Agenda

Join us for a special in-person gathering designed for all 2026 LEAD Program cohorts. This invite-only event offers a valuable opportunity to connect face-to-face with fellow participants, engage in meaningful networking, and hear from an inspiring guest speaker. Don’t miss this chance to build relationships and strengthen your leadership journey within the industry. A light dinner and drinks will be provided.

Join us as we tee off the PLUS Conference at our exciting pre-conference mixer at Topgolf, conveniently located in the hotel. Enjoy an evening of networking and Topgolf hosted by Future PLUS. All registered attendees are welcome. Light hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be available.

Take a break, recharge, and connect at the Connections Lounge. Enjoy professional headshots and unique experiences, such as the Cosmic Career Activation and a Social Media Profile Polish. Refuel with delicious food, beverages, and barista-crafted coffee while networking or simply taking a moment for yourself. Business and wellness come together here.

Raise a glass to honor the newest class of RPLU designees! This invite-only outdoor (weather permitting) celebration welcomes the 2026 designees into a distinguished community of 5,000 professionals who hold this prestigious credential. Join us for a champagne toast as we recognize their achievement and celebrate the continued strength of the RPLU designation.

Start your PLUS Conference networking experience by connecting with fellow industry professionals through engaging networking activities. Set in a relaxed atmosphere, this event is hosted by Future PLUS volunteers and offers a perfect opportunity to share insights, build relationships, and compete for exciting prizes. This session is a must-do for those new to the PLUS Conference and Future PLUS.

This session offers a practical overview of four fast-developing areas of employment law driving potential exposure under EPLI and management liability policies: artificial intelligence, pay transparency, moonlighting, and wage and hour compliance. Attendees will explore emerging litigation trends and regulatory developments, from AI use by employers and litigants to salary disclosure requirements, off duty conduct concerns, and misclassification and overtime risks heightened by remote work. Join us for a timely look at the factors fueling these claims and the loss-mitigation strategies most useful to underwriters and claims professionals navigating this rapidly changing landscape.

Private company D&O is having a moment. Tighter capacity in some segments, softening in others, and claims activity that doesn’t always match the conventional wisdom. But there’s a piece of this puzzle that doesn’t get enough airtime: the buyer. Why are some private companies walking away from D&O coverage entirely, while others are finally waking up to the exposure? What’s driving the “we’re too small to get sued” mentality, and what’s actually changing owners’ minds after a claim hits close to home?

This panel brings together a broker, a claims attorney, and an underwriter for a candid conversation about what’s showing up in claim files, what’s showing up in submissions, and what’s happening or not happening in the boardroom. Expect real talk on coverage disputes, how underwriters are reacting to emerging exposure trends, and how brokers can better read a private company’s actual risk tolerance versus their assumptions about it.

This isn’t a primer. It’s a working session for people who live in this market every day and want to compare notes with peers who see it from different seats, including the one across the table from the client.

Private companies with ESOP, private equity, or family office ownership often face governance and liability challenges that differ from traditionally owned organizations. This session examines common D&O and fiduciary issues associated with these unique ownership structures, including conflicts of interest, valuation concerns, shareholder disputes, fiduciary obligations, and board accountability. Attendees will gain practical insights into the evolving risk landscape and considerations for underwriting and risk management.

The cyber risk landscape is entering uncharted territory. The emergence of frontier AI models — systems of unprecedented reasoning, autonomy, and capability — is quietly reshaping the threat environment in ways the insurance industry is only beginning to reckon with.

PLUS opening general session will include bestowing PLUS’s two highest honors, the Founders and PLUS1 Awards followed by Jesse Cole, Founder of Fans First Entertainment, Owner of the Savannah Bananas and Creator of Banana Ball. Never a dull moment with Jesse around!

Change the Game: Break the Rules and Create Unforgettable Experiences

Packed with behind-the-peel stories, hard-earned lessons, and a few other surprises, Jesse teaches you how to stand out in your marketplace, drive explosive growth, and inspire lasting loyalty.
Jesse presents his exact “Five E’s” formula that made the Savannah Bananas wildly popular. They have over one billion social media views and over half a million fans on a waiting list for tickets because their season sells out before the first game is played.
1. Eliminate Friction
2. Entertain Always
3. Experiment Constantly
4. Engage Deeply
5. Empower Action
If this all sounds bananas, that’s the point. If you’re ready to change the game, break the rules, and create unforgettable experiences that strengthen relationships, inspire your team, and set your organization apart, it’s time to put people and relationships first.

Connect with Future PLUS volunteer leaders and other attendees at the PLUS Pop Up Bar in the Marriott Ballroom Foyer prior to taking the shuttle to the USS Midway for the PLUS Welcome Reception. Drinks are at your own expense.

Join us for an unforgettable evening aboard the USS Midway, one of the most iconic ships in American history, docked on the San Diego waterfront. Enjoy food, cocktails, and live music on the flight deck, explore state-of-the-art flight simulators, and take in a fireworks display over the bay to close out the night.

Take a break, recharge, and connect at the Connections Lounge. Enjoy professional headshots and unique experiences, such as the Cosmic Career Activation and a Social Media Profile Polish. Refuel with delicious food, beverages, and barista-crafted coffee while networking or simply taking a moment for yourself. Business and wellness come together here.

Our presenters will explore key aspects of Professional Liability (E&O). The session will cover which businesses face E&O exposure, effective approaches to placing or underwriting E&O coverage, and how policies respond to real‑world claim scenarios. Conversation will center on E&O considerations for licensed professionals, miscellaneous professional services, real estate organizations, media companies, and technology firms.

This discussion will explore two emerging areas of securities litigation : AI disclosure-related securities class actions and market manipulation claims, including pump-and-dump schemes. Speakers will address evolving risks from the perspectives of coverage and carrier response, underwriting expectations, and strategies for defending Insureds when claims arise.

Meet new people over dinner! Sign up at the Meet & Eat desk for a reservation with up to 6 others at a local San Diego restaurant. Perfect if you’re traveling solo or looking to branch out beyond the sponsor parties. Conveniently located directly across from the PLUS pop up bar, which is open to everyone, registered or not. Come check it out and maybe make new friends.

Join The PLUS Foundation for an exhilarating lunch featuring Col. Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.).

Harnessing Headwinds – Successfully Navigating Change & Adversity

Leaders across every industry and experience level share one thing in common: To be successful they need to effectively navigate challenges, organizational change, and the unknown. Like headwinds to a pilot, these perceived barriers can force you to change direction, cost you momentum, and even take away options. These headwinds can feel confusing, disorienting, and downright uncomfortable. In this talk, Nicole Malachowski uses the aviation-based idea of headwinds as a metaphor to show how with the right mindset, individuals and teams can learn to harness the energy of these headwinds in their advantage.
Nicole inspires individuals and organizations and bolsters your ability to:
o Overcome personal and professional challenges
o Effectively navigate organizational and cultural change
o Endure the discomfort of the unknown
o Increase resilience, reinvention, regroup, and adaptability
o Have courage to rise above self-doubt and cultural paradigms
o Support and mentor others on the team

This interactive panel puts you in the boardroom of a high-growth software company as it moves from a headline-grabbing private equity buyout to mounting financial pressure and, ultimately, distress. Through a “choose your own adventure” format, the audience will help shape key decisions—refinancing, going public, or staying private—as the company’s story unfolds from boom to bust. Along the way, the discussion will explore the evolving challenges faced by directors at each stage of the lifecycle, as well as how D&O insurers assess, price, and underwrite the risk as conditions shift from optimism to uncertainty and, finally, insolvency. The session will conclude with a look at the types of claims that are likely to emerge in the ensuing bankruptcy.

This is a fast-paced session where industry experts challenge some of the biggest assumptions in our business. Moderator Amit Bhavra poses provocative statements on cross-cutting themes like risk, innovation, data and analytics, client service, and market behavior to panelists who must quickly take a stand, while the audience votes before and after each discussion to see which myths survive and which get busted. It’s an energetic, highly interactive session designed to challenge conventional wisdom and spark fresh thinking for brokers, underwriters, claims, legal, and risk professionals alike.

Join an insurance products/claims specialist and defense attorneys as they discuss how and why employers are facing an increasing number of EPL and Fiduciary claims. For EPL, learn how social awareness is empowering employees, while attorney fee-shifting and jury trends embolden an aggressive plaintiffs’ bar. For Fiduciary, learn how an expanding plaintiffs’ bar, armed with new theories and targets, are fundamentally altering the ERISA liability landscape for companies that sponsor employee benefit plans.

Join us for a strategic discussion featuring industry leaders as they share their perspectives on global forces reshaping the insurance industry.   Panelists will explore the pressures and impact of geopolitical and economic developments, election cycles, advancements in technology and AI, shifting workforce demographics as Baby Boomers (and soon Gen X) transition into retirement, and the evolving competitive landscape driven by M&A, emerging startups and product innovation.

Start the final day of the Conference with a celebratory breakfast and meaningful connections. Join fellow attendees as we honor incumbent PLUS President La’Vonda McLean and welcome incoming President Alison Martin as they continue the annual tradition of the Leadership Gavel Exchange. This special gathering is the perfect opportunity to network, reflect on the year’s achievements, and celebrate the leadership shaping the future of PLUS.

Join Joan Woodward, Executive Vice President of Public Policy for Travelers and President of the Travelers Institute, for a timely discussion around what the 2026 midterm results mean for Congress and the White House in 2027 and beyond.

How might shifting interest rates, inflation pressures, labor market dynamics, and emerging geopolitical risks affect your business strategy in the coming year? Drawing on her extensive experience as an economist on Capitol Hill and an analyst on Wall Street, Joan Woodward will deliver a data-driven, analytical, and nonpartisan outlook, highlight key economic indicators and examine historical election trends.

Is artificial intelligence an all-knowing oracle or a high-tech liability trap? In this interactive session, we will move past the hype to debunk the most common AI myths, focusing on realistic, AI-driven risks for businesses today. Using high-stakes hypothetical scenarios, our panel will analyze the impact of this rapidly evolving technological landscape on claims exposure, good or bad, under various lines of coverage.