Bring ideas. Bring your team. Build your advantage.
July 15 | Santa Monica Pier, California
Bring your book.
Bring your questions.
Build your renewal edge.
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+The Coachella for Insurance comes to group benefits
"If you're looking for an event where you'll leave with a notebook full of ideas, a handful of new friendships, and a different way of thinking about your business, this deserves a place in your calendar."
The Audience
- Employee Benefits Practice Leader / Practice Director
- VP / SVP, Employee Benefits
- Benefits Consultant / Senior Benefits Consultant
- Account Executive, Group Benefits
- Benefits Broker / Producer
- Principal / Partner, Benefits Division
- Director of Client Services, Benefits
- VP, Broker Distribution / Broker Relations
- National Sales Director, Group Benefits
- VP, Voluntary Benefits or Ancillary Products
- Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
- VP / Director, Total Rewards
- VP / Director, People (or People & Culture)
- Benefits Manager
- HR Business Partner
- Director of Compensation & Benefits
- Head of Employee Experience
- VP, People Operations
and more...
Attend as a Broker
Join 700+ brokers, plan providers and HR pros for a day of sessions, small-group conversations and networking built around your book of business.
Lead the Conversation as a Partner
Put your solutions in front of the broker channel — exhibit, meet targets, and close deals on the Pier.
Join the HR and Total Rewards stream
Get the insights and provider connections you need to plan your organization's benefits offerings in our HR and Total Rewards track.
BenefitsFest At A Glance
One pier, one day, three reasons to clear your calendar.
Content
Sessions Built For Renewal Conversations
Programming pulled straight from what brokers, carriers and employers are already talking about — cost containment, AI, fiduciary duty, and the M&A wave reshaping who owns the client relationship.
Networking
Network Like Your Book Depends On It
500+ brokers, consultants and advisors on one pier. Not name badges in an expo hall — real conversations with the people who actually get your renewal season.
Experiences
Festival Energy, Broker Focus
Hands-on demos, sunset conversations, and a pier that turns every break between sessions into a moment worth showing up for.
INSURANCEFEST AT A GLANCE
Network Like You Mean It
1,000+ insurance leaders, founders, and innovators in one place. Brokers, MGAs, agencies, insurers, InsurTechs. From C-suite to NextGen, they’ll all be on the pier.
Join the Conversation
60+ industry voices you actually want to hear from—from Aon to Marsh McLennan to InsurTech founders. Interactive sessions across every zone where you’re invited to jump in, ask what you really want to know, and steer the discussion. This isn’t sit-and-listen; it’s speak up and be heard.
Hands-On Marketplace
30+ exhibitors and interactive InsurTech demos you can actually touch and test. A buzzing marketplace of ideas, solutions, and collaborations where you discover new tools, products, and partners to tackle your biggest challenges.N ot just watching — finding what you’ll take back to your work.
Discussion Table Real Talk
50+ exclusive, 1-hour Discussion Tables for senior brokers and decision-makers. Small-group, facilitated conversations on Cyber, Digital Transformation, Construction, and E&S where everyone leans in, swaps war stories, and pressure-tests ideas in real time.
Bring Your Crew
Team experiences and group sessions designed so your whole organization goes back energized with shared insights and new connections. Build your own festival lineup as a team, join collaborative workshops together, tackle live challenges side by side, and turn the pier into your offsite — complete with shared moments, fresh ideas, and stories you’ll still be talking about back at the office.
Festival Energy on the Pier
From sunrise yoga to sunset sets, food trucks, cocktails, and ocean air — the pier turns every coffee break into a moment.
Highlight Themes
The Advisor Shift
The broker relationship is moving from an annual renewal transaction to a year-round advisory partnership built on client education and trust.
Self-Funding & the RFP Era
With 80% of employers above 200 employees now self-funding, brokers are competing on service, data and stop-loss strategy — not just a bundled premium.
Cost Containment in the GLP-1 Era
Real strategies for managing specialty drug costs and pharmacy spend without gutting the benefit employees actually want.
AI and the New Enrollment Experience
Decision-support tools, claims analytics and employee-facing apps built to cut through plan complexity at enrollment and beyond.
Fiduciary Duty & Compensation Transparency
What recent litigation and disclosure requirements mean for how brokers get paid — and how they prove their value in writing.
The Consolidation Wave
A record year of brokerage M&A is changing who owns the client relationship — what it means for independent brokers and where they compete next.
Who We Are
Insurance Business's Group Benefits coverage is built for the people writing group business: reporting and expert commentary on the decisions that actually move your book. Renewal strategy versus cost-shifting, fiduciary and compliance exposure, plan design and ancillary product selection, and the consolidation reshaping the brokerage channel. Less renewal-number chasing, more of what you need to walk into the next client conversation with an answer.
Our Global Festivals
InsuranceFest USA
InsuranceFest unites 1,200+ specialty commercial insurance leaders on the Santa Monica Pier to transform the industry.
HRFest Canada & Australia
Taking place in Toronto and Melbourne, over 750 HR leaders gather for the most talked about event of the year.
MortgageFest Canada
2,000+ mortgage professionals come together over two days for the industry's only festival!
THEMES AT A GLANCE
Digital Transformation & Innovation
Cyber, Risk & Underwriting
Nat Cat & Climate
Regulation, Legal & Compliance
Next Gen
E&S Unfiltered
Construction & Specialty Reports
Market Capacity, M&A & Economic Headwinds
DISCUSSION TABLES
Step into action with our all-new themed discussion tables—built for leaders who want results now. These fast-paced, interactive sessions go beyond theory, delivering tactical conversations and proven takeaways you can put to work immediately.
Cyber
How do you keep up with rapidly evolving cyber policies while driving client education on emerging risks and solutions?
Digital Transformation
What are the transformational benefits of implementing AI effectively across your business?
Construction
What are the biggest hidden builder’s risks brokers and clients need to watch for, and how can you identify them early?
Excess & Surplus Lines
How do you build and maintain client trust in E&S placements, especially in a volatile market?
Cyber
How are you leveraging AI to outpace cyber threats, and what challenges are you facing in the cyber arms race?
Digital Transformation
How can brokers turn data into actionable insights that drive revenue and growth?
Construction
What strategies help brokers navigate high-risk construction projects in a tightening market?
Excess & Surplus Lines
How do you stay ahead of volatility in the E&S market and make confident placement decisions?
Cyber
What strategies have helped you convert cyber skeptics into loyal, proactive clients?
Digital Transformation
How do you design a digital-first client experience that truly delivers value and loyalty
Construction
How do you evaluate and implement jobsite technologies that deliver real value for clients?
Excess & Surplus Lines
What creative strategies help brokers secure E&S coverage when traditional markets say no?
Cyber
What digital threats are most concerning for your clients, and how are you helping them prepare?
Digital Transformation
What lessons have you learned from your digital transformation journey—both successes and failures?
Construction
How do you identify and negotiate contract clauses that can make or break a construction deal?
THEMES AT A GLANCE
Digital Transformation & Innovation
- Turning AI from hype to ROI in real brokerage workflows
- Building a digital client journey that wins (and keeps) business in a virtual world
- Choosing InsurTech and RegTech partners that accelerate real transformation
Cyber, Risk & Underwriting
- Turning cyber risk into a client‑value conversation, not a fear pitch
- Cyber crisis playbooks: who does what, when it hits
- Underwriting the next wave of cyber and personal cyber exposures
Nat Cat & Climate
- Rethinking nat cat models for a world that won’t sit still
- Helping clients understand climate‑driven pricing and coverage shifts
- Placing and structuring nat cat and climate‑exposed risks when volatility is the norm
Regulation, Legal & Compliance
- What new rules really mean for AI, cyber, and everyday brokerage workflows
- RegTech that actually simplifies audits, file reviews, and reporting
- Staying compliant on claims, E&S, and specialty without killing broker speed
Next Gen
- Career playbooks: what rising brokers wish they’d known earlier
- Mixing veteran experience with new ideas in
- Finding your lane as a NextGen broker in a consolidating, tech‑driven market
Diversity & Inclusion
- Real stories from women and under‑represented leaders on breaking through and bringing others with them
- How brokers can sponsor others, share opportunities, and use their voice even without a hiring title
- Where inclusion has changed client relationships, ideas, and outcomes – not just internal messaging
E&S Unfiltered
- Winning in a capacity‑tight, appetite‑shifting E&S market
- Designing E&S solutions for “wild risks” the standard market won’t touch
- Broker, MGA, and carrier partnerships that unlock specialty placements
Construction & Specialty Reports
- Managing construction risk under climate, cost, and regulatory pressure
- Spotting breakout niches across specialty lines before the market crowds in
- Claims and coverage lessons from large, multi‑party and specialty projects
Market Capacity, M&A & Economic Headwinds
- Broker playbooks for navigating consolidation and staying relevant
- Positioning your firm for sale, scale, or strategic partnership
- Competing when capacity, pricing, and client demand all move at once
Digital Transformation & Innovation
- Turning AI from hype to ROI in real brokerage workflows
- Building a digital client journey that wins (and keeps) business in a virtual world
- Choosing InsurTech and RegTech partners that accelerate real transformation
Cyber, Risk & Underwriting
- Turning cyber risk into a client‑value conversation, not a fear pitch
- Cyber crisis playbooks: who does what, when it hits
- Underwriting the next wave of cyber and personal cyber exposures
Nat Cat & Climate
- Rethinking nat cat models for a world that won’t sit still
- Helping clients understand climate‑driven pricing and coverage shifts
- Placing and structuring nat cat and climate‑exposed risks when volatility is the norm
Regulation, Legal & Compliance
- What new rules really mean for AI, cyber, and everyday brokerage workflows
- RegTech that actually simplifies audits, file reviews, and reporting
- Staying compliant on claims, E&S, and specialty without killing broker speed
Next Gen
- Career playbooks: what rising brokers wish they’d known earlier
- Mixing veteran experience with new ideas in
- Finding your lane as a NextGen broker in a consolidating, tech‑driven market
Diversity & Inclusion
- Real stories from women and under‑represented leaders on breaking through and bringing others with them
- How brokers can sponsor others, share opportunities, and use their voice even without a hiring title
- Where inclusion has changed client relationships, ideas, and outcomes – not just internal messaging
E&S Unfiltered
- Winning in a capacity‑tight, appetite‑shifting E&S market
- Designing E&S solutions for “wild risks” the standard market won’t touch
- Broker, MGA, and carrier partnerships that unlock specialty placements
Construction & Specialty Reports
- Managing construction risk under climate, cost, and regulatory pressure
- Spotting breakout niches across specialty lines before the market crowds in
- Claims and coverage lessons from large, multi‑party and specialty projects
Market Capacity, M&A & Economic Headwinds
- Broker playbooks for navigating consolidation and staying relevant
- Positioning your firm for sale, scale, or strategic partnership
- Competing when capacity, pricing, and client demand all move at once


