According to Mr. Jamie Sahara, President, Applied Underwriters, the division will be led by two accomplished sector leaders with Mr. Jerid Schmickle serving as CEO. Mr. Schmickle previously was President of Reel Media Insurance Services, served as Founding Managing Director of Alive Risk and was a Senior Director at Allianz / Fireman’s Fund Global Entertainment. He will be joined by seasoned industry veteran, Mr. Tim Troester, who will serve as COO. Mr. Troester was formerly EVP at Reel Media and Senior Director at Alive Risk before which he held executive positions at One Beacon and Nationwide. Messrs. Schmickle and Troester co-founded Alive Risk in 2011 which, together with NAS Insurance, one of Lloyd’s largest cover holders, became a prominent MGA in the entertainment space.
Mr. Sahara further commented that the new enterprise possesses a kind of “star is born” effect, as it becomes, almost immediately, a top underwriting operation in the entertainment and related areas: “We move right up to the top of the standings with our team. We will capitalize meaningfully on the opportunities here, especially as we further build-out the team and communicate its unique, proven strengths. We are very optimistic and ready to be center stage.”
The prospect of forming a “dream team” to realize his goals in the sector was among the incentives that drew Mr. Schmickle to Applied Underwriters: “We are actively hiring right now and will assemble an additional dozen or so professionals—the best in the field—to give us added depth in product and program development and high recognition among the clientele. To say that this opportunity is exciting would be an understatement. I was drawn to Applied largely as a result of their intellectual grasp of the business and their willingness to protract a successful trajectory.”
Mr. Schmickle indicated that the division will write on both an E&S and admitted basis to provide GL, excess/umbrella, professional, workers’ compensation, contingency (cancellation, non-appearance, prize indemnity and weather), inland marine (floaters for instruments and jewelry) and excess coverage for film and TV events. Mr. Schmickle concluded that Applied Entertainment & Sports expects to introduce new programs and product availabilities over the next several quarters.