Name: Lorrie Baldevia Firm: AssuredPartners Location: Seattle, WA Total Value of Policies: $6.3 billion Background: Lorrie Baldevia describes her connection to insurance as deeply personal. The eldest of five children, she lost her father in a tragic construction accident at age 12 in Guam. Her mother raised the family on her own and was able to do so thanks to a life insurance policy—an experience that would ultimately shape her career. “It gave us a kind of financial security we wouldn’t have had otherwise,” she says. Baldevia moved to the United States at 17 on a full scholarship to Seattle…

In today’s economy, business leaders are navigating a familiar yet complex tension: uncertainty paired with opportunity. News continues to drive market volatility, interest rates are holding, and the regulatory environment is evolving, but across sectors, one thing is clear – businesses that can scale their strengths are positioned to succeed. That’s the lens through which we should view recent activity in the banking sector, particularly the return of thoughtful, strategic mergers. ConnectOne’s recent merger with The First of Long Island Corporation wasn’t just about growth, it was about readiness and filling a need in a market. In today’s dynamic business…

The Federal Reserve needs to be hit with the intellectual version of a B-2 bomber or a DOGE-like intervention. Our central bank is behaving badly. It won’t reduce interest rates, in no small part because it’s angry over Donald Trump’s loud calls to cut rates and his consistent carping at Fed boss Jerome Powell. The proof of the Federal Reserve’s animus toward President Trump is that the central bank cut interest rates twice before the presidential election—which would have presumably helped the Democrats—and it has resisted cutting rates since the beginning of Trump’s second term, even though inflation is lower…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Chime launched its IPO with a splash. Shares jumped as much as 59% above the $27 offering price—opening at $43 and closing near $37—marking a bold public debut for the US’s largest neobank. With a valuation hovering between $11.6 billion and $15 billion—well below its 2021 private peak of $25 billion—the surge raises the question: Will this trigger renewed investment in neobanks and fintech? Pro: A Strong Chime IPO Reignites Fintech Interest Chime’s IPO follows strong debuts from fintechs like Circle and eToro. PitchBook’s Rudy Yang framed Chime as “a strategic breakthrough—marking a return…

OBSERVATIONS FROM THE FINTECH SNARK TANK Chime launched its IPO with a splash. Shares jumped as much as 59% above the $27 offering price—opening at $43 and closing near $37—marking a bold public debut for the US’s largest neobank. With a valuation hovering between $11.6 billion and $15 billion—well below its 2021 private peak of $25 billion—the surge raises the question: Will this trigger renewed investment in neobanks and fintech? Pro: A Strong Chime IPO Reignites Fintech Interest Chime’s IPO follows strong debuts from fintechs like Circle and eToro. PitchBook’s Rudy Yang framed Chime as “a strategic breakthrough—marking a return…

The world is finally catching up to a simple fact: you cannot solve the ocean plastics crisis in the ocean alone. You need to solve it on land too. As we mark World Oceans Day and gather at the UN Ocean Conference next week, that truth has never been more urgent, or more investable. For years, the most visible focus on ocean plastics has centered on what happens after waste enters the water, from cleanup technologies to capture devices. These efforts play a valuable role in addressing the plastic already polluting our oceans. But the larger, investable opportunity lies upstream:…

The antidote to bad tech is good tech. That line comes from the new movie Mountainhead, the latest from Succession showrunner Jesse Armstrong. I’ve been thinking a lot about that statement since I heard Armstrong repeat it in a recent interview. Armstrong’s observation landed with me because I’ve been spending a lot of time lately worrying about technology’s impact on young people and how those effects will play out in business and society. Although I’ve worked in technology for my entire career, people will tell you I’m a salesperson, manager and leader at heart. I’m at my best when interacting…

For the fifth straight year, Forbes is partnering with market research firm Statista to rate insurance companies in the United States. But we need your input to do it. We want to hear about your experiences with your insurance provider—or a provider you’ve worked with in the past—to help us identify the top insurance companies in the U.S. in these five categories: homeowners, renters, auto, permanent life or term life. While prices on policies continue to rise each year, tell us how your insurance company measures up in such areas as cost, claims service, digital capabilities, customer interactions and company…

Wall Street’s top watchdog, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), faces a pivotal moment amid converging legislative and legal challenges that could potentially reshape the future regulatory landscape. The regulator notched a win on Monday, however, as the Supreme Court declined to hear a penny stock broker’s legal challenge to FINRA’s constitutionality. Until recently, adding pressure to FINRA’s current predicament was its legal battle with Utah-based brokerage Alpine Securities, which was fighting against an expulsion order imposed by the regulator and contended that FINRA’s disciplinary process is unconstitutional. In an investigation published in September 2024, Forbes delved into the contentious…

Prominent attorney David Boies and his firm Boies Schiller Flexner filed three lawsuits this week alleging that at least five companies handling payouts for class action settlements conspired to secretly pocket bank interest payments and award each other business outside the view of attorneys and judges. The suit says the scheme has resulted in lower class action payouts for consumers. The firm filed the suit against claims administration companies Angeion, Epiq and JND Legal Administration, three firms that were also the subject of a recent lawsuit accusing them of taking secret payments from fintech companies. The Boies suit also named…