2017 Power Broker

Financial Services

No Jargon, Just Action

Edward Conlon
Senior Vice President
Aon, New York

Edward Conlon became the broker of a registered investment adviser and a related broker-dealer after a spinoff and merger at the holding company level.

Despite a difficult loss history on the broker-dealer side, Conlon saved the combined entity 55 percent on its premium by showing carriers how the client improved its controls, including terminating problematic employees.

He was also able to get a carrier to reverse a claim denial dating back to before Conlon had taken on the account. The carrier ultimately contributed a significant sum of the applicable limit toward settlement.




Ken Rizzuto, vice president, risk management, at iHeartMedia Inc., said that he oversees an “extremely complex” D&O program that services elements of a public and private company with two boards of directors and 23 layers of coverage.

“Each year, Ed has put together a very comprehensive program with all the coverage enhancements that the market has to offer,” Rizzuto said. “Ed’s keen familiarity and good relations with the markets allow him to assemble the best program at the best price for his clients.”

“He’s able to explain complicated issues, bringing it to the level of an average accountant,” said a director of accounting operations at a financial services software firm. “When I’m talking to him, I don’t feel like I’m talking to an insurance agent — no jargon.”

Enthusiastic and Determined

Craig Glendinning
Senior Vice President
Marsh, London

Craig Glendinning developed Marsh’s commodity document fraud (CDF) policy last year in response to client demand following the $1.4 billion Qingdao port fraud in China in 2014, which involved the use of metals for collateral. The new policy addresses the lack of coverage provided by traditional fraud policies, by insuring organizations against financial loss sustained when accepting fraudulent title documents and receipts from clients or third-party vendors.

The CDF policy was developed in close collaboration with a number of Marsh’s U.K. and U.S. commodities industry clients, and is now being purchased by organizations in the banking and trading sector. Clients seeking to expand into emerging markets are particularly interested in the new product.




“Craig helped us develop a bespoke insurance solution that was aligned precisely to the risk that we were trying to mitigate,” said Emily Jenner, head of insurable operational risk at Standard Chartered Bank. “He went over and above to ensure he understood the issue and worked hard to get the best possible solution from the insurance market. As a result of Craig’s enthusiasm and determination, the bank now benefits [from] an insurance policy that helps reduce what we consider to be one of our top five risks.”

“Craig is a tremendous partner,” said Kevin Nye, senior vice president at Royal Bank of Canada. “He is client-oriented, understands the industry and market, and is always focused on value-added solutions and approaches — I can’t say enough about him.”

Superior Service

Craig Goesel
Senior Vice President
Alliant/Mesirow Insurance, Chicago

One of Craig Goesel’s regional bank clients wanted to obtain full-limit coverage for the type of social engineering scams that involve executive impersonation, but carriers were reluctant to provide a substantial limit for the exposure.

Goesel convinced carriers to meet at the bank’s “wire room” to understand its loss prevention measures, enabling carriers to gain a high level of comfort with the bank’s controls. He also helped the bank strategize ways to improve its risk profile, which resulted in an offer of a full-limit program for crime insurance, including full limits for social engineering/executive impersonation theft.

The day after the renewal presentation, the bank announced it was to be acquired by a large international bank. Goesel leveraged his relationships with the carriers to ensure that the favorable renewal terms previously negotiated were not invalidated.




Michael Saturley, director of the treasurer’s office at the National Futures Association, said that Goesel was on hand at NFA’s underwriting renewal meeting, the same day that all of its carriers dropped their coverage after the “Wall Street Journal” published an unfavorable article on it.

“Craig was able to find in a timely manner new coverage for us, and each year since that event, he has worked to rebuild our professional liability program to a sound program,” Saturley said.

“He has been able to aggressively market the program and get competitive bids.”

Comfortable With Complexity

Alex Muralles
Senior Vice President, FINEX
Willis Towers Watson, Chicago

After analyzing the management liability program of Robert W. Baird, a wealth management and private equity firm based in Dana Point, Calif., Alex Muralles identified several program deficiencies including outdated exclusions, a tie-in of limits across all lines, and a narrow regulatory claims investigations trigger.

Muralles worked with a new carrier to manuscript a policy that incorporated the existing policy language of Baird’s incumbent carrier, with the addition of proposed enhancements and the broader terms of both carrier policies.

The customized policy removed tie-in limits, increased the aggregate from $10 million to $40 million, broadened notice provisions, and expanded regulatory investigations coverage.




Muralles saved Baird 20 percent in premiums and negotiated a two-year policy paid in annual installments with a refreshed aggregate — not typically offered for errors and omissions policies.

“We have very complex businesses and he’s been able to help us through the complexities of transferring risk and protecting the firm,” said Angela Johnson, Baird’s insurance risk manager.

“Alex provides unmatched, outstanding service on a regular basis,” said Heather Myerscough, corporate insurance director at Huntington Bank.

“We’re not just an account to him, he really cares about how the bank works and what the bank needs.”

Providing Fantastic Results

Phil Norton
Vice Chairman, Midwest Region
Arthur J. Gallagher, Chicago

One of Phil Norton’s clients, a global insurance company recovering from the fallout of the financial crisis, is striving to be leaner, smarter and more efficient.

Norton and his team were tasked with reducing the client’s premiums at the same time the company fully collected on significant outstanding claims.

The brokers demonstrated to the program’s carriers the operational improvements and reductions in risk achieved by the client. They then convinced the carriers to buy into multiple years of large premium decreases as part of a new level setting of the overall risk metric.

Norton was personally involved in working with one carrier that had not fully reserved a significant claim and was questioning the amount. Norton took the issue all the way up to the carrier’s chief executive, who then fast-tracked the claim payment.




“One of the values Phil brings is extensive benchmark analysis,” said the client. “He will factor in not only what peers are maintaining in limits and retentions, but he’ll also factor in our claims experience, as well as industry claims experience. Because of his Ph.D. and actuarial experience, he gives us a much more robust analysis than the average broker.”

“Phil went above and beyond for us when we had a disagreement over the value of a claim with an insurance carrier,” said a risk manager of an insurance company in the Midwest. “He was able to bring a creative approach that gave us a fantastic result and made our CEO happy.”

Fighting for His Clients

Eric Seyfried
Senior Vice President
Aon, New York

Last year, Eric Seyfried was presented with the most challenging renewal of his career as a professional liability broker. His client agreed to a nine-figure settlement with the California Public Employee Retirement System over allegedly inflated ratings on residential-mortgage bond deals.

By presenting detailed analyses of profitability, and pulling in other lines of coverage sold to the client by the carriers, Seyfried and his team convinced the markets to accept a longer “payback” horizon and crafted a complex multiyear deal that involved various “out” triggers for both parties. The client was able to obtain full continuity with all its incumbent carriers with no increase in premium.




“I’ve always had a very good team at Aon who have managed my risks very well,” said the risk manager for the client. “With the addition of Eric to the team, I now have the benefit of a new perspective — someone who has added value with his ability to think outside of the box to develop solutions to unique problems that arise.”

“Eric has incredible attention to detail and is very responsive,” said Maria Diaz, risk manager at Xerox. “He’s also extremely strategic. He’s my right-hand person when it comes to this line of coverage, which is currently a challenging line for us.”

“Eric provides good guidance and he puts our concerns in front of the carrier, and fights for us to get better coverage and lower premiums,” said Le Andra Holly, senior manager, risk management, at Staples.

Finalists:

Vincent Flood
Eastern Region Property Practice Leader
Aon, New York

Nick Kalist
Managing Director
Aon, St. Louis

Eileen Yuen
Managing Director, National Practice Leader, Financial Institutions
Arthur J. Gallagher, Whippany, N.J.

Matt Kupiec
Vice President, FINEX
Willis Towers Watson, New York

Philip Dunn
Vice President
Aon
Philadelphia

 

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