AM Best Names Three Finalists for 2027 Challenge
Students from Boston University, Macquarie University and St. Mary's University advance in the insurance-focused competition.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Internships
AM Best has selected three finalists in its 2027 Student Challenge, which invites undergraduate and graduate students to develop innovative solutions for risk management and insurance. The finalists' proposals include a risk transfer structure for perishable-food importers and two parametric insurance policies.
Why it matters
The challenge is one of AM Best's ongoing initiatives to develop new talent in the insurance industry, giving students a route to present ideas to industry executives. Proposals addressing port delays, event disruption and data center stress reflect risk areas that insurers are increasingly examining.
AM Best selected three finalists for the 2027 Student Challenge, with each finalist's recorded presentation to be posted for electronic voting by insurance industry executives beginning Dec. 7, 2026. The winner will not be announced until Feb. 1, 2027, and the source does not disclose the total number of entrants.
The players
AM Best
AM Best is a credit rating agency and publisher focused on the insurance industry, and it runs the Student Challenge and an analytical development program.
Lee McDonald
Lee McDonald is a senior vice president at AM Best.
The details
Finalists from Boston University, Macquarie University and St. Mary's University each proposed a distinct insurance solution. Dung Le of Boston University proposed a risk transfer structure protecting perishable-food importers from post-arrival port delays, Yeyoung An of Macquarie University proposed a parametric policy reimbursing verified event attendees, and Abdullah Mohammad Mahi, Montserrat Virgilio Bernal and Dilly Ogunrinde of St. Mary's University proposed a parametric policy paying data centers a fixed amount when heat, water shortages and grid stress occur together.
Timeline
Dec. 7, 2026: Finalists' recorded presentations begin posting for industry voting.
Feb. 1, 2027: The winner is announced in Best's Review.
Industry Pipeline
The 2027 Student Challenge is one of AM Best's ongoing initiatives to support development of new talent in the insurance industry, alongside its analytical development program. The finalists' parametric proposals follow the program's pattern of pairing student work with industry feedback from AM Best professionals.
Students interested in insurance careers can use the Student Challenge's public presentations to see the kinds of risk problems the industry is trying to solve. The competition's award structure, including interviews, a magazine feature and feedback from an AM Best professional, offers finalists visibility with industry decision-makers.
The takeaway
Students exploring insurance and risk management can study the finalists' proposals as examples of how parametric coverage is being applied to new problems. Developing a concrete, data-linked risk idea is one way to stand out in competitions like AM Best's.
What happens next
Finalists' recorded presentations will be posted for electronic voting by insurance industry executives beginning Dec. 7, 2026, and the winner will be announced in Best's Review on Feb. 1, 2027.
Further reading
For more on early-career pathways into the field, explore Internships.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Ambest.
