ratings for partially automated vehicles, which assess how well these vehicles help drivers maintain focus on the road.
• April 6: “60 Minutes in Personal Insurance: Opportunities in a Changing Marketplace” – Travelers leaders Michael Klein, Executive Vice President and President of Personal Insurance, and Loree Toedman, Senior Vice President of Personal Insurance Field Sales, will discuss the rapidly evolving personal lines marketplace and how insurance carriers and agents can adapt and respond most effectively.
• April 13: “Level Up Your LinkedIn Presence to Grow Your Business, Brand and Network” – Sulemaan Ahmed, Co-founder and Principal Educator at Servo Annex, and Brian Tietje, Global Client Director for LinkedIn Corporation, will join Woodward to offer best practices and strategies for optimizing your LinkedIn profile, social selling and business development for individuals and organizations.
• April 20: “The Future of Fighting Insurance Crime” – David J. Glawe, President and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau, and Nick Seminara, Executive Vice President and Chief Claim Officer at Travelers, will provide a behind-the-scenes look at the latest methods their teams use to root out insurance fraud and protect consumers.

Glawe added, “Insurance crime causes billions of dollars in economic harm to the nation every year. Technological advancements and globalization have ushered in a new wave of threats, ranging from cyber criminals to climate change and infectious diseases. Better data analytics integration and timely dissemination of actionable intelligence products are necessary to confront the evolving schemes of organized criminal networks.”

• May 4: “Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams on Lessons Learned from the Front Lines of the Pandemic” – Dr. Adams will share his expertise related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics will include what our “new normal” could look like, updates on vaccines and boosters, and his latest work on expanding health equity.
• May 11: “Behind the Scenes at the Travelers Championship” – Andy Bessette, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Travelers, and Nathan Grube, Tournament Director of the Travelers Championship, will take the webinar audience behind the scenes of the Travelers Championship, including a virtual tour of the TPC River Highlands clubhouse.
• May 25: “How’s My Driving? Telematics and the Insurance Experience” – Peter Gulbrandsen, Vice President and National Auto Lead for Personal Insurance at Travelers, and Ryan McMahon, Vice President of Strategy at Cambridge Mobile Telematics, will offer an inside look at the evolution of usage-based insurance, including discussions of driving trends during the pandemic, changing customer utilization of telematics offerings, and the safety benefits and insights that these programs can provide.
• June 1: “Storm Warning: Managing the Risk of Increasing Hurricane Catastrophes” – Eric Nelson, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Catastrophe Risk Management at Travelers, joins leading authorities in hurricane forecasting and risk mitigation to discuss the ways insurance professionals and their customers can prepare for the 2022 hurricane season.
• June 8: “Hacked! What’s Your Plan?” – Charlie Platt, Senior Director of Forensics – Incident Response – Solutions for Arete, and Tim Francis, Vice President and Enterprise Cyber Lead at Travelers, will discuss practical tips and key considerations for businesses when putting together a cyber incident response plan.
• June 29: “The Exponential Rise of Nuclear Verdicts” – Harold Kim, Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and President of the Institute for Legal Reform, and Alexia Cruz, Senior Vice President and Claim General Counsel at Travelers, will discuss the rising trend of extreme jury awards – known as “nuclear verdicts” – and how these decisions are impacting the insurance industry and commerce alike.

“Nuclear verdicts are a problematic trend that affect almost every industry, leading to more lawsuits and skyrocketing premiums,” said Kim. “I’m looking forward to discussing what’s driving the increases in jury verdicts and what defense counsel can do to counter this trend.”

The series features expert guest speakers who will join Woodward to discuss critical issues that individuals and businesses face. All events take place at 1 p.m. ET and are free and open to the public. Online registration and past-event replays are available on the Travelers Institute website.

About the Travelers Institute

The Travelers Institute^®, the public policy division of The Travelers Companies, Inc., engages in discussion and analysis of public policy topics of importance to the insurance marketplace and to the financial services industry more broadly. The Travelers Institute draws upon the industry expertise of Travelers’ senior management as well as the technical expertise of many of Travelers’ underwriters, risk managers and other experts to provide information, analysis and solutions to public policymakers and regulators. Travelers is a leading provider of property casualty insurance for auto, home and business. For more information, visit Travelers.com.

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