Florida Surplus Lines Service Office invests $1M, names RMI Center directorship

FSLSO Executive Director Mark Shealy, who graduated from FSU with a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1991, emphasizes his passion for working with his alma mater on helping to develop talented students "for the benefit of our industry and our state."

The Florida Surplus Lines Service Office (FSLSO) has bolstered its relationship with Florida State University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Business through a major philanthropic investment that reaffirms its commitment to the college’s risk management and insurance program and its students.

FSLSO, a Tallahassee-based not-for-profit organization that monitors, educates and supports Florida’s surplus lines insurance market, recently gave $1 million to establish the Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Directorship in the Wertheim College’s Risk Management and Insurance Center. Charles “Chuck” Nyce, a globally renowned researcher and expert in catastrophic risk financing, assumes the distinction of the center’s first Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Director.

Mark Shealy, FSLSO’s CEO and executive director, said the endowed fund aims to support the center’s advancement of the risk management industry, especially initiatives related to surplus lines, a type of specialized insurance coverage that has experienced massive growth in recent years. It also underscores the organization’s steadfast support of FSU’s students, particularly those in its nationally ranked undergraduate and graduate RMI programs.

FSLSO hires three to five FSU students as interns every fall and spring semester.

“FSLSO’s investment in Florida State University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Business is rooted in our commitment to helping build the next generation of surplus lines insurance professionals,” said Shealy, a Wertheim College alumnus. “By investing in FSU’s RMI students, we are investing in the future capacity, innovation and resilience of the insurance industry.”

Michael D. Hartline, dean of the Wertheim College, emphasized FSLSO’s record of support. In addition to helping students launch careers through internships, the organization remains a regular sponsor and partner in events such as FSU’s Insurance Days, a twice-yearly job fair for RMI students. In 2024, FSLSO collaborated with the Florida Surplus Lines Association to establish, through a gift, the Florida Surplus Lines Speaker Series, a biannual Wertheim College event that addresses regulatory issues, new product development and changing market conditions in the surplus lines market.

The organization also partners with FSU’s Risk Management and Insurance Center on research and funds student trips to London and other markets where they learn about “the global nature of risk,” as Shealy calls it.

“Mark Shealy and the Florida Surplus Lines Service Office continue to demonstrate their extraordinary commitment to our college and students,” Hartline said. “This new investment further solidifies their standing as champions of our world-class programs and research and especially our students, who consistently flourish as the global business leaders of today and tomorrow.”

The investment makes the Risk Management and Insurance Center the third of the Wertheim College’s seven centers and institutes to feature a named directorship. The college’s Real Estate Center and Organizational Effectiveness Institute have named directors, as does its Business Career Services unit.

Chuck Nyce, a globally renowned scholar and expert in catastrophic risk financing, assumes the distinction of the center’s first Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Director.

Nyce, who joined the Wertheim College faculty in 2009, began leading the RMI center last summer after serving almost three years as chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies. The department includes the No. 2-ranked Dr. William T. Hold/The Alliance’s Program in Risk Management and Insurance.

“It’s a great honor to be the first Florida Surplus Lines Insurance Director,” Nyce said, calling Shealy and FSLSO “terrific stalwarts” of the RMI program and noting a substantial growth in the program’s relationship with the organization since Shealy became executive director in 2023.

Nyce added: “These types of investments fortify the future of our program. They ensure that this leadership position will remain solid for future generations of FSU RMI students and industry leaders.”

Shealy said Nyce, an expert on the effects of natural disasters on homeowners’ insurance markets and one of FSU’s most widely quoted faculty members among global news organizations, has played an instrumental role in preparing “the next generation of insurance professionals.”

“He understands the importance of connecting students not only with the academic foundation they need, but also with real-world industry exposure, mentorship and career pathways,” Shealy said. “That kind of leadership is critical at a time when our ‘excess and surplus’ industry needs strong, knowledgeable professionals who are ready to meet increasingly complex risks.”

‘A vital relief valve’

The surplus lines market, also known as the excess and surplus, or E&S, market, provides coverage for unique or complex risks that the traditional market often doesn’t insure.

Brad Karl, the Wertheim College’s Dr. William T. Hold Professor of Risk Management and Insurance and chair of the Department of Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate and Legal Studies, defines surplus lines as a market for “non-standard” risks that may fall outside the standard market’s guidelines or capacity.

In a recent panel conversation titled “Understanding Surplus Lines: A Primer for State Legislators,” produced by the Institutes Griffiths Foundation, Karl called the surplus lines market “a vital relief valve in that it is able to service and provide protection and insurance for risks that sometimes the standard market can't pick up.”

Examples of these risks include liability for AI, autonomous vehicles and social media influencers, he said.

Karl hails Shealy and the FSLSO for their “terrific partnership” with the Wertheim College and the “insight and connections they provide our students on the E&S markets and the insurance industry in general.”

Karl said FSLSO’s latest investment will, through Nyce and the RMI center, “have a lasting impact on student development and on the pipeline of talent entering our industry.”

‘A fantastic career path’

Shealy, who joined Karl on the “Understanding Surplus Lines” panel, said FSLSO works with Florida regulatory bodies and broker associations on policy and compliance. The organization, created by the Florida Legislature in 1997, offers industry support, including education and advice for Florida residents, industry members and government agencies.

FSLSO also promotes the industry in general and as “a fantastic career path for our students,” Nyce said.

That includes internships at FSLSO, which employs about 45 people and has ranked in the Top 10 among small companies for three straight years in Florida Trend’s Best Companies to Work For in Florida. The organization earned the No. 1 spot among small businesses in 2024.

“We have been fortunate to hire, mentor and work alongside FSU students, and we have seen firsthand the value they bring,” Shealy said. Through the surplus lines market, he said, the organization aims to help students “see the meaningful career opportunities available in our industry and encourage more of them to build their futures here in Florida.”

Shealy graduated from FSU with a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1991, then embarked on a career in the insurance industry, starting as a financial administrator in the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation. He gives back to the Wertheim College as a frequent speaker and as a member of the RMI Executive Council, an advisory board of industry professionals who advocate for the FSU RMI program.

He said FSLSO’s growing partnership with the Wertheim College helps him focus on three things that matter to him: his connection to FSU, his commitment to the E&S industry and FSLSO’s role in serving Florida.

“The ability to work with my alma mater and help grow talented students in Florida, for the benefit of our industry and our state, is a true passion point,” he said.

-- Pete Reinwald