The insurance buyer’s view
A Q&A WITH CORY MANGUM
Director of Risk Management, Primoris
Cory Mangum is the Director of Risk Management at Primoris Services Corporation, a leading provider of critical infrastructure services to the utility, energy, and renewables markets throughout the United States and Canada. Cory has more than 15 years of risk management and insurance industry experience and has achieved Associate in Claims, Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, and RIMS-CRMP designations. He also has 10 years of experience working in academia, assisting with risk management and insurance programs at Temple University, the University of North Texas, the University of Texas at Dallas, and currently Columbia University's Insurance Management program.
LOCKTON: How would you describe the state of the insurance market today?
CORY MANGUM: I would say it’s disciplined but still accessible. The market is able to provide solutions to deliver necessary coverages to customers.
We're seeing softer market pricing for many lines. In those areas, capacity is generally healthy, with incumbent carriers targeting growth. New entrants are adding capacity and driving competition, and underwriting is becoming more flexible.
In certain pockets, however, we are still seeing higher premiums and tighter insurer appetites, with buyers being forced to be a bit more creative in how we structure programs. This is especially true for lines such as commercial auto and third-party liability, which remain challenging due to social inflation and the current legal environment.
Limits can still be challenging, as insurers are cautious to expose their lines to any catastrophic losses. And to achieve more favorable terms for natural catastrophe risks, such as wildfire, we're seeing more scrutiny and more data being requested by underwriters.
LOCKTON: What are your biggest challenges as an insurance buyer?
CORY MANGUM: One of our biggest challenges is balancing limits and coverage with the contractual requirements we have as a construction business. We have significant casualty exposure, and some of our major customers are large public utilities, including in California. So we need to make sure we have the coverage we need for wildfire exposures, as an example.
Another challenge is the unpredictability of renewals in recent years and having to adjust strategy based on shifts in underwriting appetites and any exclusionary language insurers may look to add to policies. We really strive to be able to plan for the long term while also trying to balance some of the marketplace volatility.
It’s helpful when carriers maintain open communication throughout the policy year. This allows them to update us on potential market changes that could impact renewals. It also allows insurance buyers to provide updates on their current risk management initiatives and associated outcomes. This helps inject predictability in the face of market volatility, enabling insureds to anticipate and adjust to real-time market changes and make better long-term strategic decisions.
LOCKTON: What additional support do you want from insurers?
CORY MANGUM: We want our insurers to take a forward-looking approach. To use commercial auto as an example, rating is often based on historical losses, and doesn’t always reflect the mitigation work we're doing to better control risks and make sure they don't impact our bottom line or that of our insurers. So taking real-time data and adding that to the equation from a rating standpoint is something we’d like to see more of from insurers.
Data and intelligence about emerging risks is also really critical. Insurers house an immense amount of valuable data that they accumulate from policyholders, which they can leverage to help us all become more risk-aware. This data could help us focus more on specific areas to alleviate preventable risks, which is good for both us and insurers.
The last thing I’d mention is technology partnerships. One of our insurers is helping us use our telematics data from dash cam technology we use across our fleet of 6,000 vehicles to create dashboards and garner insights that we can share across the organization. This is really huge and I think something we need to leverage more in the future. The more data we accumulate, the more we can put it to use to better manage risks.
LOCKTON: What support are you looking for from your insurance brokers?
CORY MANGUM: First is service. As a risk manager, I’m a generalist — I can’t truly be an expert in any one area of insurance or risk management because there’s too much out there to know. So collaboration and communication are key.
I really lean on our brokers and see them as business partners that help Primoris get to where we want to go in the future. I can’t be successful as a risk manager without them, and it’s important to work with experts in all the various risks and coverages that we need. It’s also vital that they have the necessary resources and can respond quickly and creatively to help us solve business issues.
Second is claims consulting. We’re a large publicly traded company with lots of exposure, and we really need strong claims advisors to help us understand and manage some of our most challenging losses. We count on our brokers to bring in outside expertise and push our insurers to deliver on their promises. We see our brokers and insurers as strategic partners to help us mitigate any potential impact on our business.
Third is technology — specifically, helping us as an organization aggregate, organize, and leverage our risk and insurance data. For example, we can use claims reporting data to create tools that identify gaps or weaknesses and feed continuous improvement efforts. This data can also help us make decisions more effectively, resulting in a better use of capital, improved program design, and superior outcomes for our stakeholders.
LOCKTON: What advice would you offer to other insurance buyers and risk professionals?
CORY MANGUM: What we as risk professionals and insurance buyers can do, especially in 2025, is evolve from a traditional risk management mindset into more of a risk-taking mindset. The world is moving too fast for risk professionals to be hesitant to take risks to make their businesses stronger. We obviously want to avoid fatal failures that can disrupt organizations, but generally, failure should not be discouraged — it’s a learning experience that can drive growth and education.
Related to that is creativity, which I think is really key. One area where we’re seeing a real need for creative thinking is on deductibles, attachments, and limits. Businesses need to engage more frequently in scenario analysis and desktop exercises to ensure costs remain within risk appetite and support a healthy economic cost of risk.
Lastly, it’s important to communicate and collaborate with internal stakeholders and brokers. Understanding perspectives and needs across HR, finance, operations, and safety can be really valuable for risk professionals and organizations.
