The Next-Gen Carrier Model
Lessons from the leaders driving insurance into the future
Next-generation isn’t just a buzzword—
it’s a mandate.
The 2025 InsurTech NY Spring Conference brought together the best and brightest from across the insurance spectrum. But perhaps no moment captured the forward-looking energy of the event quite like our Keynote Panel on the Next Generation Carrier Model, moderated by David Gritz, Co-founder and Managing Director of InsurTech NY.
On stage were three leading executives with very different journeys—and equally bold visions:
- Jay Jackson, Chairman & CEO, Abacus Life
- Steve Dresner, CEO, Everspan Group
- Steve Shaffer, CEO, Homesteaders Life
Each of these executives brought a radically different take on what it means to be a carrier in today’s world—from transforming legacy infrastructure to building entirely new categories.
The discussion wasn’t about buzzwords. It was about survival, sustainability, and scale.
Balance Sheet First: Think Profitability – Jay Jackson
Jay Jackson challenged the audience to consider something few panelists discuss in the insurtech space: the balance sheet. “Everyone talks about AI and customer service,” he said, “but how does that help your balance sheet?”
Jay and Abacus Life have brought life settlements and lifespan data to the forefront of institutional investment. His company has even launched the first mutual fund that buys life insurance policies—a bold move that blurs the lines between asset management and insurance innovation.
Building From Scratch: The Everspan Playbook – Steve Dresner
Steve Dresner shared how The Everspan Group emerged from the ashes of a legacy business, growing into a $400M+ premium organization by leveraging MGAs and focusing on deep niche value. “We average 175–200 program pitches per year and onboard 6–8,” he noted. “Selectivity and long-term partnership matter more than speed.”
Dresner emphasized the importance of back-to-basics principles: actuarial discipline, claims oversight, and underwriting integrity—all powered by InsurTech but never blindly led by it.
Legacy, Reinvented: Homesteaders’ Long Game – Steve Shaffer
When Steve Shaffer joined Homesteaders Life, the board was full of local Des Moines high school grads and the company had a monoline, paper-based product. Ten years later, they’ve executed a billion-dollar acquisition and deployed technology that even competitors license.
Shaffer shared that the key wasn’t just technology—it was resetting incentives, realigning mission, and embracing the idea that funeral planning is about helping families at life’s most vulnerable moments. “Our biggest competitor isn’t another carrier,” he said. “It’s apathy.”
Why Long-Term Vision, Not Short-Term Thinking, Defines the Next-Gen Carrier Model
Across the board, the CEOs at the InsurTech NY 2025 Spring Conference keynote panel agreed: true transformation in insurance doesn’t happen in quarters—it happens in decades.
The journey of each panelist tells the story. Jay Jackson, CEO of Abacus Life, described how the company’s evolution into a public, tech-enabled life settlements platform took years of groundwork—from aggregating lifespan data to building trust in a new financial category. “We built the roads,” he said, referencing the effort it took to verify mortality data with 99% accuracy. That level of infrastructure isn’t built on hype—it’s built on conviction.
Steve Dresner, CEO of Everspan Group, echoed the same sentiment. His team began their transition out of the 2008 financial crisis in 2017. Only now—eight years later—have they successfully repositioned the company with $400 million in premium and a reputation for discipline in the MGA space. “We onboard six to eight programs a year out of 175 to 200 we review,” he said. “We’re very selective.” That kind of patience is antithetical to the startup-world mantra of “move fast and break things.”
“This wasn’t a panel of hype. It was a panel of conviction. If you care about where the industry is headed—not just next year, but for the next decade—this was the conversation to hear.”
And Steve Shaffer, CEO of Homesteaders Life, may have said it best: “We’re a 118-year-old mutual company. But we knew we had to reorient our entire organization for the next 100 years—not just the next 3.” That meant realigning executive incentives around long-term goals, investing in consumer-facing digital platforms, and acquiring distribution capabilities—culminating in a $1 billion funeral services transaction. None of it happened overnight. It was a decade-long transformation.
What’s striking is how different this posture is from what Wall Street and many VCs expect. Too often, carriers and startups alike are pressured to chase vanity metrics, seek fast growth at the expense of sustainability, and cut corners in the name of scale. But as Jay Jackson reminded us, “Carriers today better have a really healthy balance sheet.” It’s a call to return to fundamentals.
Even tech innovation was framed in these terms. Dresner warned against tech for tech’s sake: “Not all accounts should be automated. For small policies, yes. But in the middle market, you still need underwriters.” It’s not about replacing people with AI—it’s about enabling them. Jay summed it up with a reframe that resonated across the room: EHI, or “Enhanced Human Intelligence,” should be the true goal.
This measured, long-term philosophy has practical implications:
- Strategic Capital Deployment: Shaffer emphasized that Homesteaders’ innovation bets were made selectively: “Small bets on uncertain things. Big bets on what we’re confident in.” In other words, disciplined innovation.
- Differentiated Go-To-Market:: Everspan’s decision to partner with MGAs before they hit $10M in premium bucks the trend—and it’s working. “We’re betting on people,” said Dresner. “That takes time.”
- Balance Sheet-Centered Thinking: Abacus isn’t just innovating on the front end. They’re reinventing the idea of the insurance asset altogether. Jackson’s 1940 Act mutual fund to securitize life insurance policies is a fundamental rethink of how the industry allocates capital.
The Real Takeaway
- Homesteaders: a 10-year cultural shift culminating in a billion-dollar deal.
- Everspan: a 7+ year recovery and reinvention from a legacy mortgage insurer to a disciplined P&C innovator.
- Abacus: years of infrastructure and data science work before becoming a public company leading a new asset class.
These aren’t tech sprints. They’re business marathons.
And for InsurTech founders looking to partner with carriers and brokers, that reality is an invitation—not a deterrent. Because if there’s one thing this panel made clear, it’s that carriers aren’t looking for the fastest demo or the flashiest pitch. They’re looking for partners who understand what it means to build for the long term: partners who are willing to grow with them, who respect regulatory nuance, and who help strengthen—not strain—the balance sheet.
As Steve Dresner of Everspan emphasized, “We never like surprises.” That mindset is echoed across underwriting, actuarial, and claims teams nationwide. The best InsurTechs will win by aligning with that philosophy—not by disrupting around it.
And the reward for doing so? Staying power. The opportunity to become part of the operating core of tomorrow’s carrier.
This year’s keynote wasn’t a conversation of buzzwords. It was a blueprint for transformation—grounded in discipline, shaped by data, and animated by a shared vision for the future of insurance.
The next-generation carriers won’t be those chasing headlines. They’ll be the ones building trust, capacity, and enduring infrastructure—brick by brick.
And the good news? There’s still room at the table. But the seat goes to those who think in decades, not demo days.
