The market for marijuana is not slowing down. In fact, it’s blazing hot. Awkward Insurance hosts, Cat Ferris and Dustyne Bryant talk with Kieran O’Rourke, CPCU, CRM, CIC about his experience at Cannasure Insurance Services as an underwriter for this high-demand market.

He speaks the blunt truth of what it was like to help develop a cannabis insurance product. He even shares some claims stories and how, in one instance, the profits went up in smoke. But not for the marijuana… what we have to insure are risks we’ve already seen.

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Kieran O’Rourke, CPCU, CRM, CIC

Kieran J. O’Rourke has over 30 years of commercial underwriting, product, and program development experience in the insurance industry. Kieran’s career experience spans P&C underwriting, MGA underwriting for alternative energy products and alternative market product development, oversight of research and product development, and directing regional commercial insurance sales for a Fortune 500 carrier. Kieran is a talented and respected leader. His disciplined underwriting approach and business fundamentals consistently yield sustainable growth and profits relative to proprietary program development. At Cannasure, Kieran manages the firm’s Program division and guides the company’s development of future cannabis and hemp programs. Kieran’s expertise keeps him busy and is well sought after by leading media outlets and speaks at insurance and cannabis industry events. Kieran has a unique perspective and thought-leadership of underwriting relative to the emerging trends and risk transfer solutions in the cannabis and hemp arena. A graduate of The University of Akron, Kieran holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, as well as the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM) designations. Now retired from his civic duties, Kieran held elected office for over 20 years as a Trustee on the Village of Seville’s (Ohio) utility board.