- 18 min
The Strait of Hormuz Shows Up in Your Premium
Hosted by Katie Dowson and Grace Schmidt
Clips & Quotes
View all snippets
The Advocate Insurance Desk
Never miss an episode.
A quick note from Katie and Grace each time we drop something new.
Market Indices
US Natl Property
$3.57
US Natl Liability
$11.56
US Natl Package
$9.68
From the desk
Full archive
16 episodes
Past episodes
Every episode ships with a full transcript and the live benchmarks referenced on air.
- 16
- 18 min
The Strait of Hormuz Shows Up in Your Premium
The Strait of Hormuz closed. Oil hit $113 a barrel. Habitation liability rates spiked at the same moment. We break down why these two markets are moving together and what that means for anyone renewing right now.
- Alternative Markets
- 15
- 16 min
Polymarket vs Premiums: Same Math, Different Wrapper
Polymarket and parametric insurance are doing the same thing at the math layer. Pricing the probability of a future event. The wrapper around it is the only thing that's different. This episode is about where those two worlds are starting to overlap and what it means for CRE insurance.
- Multifamily
- 14
- 18 min
How Multifamily Operators Are Restructuring Risk in 2026
Property is finally softening after 28 consecutive quarters of hardening. But liability is up 42% since January 1st and there's no bottom in sight. This episode is about why operators are turning to captives and parametric coverage, and what the realistic move is at every portfolio scale.
- AI
- 13
- 26 min
AI Just Got Quietly Excluded From Your CGL Policy.
AI exclusions are quietly reshaping commercial liability coverage. Katie and Grace break down new AI carve-outs approved for major carriers, what the latest ISO endorsements exclude, and why this mirrors the early cyber market. Plus, practical guidance on AI risk, governance, and renewals.
- 12
- 24 min
Assault and Battery Exclusions: The Hidden Coverage Gap
Assault and battery coverage is quietly vanishing from commercial general liability policies. The number on the declaration page isn't the coverage. Advocate's placement data shows Illinois operators paying nearly 4x what New York pays for it, as negligent-security verdicts land at $30M and up.
- 11
- 22 min
How Advocate Is Bringing Bloomberg-Style Transparency to Insurance
Everyone says insurance is stuck because the people are stuck. The data says otherwise. A $300B market with 300-400% pricing dispersion, opaque only because the data wasn't accessible. Bloomberg fixed this for bonds in 1980. David Haddad walks the Advocate app live to show where the parallel holds.
- AI
- 10
- 25 min
AI Is Fueling Lawsuits and Driving Up Your Insurance Premiums
AI-related damages are quietly being carved out of commercial general liability policies. Chubb, Berkshire Hathaway, and Travelers just got regulator approval to exclude AI from standard CGL. ISO endorsements went live January 1st. This episode breaks down what changed and what to ask at renewal.
- Weather
- 9
- 20 min
What La Niña Actually Does to Insurance Pricing
Why does a Pacific Ocean temperature shift affect insurance renewals in North Carolina? Katie and Grace explain how six years of La Niña reshaped Southeast insurance markets, from the historic 2020 hurricane season to Helene’s impact. Using Advocate Market Terminal data, they show what is driving renewals and where leverage still exists.
- AI
- 8
- 16 min
The AI Boom Has an Insurance Problem
KKR and Blackstone passed on data center debt because they couldn't get comfortable with the insurance picture. In equities you have Bloomberg. In debt you have spreads. In insurance you have someone's word. That's the gap the Advocate Market Terminal was built to close.
- Current Events
- 7
- 18 min
March Madness: What NC and CT Multifamily Insurance Data Actually Shows
Connecticut multifamily owners are paying nearly double per unit compared to North Carolina — a $63K annual insurance gap on a 100-unit building. But NC is closing that gap fast. For March Madness we ran the Duke vs UConn matchup in the terminal. The data tells a story most operators are missing.
- 6
- 22 min
St. Louis Multifamily Insurance Market: The Factor Adding 33% to Your Rate
The St. Louis multifamily insurance market is splitting in two. The under $3M segment is a buyer's market right now. The $10-20M segment broke in September 2024. We pulled real transaction data from the Market Terminal to show which carriers are winning on volume vs price — and where the leverage is.
- 5
- 19 min
Why Illinois Nursing Homes Pay 8x More for Insurance
Senior care liability is not moving randomly. It is responding to litigation pressure, underwriting capacity, and regulatory scrutiny. We pulled real transaction data from the Market Terminal to show how those forces are translating into actual pricing across the Illinois nursing home market.
- 4
- 14 min
Why Insurance Is Still in the 1800s and What the Commodities Market Teaches Us
Pricing dispersion in commercial insurance runs 300 to 400 percent. The same risk can trade at dramatically different prices because there is no common taxonomy, no benchmark, no reference price. This is exactly where commodity markets sat in the 1800s before the Chicago Board of Trade fixed it.
- 3
- 21 min
From Wildfire to 85% Rate Spike: How Insurance Actually Reprices
What actually happens to insurance pricing after a catastrophic event? We tracked the full financial domino effect of the January 7, 2025 LA wildfires through capital markets, construction costs, and reinsurance. California property rates moved up to 85% within ten months. Insurance lags. But it moves.
- 2
- 22 min
Inside the Texas Insurance Market: A Regional Pricing Breakdown
Is Texas multifamily insurance actually getting cheaper as the state grows? The answer is more complicated. We broke down the Texas Property and Liability Indices and zoomed into Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth to show where pricing actually diverges. Statewide data tells you direction. Metros tell you reality.
- 1
- 22 min
What's Really Happening in the Insurance Market in NYC | Advocate Insurance Desk
What is actually happening in the NYC multifamily insurance market? In our first episode, Katie Dowson and Grace Schmidt pull real pricing data from the Market Terminal to break down how rate-on-line is shifting, how regulation is reshaping carrier behavior, and what it means for owners navigating renewals.