Best Insurance Professionals Under 40 in California |
InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026

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Meet California’s best insurance professionals under 40

Key insights

InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026

Insurance Business America's inaugural InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026 list honors 100 of the best insurance professionals under 40 in California, more than one-quarter of whom specialize in cyber, wildfire, construction, or entertainment risk

California's insurance brokers navigate some of the industry's most complex risks, including wildfire, cyber, and entertainment production exposure

Nearly 400,000 US insurance professionals are projected to retire by the end of 2026, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data

The average honoree is 32 years old with 10 years of industry experience – proof this generation is already seasoned, not just young

California is producing some of the best insurance professionals under 40 in the country, and the state’s punishing risk environment may be why. In January 2025, wildfires across Los Angeles generated an estimated $40 billion in insured losses – the costliest natural disaster of 2025, according to Munich Re’s own natural catastrophe figures for 2025. The state is also home to the country’s largest concentration of technology companies driving cyber exposure, and a film and television production economy that has generated more than $27 billion in economic activity since 2009, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom’s announcement on the state’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program. Few states ask their brokers and underwriters to master this much complexity this early in a career.

Insurance Business America has named 100 of the best insurance professionals under 40 in California in the InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026 list. The list, unveiled ahead of the InsuranceFest California event on July 16, 2026, draws on new nominations from industry associations and independent research.

The timing is not incidental. The Jonus Group’s analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows nearly 400,000 US insurance professionals will retire by the end of 2026, and more than one-quarter of the current workforce is already age 55 or older. California carries an added layer of urgency: its brokers and underwriters increasingly specialize in some of the industry’s hardest risks, from wildfire to cyber to entertainment production, often years earlier in their careers than professionals elsewhere.

This report profiles three of the IBA’s honorees and draws on data from the full list of 100 to explore how California’s risk environment is shaping the next generation of insurance talent.

Industry context

California’s insurance market is defined by risk concentration few other states face at the same scale. The January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires drove California’s newly reported status as the largest fire insurance market in the US, overtaking Texas as insured losses climbed. California wildfire claims have topped $22 billion in payments to date, with the state’s FAIR Plan absorbing a significant share of that total as private insurers pulled back from high-risk areas.

That volatility sits alongside California’s status as a hub for two other high-growth risk categories: technology and entertainment. The state’s concentration of technology companies has made cyber exposure a defining specialty for brokers in markets like San Francisco – one of the fastest-growing lines among the top cyber insurance companies serving US brokers and their clients. Meanwhile, California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program has generated more than $27 billion in economic activity since 2009, supporting over 211,000 cast and crew jobs statewide, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.

Where NextGen California winners specialize

Specialty mentions across all 100 winner bios

Technology

0 of 100

Cyber

0 of 100

Construction

0 of 100

Wildfire

0 of 100

Entertainment

0 of 100

Agriculture

0 of 100

Transportation

0 of 100

Earthquake

0 of 100

More than one-quarter of this year's honorees work in technology or cyber-adjacent specialties, with wildfire, construction, entertainment, agriculture, and transportation rounding out the categories central to California's risk profile. Categories are not mutually exclusive — several winners' expertise spans more than one specialty.

Against this backdrop, the retirement wave facing the broader industry carries particular weight in California. Nearly 400,000 US insurance professionals are projected to retire by the end of 2026, per Bureau of Labor Statistics data – a demographic shift that leaves less room for junior professionals to absorb institutional knowledge gradually. In a market where wildfire, cyber, and production risk are already forcing early specialization, that knowledge transfer is happening faster and under more pressure than in most other states.

The industry's retirement cliff

US insurance workforce by age band

Age 55 and older

Nearly 1 in 4 workers

Age 20 to 24

Entering the workforce

6 to 1 retirement-age employees for every young entrant

With nearly 400,000 US insurance professionals projected to retire by the end of 2026, the pipeline of young talent entering the industry is nowhere near large enough to replace the experience walking out the door — a gap that puts extra weight on how fast professionals like this year's honorees can absorb institutional knowledge.

Winner profiles

The average NextGen California winner

Based on all 100 InsureFest NextGen California 2026 honorees

0 yrs

Average age

Range: 24 – 40

Position within eligible age range

0 yrs

Insurance experience

Range: 1 – 21 years

Position within observed range

24–29

28%

28 winners

30–34

34%

34 winners

35–40

38%

38 winners

Honorees skew toward the upper end of the eligibility window — 38% are aged 35–40, the maximum band before ageing out of contention.

0–5

15%

15 winners

6–10

36%

36 winners

11–15

35%

35 winners

16+

14%

14 winners

Most honorees are mid-career rather than brand new to the industry — 71% have between 6 and 15 years of insurance experience.

Shantelle Cabir – Senior Vice President/Business Insurance Broker, Newfront (Los Angeles)

Shantelle Cabir, senior vice president and business insurance broker at Newfront in Los Angeles, ranked first among the 100 InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026 honorees. With 13 years in the industry, she specializes in construction, agriculture, and transportation – sectors shaped directly by California’s risk environment. She holds a Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designation, a client retention rate above 95 percent, and has twice been named a Power Broker by Risk & Insurance for construction, in 2023 and again in 2025, alongside recognition as a 2024 IBA Top Retail Broker.

Cabir’s path into the industry began well before most of her peers. She started her career as a teenage insurance telemarketer, working her way from entry-level cold-calling into one of the most senior producer roles held by any honoree on this year’s list. That early start, combined with her CRIS designation, has translated into results her peers point to as a benchmark: she achieved a 60 percent premium reduction for client Pacific Galvanizing through a comprehensive risk management program, a case that has become something of a reference point within her firm for how consultative broking can move the needle on cost. Outside her book of business, Cabir serves as secretary of the board for Women in Construction Owners & Executives (WCOE) California, a role that keeps her connected to the client base she serves in a more structural, advocacy-driven capacity.

“There is nothing that can replace true mentorship” – Shantelle Cabir, Newfront

Cabir says the knowledge she worries most about losing as senior professionals retire is not technical but experiential: the pattern recognition built over decades of hard renewals and market cycles. Her firm’s response has been to give junior producers direct exposure to client relationships rather than easing them in gradually – a philosophy that mirrors how she herself was brought up in the business, moving from a supporting telemarketing role into full account ownership rather than waiting years for the opportunity.

Now a young SVP herself, Cabir says she sits at a point in her career where succession works in both directions. “My team and I have built a meaningful book and practice while actively developing the people who’ll carry accounts forward,” she says. “Since I am highly relationship- and consultative-driven, I continue to be highly client-centric and instill that standard within my team.”

That relationship-first philosophy extends to how she talks about her own use of technology. Rather than treating data and analytics as a replacement for judgment, Cabir frames them as tools that free up time for the parts of the job she considers irreplaceable.

She credits that same data-driven approach with tangible business results. “In every meeting, whether it’s with a prospect or client, I always bring our data analytics to support our discussion and help with a formal strategy recommendation for our clients to consider,” she says, adding that the same information helps her team negotiate more effectively with underwriters. “Ultimately, this yields better retention and bringing in new clients.”

Asked what advice she’d give more experienced colleagues managing younger talent, Cabir is direct about the cost of holding junior brokers back – a view shaped, in part, by how quickly she herself was given ownership over accounts earlier in her career.

Q: How is your firm working to retain that institutional knowledge as senior professionals retire?

A: The best way to capture it [is] by pairing newer producers with senior producers and having them work directly on live accounts rather than handing them a playbook after the fact. You learn the “why” by being in the room when the decision gets made.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception young professionals have about a career in insurance?

A: That it’s a back-office, paperwork career. The reality is this is a relationship and problem-solving business. We’re not selling a commodity; we’re educating companies on taking smart risks for the longevity of their business.

Q: How has technology changed the way you approach client relationships?

A: A decade ago, benchmarking a client’s program against their peers meant calling around and relying on gut and memory. Now I can pull real data in minutes and walk into a renewal with a defensible, numbers-backed recommendation. It hasn’t replaced the judgment; however, it has removed the grunt work so I can spend my time on the strategy and the relationship, which is where I actually add value.

Q: What advice would you give a more experienced colleague managing younger talent?

A: Give them the real thing early. The instinct is to protect them by keeping them in a supporting role until they’ve “earned” it, but that’s exactly what pushes good people out. Put them in front of clients, let them own a piece of the work, and let them make a mistake or two with a net under them. They’ll rise to it far faster than you expect.

Lauren Loef – Vice President and Broker, WTW (San Francisco)

Lauren Loef is part of WTW’s FINEX Cyber/Errors & Omissions (E&O) practice in San Francisco. With five years in the industry, she focuses on cyber and technology E&O risk for healthcare, technology, casino, and real estate clients – exposure categories concentrated in the Bay Area’s tech economy. She joined WTW’s West FINEX Large and Complex team in late 2023, a move that positioned her within one of the firm’s most specialized cyber practices at a relatively early-career stage.

Loef began her career at Gallagher, where she stood out early: she was named South/West Region Winner of Gallagher’s Got Talent, a company-wide sales recognition program, from a field of 120 peers and received a Council Foundation Award scholarship. She points to a formal early-career program as instrumental in shaping that trajectory.

“A similar program at another brokerage allowed me to make career-long relationships, opened up opportunities in organizations such as Young Risk Professionals SF, and taught me how important relationships are in this business,” she says, referencing the kind of structured onboarding WTW now offers through its own Graduate Development Program. Beyond her day-to-day book, she serves on the Young Risk Professionals (YRP) San Francisco chapter as head of marketing, a role through which she helps organize networking and educational programming aimed squarely at the next generation of insurance talent entering the Bay Area market.

“Analytics are changing the way we view risk” – Lauren Loef, WTW

Loef’s biggest concern for the industry centers on what could be lost as in-person mentorship opportunities shrink – a concern she connects directly to her own formative experiences early in her career. She traces the industry’s broader talent gap partly to how insurance is – or isn’t – presented to students, a gap she experienced firsthand before an internship changed her trajectory.

She says her ambitions extend well beyond her current book of business. “Since joining the industry, I have always had ambitions to grow into leadership and management roles,” Loef says, adding that she hopes “to manage a local team of brokers within the next three years” while continuing to sharpen her skills through new business pitches. On the technical side, Loef says her role increasingly involves translating complex cyber exposure into terms clients can act on – a skill she considers especially critical given how intangible cyber risk can feel compared with more traditional lines of coverage.

Asked what she’d tell a more experienced colleague managing younger talent, Loef echoes a theme that runs through several of this year’s honorees: give junior brokers the account, not just the observation seat. “Allowing junior colleagues to take the lead on accounts ... has allowed me to become [a] better broker because I have learned how to pivot and navigate difficult situations as they arise.” Loef also points to a reversal in the traditional direction of mentorship on her team, framing it as a natural extension of having grown up alongside the technology her more senior colleagues are still adapting to.

Q: What’s a specific type of institutional knowledge you worry the industry could lose?

A: My biggest concern is losing seasoned professionals’ judgment and real-time perspectives. My most formative experiences in the industry have blossomed out of in-person office culture, listening in on meetings, and having opportunities to ask senior executives questions in real time. Bringing young professionals into difficult placements or projects will also help them to learn from experience.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception limiting interest in insurance careers?

A: As young adults enter college, they look toward their college resources and classes to share future career opportunities. Insurance and risk management does not typically fall within the main industry classes pitched to students. Insurance wasn’t on my radar when I interned at a brokerage in college. What changed my perspective was seeing the variety of the work.

Q: How has your comfort with data and technology shaped client outcomes?

A: Being able to translate complex data and analytics into clear messages for a client ... is integral from a broking standpoint. For a coverage line such as cyber, we need to be able to clearly articulate the product’s value since it’s not as tangible as property or directors and officers’ insurance. Our value-add as young professionals lies in being able to educate the client and paint a picture of their exposure, risk, and possible losses.

Q: Where have you seen mentorship reverse from junior to senior?

A: Showing a senior colleague how to utilize Co-Pilot capabilities during an underwriting meeting allowed additional time to discuss a client’s risk posture.

Byron Stufken – Vice President – Entertainment and Media Industry, Marsh (Los Angeles)

Byron Stufken has spent 11 years advising film, television, and digital media clients – a specialty concentrated almost entirely in California’s production economy. Since 2015, he has built deep expertise managing risk programs for clients across film, television, music, and digital media, a client base that reflects one of the most dynamic and geographically concentrated specialty sectors in insurance.

A graduate of the University of Georgia’s Risk Management program, Stufken has narrowed his focus over the years from broader event-exposure accounts to film/TV brokerage exclusively. He describes his career path within Marsh’s Entertainment group as open-ended by design rather than mapped out in advance, saying the firm and his group are advocates for growth into whatever area most interests a given professional – a flexibility he credits with allowing him to specialize as deeply as he has in a relatively narrow, high-value niche.

“Marsh and my entertainment group are advocates for career growth” – Byron Stufken, Marsh

Stufken points to the retirement of a single longtime underwriter as a turning point in how he thinks about knowledge transfer, an experience that shaped his view on how the industry should be documenting institutional expertise before it walks out the door. He’s equally direct about the perception problem he believes is holding back recruitment, drawing on his own specialization as a counterpoint to the industry’s reputation.

On the technology front, Stufken points to his firm’s proprietary AI as a clear generational marker. “The most obvious example of a technology or platform that the industry [is] adopting would be AI tools,” he says. “Marsh uses their internal AI called LenAI. It is really impressive how much it can do in terms of cleaning up your data and helping you analyze it.” Stufken’s own approach to building the next generation runs through a long-running relationship with his alma mater’s regional counterpart. Having personally benefited from being connected to an industry professional as a risk management graduate himself, he has made a point of paying that forward within the Los Angeles market.

Like his peers, Stufken has seen younger colleagues become an unexpected resource for the firm’s more senior staff, particularly as internal systems and tools evolve faster than some longer-tenured professionals can track on their own. Asked for one piece of advice for a more experienced colleague working with younger talent, Stufken keeps it simple: “We have to be relatable to each other. This is a relationship business, both externally and internally.”

Q: What’s a specific type of institutional knowledge you worry the industry could lose?

A: The industry’s older workforce has had ownership over accounts and ways of working for decades. Recently had a situation where a crucial UW retired after 30-40 years, and with her retirement, decades of knowledge were lost. To retain this knowledge, transition plans and following a uniform approach to documenting information are key.

Q: What’s the biggest misconception about a career in insurance?

A: That insurance is boring. Coming from someone who specializes in film and television insurance, I am a great example of someone who was able to pursue their interests while working in insurance. When you pair that along with the stability and a decent earning potential, insurance is far from boring!

Q: What’s a concrete step your firm has taken to build early-career talent?

A: Specifically, about me and the Marsh Los Angeles office – we are very involved with the University of Southern California Risk Management program. I have mentored six USC students and have been a guest during class a couple of times. I understand the benefits of being connected with an industry professional, having graduated from the risk management school at the University of Georgia myself.

Q: Where have you seen mentorship flow from junior to senior?

A: Technology is a great example of reverse-flow mentorship. Younger professionals, who have grown up with modern technology, are often able to adapt to new tools and platforms more quickly. We often have younger members of our team help advise on issues with internal systems and tools.

Industry outlook

As California’s wildfire, cyber, and production risks continue to intensify, brokers who specialize early are positioned to lead their firms’ response to increasingly complex placements. Reinsurance analysis shows the new wildfire risk reality facing California property markets is spreading beyond Southern California, so insurers are already adjusting capacity and appetite in response to catastrophe losses. At the same time, cyber exposure tied to California’s expanded cybersecurity audit and risk assessment obligations under the amended Consumer Privacy Act is reshaping underwriting requirements for technology clients. Professionals who have built expertise in these categories early in their careers, like several InsuranceFest NextGen California honorees, are likely to take on outsized roles in shaping how their firms respond over the next several years.

What makes them California’s best insurance professionals under 40

California doesn’t produce cautious insurance professionals. It can’t afford to.

IBA’s 100 honorees share one defining trait: they didn't wait for permission to become experts. While brokers in calmer markets ease into specialization over a decade or more, California’s wildfire losses, cyber-heavy tech economy, and entertainment industry have forced these professionals to pick a lane early and go deep fast.

That urgency shows up everywhere on this list. It’s Shantelle Cabir putting junior producers on live accounts instead of handing them a playbook, because pattern recognition can’t be taught from a binder. It’s Byron Stufken building an entire practice around proving insurance is a genuine career choice, not a fallback. It’s Lauren Loef teaching senior colleagues to use AI tools they’d never touch on their own, reversing a mentorship model the industry has run in one direction for a century.

None of this is an accident of geography. California’s risk environment is unforgiving, and unforgiving markets build sharper instincts faster than any classroom could. California’s next generation isn’t waiting for that test; they've already passed it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026?

A: InsuranceFest NextGen California 2026 is a list of 100 California-based insurance professionals age 40 and under, recognized by Insurance Business America as part of the live event held on July 16, 2026.

Q: How were honorees selected?

A: Honorees were identified through an independent editorial process combining market research and industry association nominations and assessed based on role scope, professional achievements, industry contribution, and demonstrated leadership.[CS3.1][DM3.2]

Q: Why is California’s insurance talent facing unique pressure?

A: California’s concentration of wildfire, cyber, and entertainment-production risk means brokers and underwriters often specialize earlier than peers in other states, even as the broader US industry faces a retirement wave of nearly 400,000 professionals by the end of 2026.

Q: What sectors are most represented among the 2026 honorees?

A: Cyber and technology E&O, construction, wildfire-risk placement, entertainment and media, agriculture, and transportation are among the most represented specialties.