Pooling through The New Normal: Financing Risk When The Old Playbook No Longer Works

The financial playbook for pooling is changing. Nuclear verdicts may get the headlines, but they are only one piece of a much larger shift. Pools are facing a new liability landscape shaped by higher severity, expanding exposures, legislative changes, obsolete trend assumptions, and greater uncertainty about what may come next.

In this episode of PoolSide, we talk with Mike Harrington, President and Managing Partner of Bickmore Actuarial, who breaks down these issues in a practical, non-technical way for pooling professionals across every function, not just finance.

We discuss:

• Why past trending may no longer tell the full story
• How new legislation can create liabilities that were never contemplated in prior actuarial studies
• Why pools may need to rethink limits, retentions, quota shares, and confidence levels
• The growing need to contain exposures more intentionally
• Why building and protecting surplus may matter more than dividends in today’s environment

This conversation is about more than numbers. It is about long-term financial resilience and making sure pools remain strong enough to keep their promise to members.