In the seventh installment of the “Becoming the Protégé” series on Power Producers Shoptalk, host David Carothers interviews the first set of coaches for The Protégé Season 3: Zach Mefferd, Founder and CEO of ZipBonds, and Mike Fusco, President of Fusco & Orsini Insurance Services. Dressed in costumes (including sunglasses), the trio discusses their coaching strategies, evaluates the current crop of contestants, and strategizes for the upcoming draft. They also dive into the massive opportunity created by industry consolidation, sharing how independent agents can capitalize on the service gaps left when large brokerages acquire local agencies.
Zach Mefferd and Mike Fusco join David to discuss their approach to coaching Season 3. While they keep their specific draft picks close to the vest, they hint at targeting contestants like Sam, Joe, and Jacob, noting Lloyd as a potential “dark horse.” They emphasize that their coaching will focus on building both strengths and weaknesses, treating the competition like a sport to maximize producer performance.
The group agrees that the real prize of The Protégé isn’t just winning, but the “priceless” access to insurance mentorship and industry connections. David highlights the weekly guest mentor calls featuring top industry leaders as an invaluable resource that participants should leverage fully to accelerate their careers, regardless of whether they make it to the end of the competition.
Mike and David discuss the significant opportunity created by rapid M&A activity and insurance industry consolidation. They note that when large brokerages acquire local agencies, service often suffers (“blood in the water”), creating a prime opening for independent agents to prospect dissatisfied clients who feel neglected by the new ownership.
The coaches proudly identify as “minorities” in the industry—independent agency owners who haven’t sold out to private equity. They discuss the strategic advantage of remaining independent and local, especially when competing against national firms that often struggle to maintain the personalized service and community ties that made the acquired agencies successful in the first place.
David outlines the timeline for the season, mentioning the upcoming live draft and the start of challenges, likely ramping up after the holidays to respect everyone’s family time. He reiterates his commitment to providing candid feedback to help insurance producers grow, treating them like members of his own team.
For years, commercial insurance producers could survive by being good enough across a wide range of industries. They could write a little construction, a little manufacturing, a little hospitality, and a little habitational business and still build a respectable book.
The commercial insurance industry is in the middle of a quiet evolution.
While most conversations still revolve around premiums, deductibles, limits, and carrier appetite, a different category of risk transfer has been gaining traction beneath the surface—parametric insurance. It is not new, but it is finally becoming accessible, relevant, and actionable for middle market producers who are willing to think differently about risk.
In a recent episode of the Power Producers Podcast, I sat down with Brian Thompson from Descartes Underwriting to unpack what parametric insurance actually is, what it is not, and why producers who ignore it may be leaving their clients—and themselves—exposed.
This article breaks that conversation down into practical, producer-friendly language and shows how parametric insurance fits into modern middle market risk management.
The last several years have reshaped the landscape of property insurance across the country. While most national carriers have retreated from coastal states, wildfire zones, and other catastrophe-exposed regions, a handful of disciplined players have taken the opposite path—leaning into difficult markets with a strategic, data-driven approach.
For most entrepreneurs, the decision to start a business is rooted in the promise of freedom. Freedom from a boss, freedom to control income, and freedom to build something meaningful. Yet for many business owners, particularly in service-based industries and middle-market companies, that freedom slowly erodes. What begins as ownership eventually turns into obligation, where the business demands constant attention and the owner becomes the single point of failure.
The insurance industry is full of shortcuts. Some producers look for ways to streamline the quoting process, others avoid hard conversations with clients, and many rely on endorsements or extensions because they are “easier” than diving into the details. Nowhere is this more dangerous than in the world of cyber insurance.
Too many agents assume that a cyber endorsement on a BOP or commercial package policy is “good enough.” It isn’t. In fact, treating a BOP cyber extension as a replacement for a standalone cyber policy leaves clients dangerously exposed, puts producers at risk of losing accounts, and opens the door to costly errors and omissions (E&O) claims.
Cyber threats evolve faster than any other area of risk, and endorsements simply can’t keep up. If producers want to protect their clients and themselves, it’s time to understand why standalone cyber insurance is non-negotiable.
In the middle market, producers don’t lose because the competition has better pricing.
They lose because the competition understands people better—their motivations, their fears, their priorities, and what makes them say yes.
Please confirm you want to block this member.
You will no longer be able to:
Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.
