AM BestTV at RIMS: Quickly Evolving Cannabis Business Provides Moving Target, Says Panel

OLDWICK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–In this ^A.M.BestTV episode at the Risk and Insurance
Management Society, Inc.’s (RIMS) conference in Boston, MA, a panel of
industry experts said insurers face many challenges in underwriting the
changing cannabis industry. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=rims3419
to view the entire program.

Legal cannabis is a rapidly growing industry, with reports estimating a
$166 billion market emerging.

Nancy Bewlay, chief underwriting officer, long-tail risk, Axa XL, spoke
about the legal perspective, giving an overview of the current legal
environment.

“Underwriting the risk of cannabis is really tough,” said Bewlay. “To
understand state by state where you are and what regulation you are
working within is rough. It is hard to actually have a consistent
product offering when there is not a consistent environment to be
offering that product in.”

Kara Thorvaldsen, partner, Wilson Else, and Robin Westcott, vice
president and general counsel, AAIS, discussed the state of market
regulation, as well as the concerns held by insurers and regulators.

“I think one of the positive things about this new industry is that the
regulators have learned lessons from the past and have had the
opportunity from the outset to enact pretty strong regulations,” said
Thorvaldsen. “I think the industry is very conscious of those issues,
having seen the effects in the tobacco industry.”

“There is much more acceptance from the industry of the regulatory
environment. It protects them as well,” said Westcott. “They need to
make sure that there is not illegal activity going on in this
marketplace. Ultimately, it is a benefit to be able to have that
regulatory environment.”

For full video coverage of RIMS, including exclusive executive
interviews, visit http://www.ambest.tv/rims19.

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Services
+1 908 439 2200, ext. 5561
lee.mcdonald@ambest.com