AM Best Names Three Finalists in Student Challenge Competition

AM Best has selected students from Florida State University, Illinois State University and Saint Joseph's University as finalists for its second-annual Student Challenge competition, which tasked risk management and insurance students with creating solutions for managing insurance risks. The 2022 competition was open to undergraduate and graduate students, who were invited to submit as individuals or in teams of two.

Alexander Pearson of Florida State was selected for his submission, "Innovating the Under-Insured," an interactive app that uses third-party real estate, construction and risk data to identify gaps in a homeowner's insurance coverage and educate consumers on what level of property coverage they truly need.

Paul Dunlap of Illinois State earned a spot among the finalists for his submission, "Resilience Endorsements," which proposes an expansion of endorsements for homeowners and communities that employ certain resilience measures.

Finally, the team of Julia Berdzik and Elizabeth Colpe from Saint Joseph's developed "Infectious Disease Remediation Coverage," which aims to mitigate small business closures resulting from infectious disease outbreaks.

Each finalist has been paired with a senior member of AM Best's analytical team to mentor them through the final phase of the competition. Final presentations will be posted on the Student Challenge website for viewing and voting in mid-March. Voting is open to the public from March 14-31, 2022. AM Best will announce the winner on April 4, 2022.

"We are pleased to host the Student Challenge for a second year," said Matthew C. Mosher, president and CEO of AM Best Rating Services. "This competition is consistent with AM Best's mission to support the attraction of talent to the insurance industry, and we are encouraged to see submissions from a range of excellent programs."

For this year's competition, AM Best sought solutions for managing insurance risks, including new products; distribution methods; creative ways to increase insurance penetration; incentive programs; digitization models; implementation of private/public partnerships; or alternative risk transfer.

The Student Challenge is sponsored by the AM Best Foundation, which financially supports charitable organizations that encourage education and thought leadership in insurance and risk management.

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

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