Sport is in Shalom Suniula’s blood. That was evident from an early age when he became a Rugby phenom in New Zealand and ultimately a member of the US National Team, representing the US in the 2015 World Cup.
So, when the opportunity came in 2020 to join USI Insurances Services and lead it efforts in the sports industry, Suniula pounced on the opportunity and hasn’t stopped running. Much like the success he has on the field, Suniula has capitalized on the opportunity, recently being promoted to Vice President, Property and Casualty. We wanted to learn more about his path and his innovative approach to delivering services to the sports industry. The interview follows.
Question: How did you get into the business?
I was a former international athlete for over 10 years playing rugby, I had the opportunity to represent USA at both Rugby World Cups and Olympic Games. That opportunity led to me becoming the athlete representative on USA Rugby’s board. This is where I learned some of the nuances of the sport business, especially the importance of risk management and how that impacts premiums which can be very expensive for sports organizations. As I learned more, my curiosity on the impact insurance had on other sports increased, slowly realizing that the cost of insurance has a huge impact on sports.
This has become even more true in recent years, looking no further than our widely publicized cases such as USA Gymnastics class action Sexual Abuse lawsuits. As a result, the marketplace for sports (Amateur & Professional) has decreased substantially, this means organizations at times, are at the mercy of high premiums, these increases flow down to membership impacting registration costs.
So as my career was coming to an end, I wanted to give back to sport in a meaningful way, especially since sport has given me so much! I knew that as a broker, I could bring the same level of advocacy, passion, commitment, and ultimately creativity to organizations, and subsequently the overall sports industry.
Q: What’s the most satisfying part of the job?
Accessibility to sport presents enough challenges as we speak, technology, costs, organized sports vs unstructured and more. When you think about it holistically, we can help solve a very important issue around cost. Insurance can easily be the top 3-4 expense line items for an organization. It’s very fulfilling if we can help organizations keep those costs down, providing more resources back to their mission. That’s our goal.
Q: How would you describe the services that USI provides to sporting clients
A: Our role is to be fully integrated with our clients and ultimately become an extension of their staff, a lot of the time given the current climate it’s to improve or meet their risk management needs, claims, as well as day-to-day services from a proactive basis.
Q: On one hand, you’re protecting them. But you’re also incentivizing them to do better?
A: And organizations are getting better from a risk management perspective, but we’re still a long way away collectively. They’ve come a long way since the 1990s and early 2000s. They’re keeping up with the times in terms of technology. But the challenge with a lot of these amateur organizations is that often times they are nonprofits, and like most nonprofits, they’re wearing 100 different hats.
Q: What is the process for onboarding a new association?
A: In a perfect world we’re involved before they’ve become an organization. Usually there’s a due diligence process we walk them through, so they’re prepared from an insurance perspective. Basic starting questions like what is the core of your operations? what are the potential risks? Total cost of risk? What does best in class risk management look like? And help map out a plan in stages, especially the financial implications.
Our goal is always to promote stabilization, and insurance plays a huge role in that.
Q: How does USI support what you do in the sports industry?
A: There’s a whole risk management department at USI, which thinks about things like abuse, concussion, assault & battery, vendor contracts, and other sports related risks.
And then there are emerging risks such as transgender and mental health to name a few. It’s about understanding where they are today from a claim’s perspective and working proactively with our clients to support their risk management frameworks to minimize future claims if any.
We also have a risk management center which can help bridge any technology efficiency gaps, like to support training for coaches, staff, and employees. How often do they have to complete? How do you track that? What is automation like? Underwriters’ biggest concern is oversight, especially for large national organizations this can be very critical.
We also have a dedicated claims department, who are former attorneys and/or adjusters. They are experts at managing each of those claims to either have lower reserves or actively making progress to settle. The impact on renewal year over year can be significant if not managed.
Q: How does USI intersect with professional teams and leagues?
A: On the professional side, worker’s comp can be a potentially challenging area if not managed correctly, especially when teams/leagues are in the early start-up phase. Everything from coverage placement (depending on the sport), navigating statutory requirements for every state, compliance, education, training, medical provider relationships and more. We have dedicated team that works to support these areas.
Q: What are some of the trends in risk management that you are tracking?
A: Concussion management. What does the training look like? Everyone has a baseline test, right? What is your customized return to play protocol? In the event that something happens, how is that managed, documented, and streamlined? Who are the vendors out there and what kind of technology do they possess?
Then there are things like transgender, contract or agreement risk transfer strategies, and equipment/facility safety.
The scariest part of it all is the unknown. And so how do we make this known? Tough spot to be in not knowing it. Better to say, “Here’s what we do know today and here are the steps we can put in place for now as things unfold, and then adapt and evolve.”
