From English Degree to Power Broker: Willis Towers Watson’s Clare McCarrick Shares Her Insurance Story

Clare McCarrick thought she'd be a journalist, but after an internship in insurance, she switched gears and the rest was history.

By: Maura Keller | November 16, 2020

When Clare McCarrick, senior associate at Willis Towers Watson, graduated with a degree in English literature from Georgetown University, she had envisioned pursuing a career in journalism. But after experiencing her first internship in insurance, McCarrick decided to switch gears — and the rest, as they say, is history.

“My father is an attorney who works in the insurance space, so I had vaguely known about the industry growing up,” McCarrick said.

“However, after interning, I realized how dynamic a career in insurance could be, with many multi-faceted roles that required a unique combination of analytical and social skills.”

Getting a Start in a New Industry

McCarrick, who was named a 2020 Risk & Insurance Power Broker® in the Financial Services category, began her career as an underwriter at Arch Insurance Group, spending a little over four years working on management liability placements for large commercial risks.

She joined Willis Towers Watson in 2017 with the goal of expanding her skillset and trying the brokerage side of the business.

Currently serving as associate director at Willis Towers Watson (WTW), McCarrick is a broker on the large accounts portion of the Financial Institutions Team within the financial and executive (FINEX) practice. As a member of this team, McCarrick exclusively works with large financial institutions on their management liability lines of coverage.

“Because of the specialized focus of my team, I’m charged with serving as an expert for a diverse range of financial institutions and their bespoke insurance needs,” McCarrick said.

“I serve as both an advisory and placement contact for a portfolio of diverse financial institutions clients, placing insurance programs for D&O, E&O, employment practices liability, and fiduciary lines of coverage.”

She also co-lead the real estate industry vertical within the broader FINEX practice.

Within her role at WTW, McCarrick is motivated to get the best results for her clients each day and to continue to develop her knowledge in the space.

“One of my favorite parts of the job is coming up with solutions for emerging or complex issues. Each new placement or renewal presents a new opportunity — expanding coverage and evaluating program structures with innovation at the forefront,” McCarrick said.

A Go-Getter Approach

McCarrick’s personal approach to client service is largely holistic.

She is quick to point out that the hard D&O marketplace presented some really tough placement challenges this year, and she’s incredibly proud of her whole team for the combined effort and remote collaboration to get deals done for Willis Towers Watson clients.

Recently, McCarrick designed and executed a D&O POSI (public offerings of securities insurance) policy for a global transactional risk exposure that was a first domestic placement of its type with a U.S.-led insurance carrier.

After the WTW team was approached by client’s outside counsel, McCarrick was involved in both the design and placement execution of a custom solution for a global parent company involved in an IPO for a U.S. subsidiary of its business.

The manuscript policy placed was an incredibly broad wording that ring-fenced the liability for the IPO, debt offering, and all follow-on offerings.

“Our team was intimately involved in the drafting and adjustment of the contract so that it responded to the unique transaction triggers,” McCarrick said.

“The policy went through several evolutions, until it was finally approved by the various stakeholders at the client, their outside counsel, and the primary and excess insurers after an exhaustive process.”

A Deep Understanding

For McCarrick’s clients, she serves as a year-round advisor rather than placement at renewal: “I seek to animate the Jesuit concept of ‘cura personalis,’ which translates as ‘care for the whole person,’ ” McCarrick said.

“By committing to a deep understanding of my clients’ businesses, including their motivations and risk priorities, I’m able to provide solutions that serve the entire business rather than restricted to my specialized segment of financial lines.”

“Anyone with a successful insurance career is a perpetual student of the industry. Keeping learning at the forefront, staying informed and asking questions has definitely been helpful in career progression.” — Clare McCarrick, senior associate, Willis Towers Watson

Rather than accepting “this is the way things are done,” McCarrick strives to push boundaries on risk transfer — something she said can only be accomplished once you’ve gained the trust of your clients and established a relationship.

“My client-base consists of large financial institutions [that] are incredibly complex, and our clients are sophisticated buyers with a keen grasp of their and their companies’ risk appetites,” McCarrick said.

“By adapting the ‘cura personalis’ suggestion of individual needs of the other and applying a critical lens to their industry and unique risk exposures, I work to build tailored program options that align with their risk tolerance and challenge the market beyond the status quo,” she said.

Overcoming the Hurdles of Pandemic

For McCarrick, the combination of a hard financial lines marketplace and the remote working environment has been incredibly challenging and required significant adjustment in the way of working.

“The level of uncertainty around the pandemic and the resulting macro-economic and claims implications has upended our industry,” McCarrick said.

“We’ve had to change the way we work with clients and markets. We approach each placement differently, with a firm strategy in place to combat the hard market. We rely on technological platforms like video conferencing to replace traditional in-person meetings. I’ve been overall impressed with the adaptability, but I definitely miss the personal interactions.”

An Intellectual Curiosity That Shines

One of McCarrick’s core strengths is her intellectual curiosity, which exists outside the contours of any actual deal.

“This intellectual curiosity has led me to develop a broad range of relationships outside WTW, including transactional lawyers, defense lawyers, plaintiff lawyers, mediators, coverage lawyers, investment bankers, entrepreneurs and others through which I’ve assembled a knowledge and thought leadership base far beyond the confines of my own underwriting and broking experience,” McCarrick said.

“And that allows me to tap into a vast reservoir of talent and experience in aid of creative solutions to thorny broking challenges.”

McCarrick attributes any success she’s had in her career to the people around her and to the opportunities that she’s been provided. She’s had great managers, mentors and teammates alike who’ve pushed her towards her best work product every day.

“I’ve had exposure to excellent technical training, both on the underwriting and broking side. And I’ve had really wonderful opportunities, like participating in the Lloyd’s Broker Academy, or working a three-month secondment in London,” McCarrick said.

“Anyone with a successful insurance career is a perpetual student of the industry. Keeping learning at the forefront, staying informed and asking questions has definitely been helpful in career progression.” &

Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Maura Keller is a writer, editor and published book author with more than 20 years of experience. She has written about business, design, marketing, health care, and a wealth of other topics for dozens of regional and national publications. She can be reached at [email protected].

Why Insureds Might See an Uptick in M&PL Claims

George Schalick, Jr., Senior Vice President of the Management and Professional Liability Division, Philadelphia Insurance Companies

The current soft market might come as a bit of a surprise as it does not track with previous underwriting cycles and economic conditions. Afterall, many privately held and non-profit organizations struggled during the early days of the pandemic with shutdowns and rapidly declining revenues. But the Government assistance programs, like the Paycheck Protection Program loans, helped keep many afloat during the tough times.

“During COVID many organizations stopped doing business until they were able to sort out all of the health and safety challenges,” Schalick said. “They were forced to lock down, but then all the government assistance programs allowed them to keep people employed. The increased volume of claims we anticipated we would see coming from the lockdowns and restrictions that were imposed upon businesses in the U.S. didn’t manifest at first.”

“Just because there wasn’t an onslaught of reported claims at the beginning of the pandemic, doesn’t mean the circumstances that would give rise to a claim being reported didn’t occur. Courts and the judicial system were closed or slowed and now that they are back open, we’re starting to see the circumstances that occurred during the COVID lockdowns becoming claims today,” Schalick said. “Litigation is progressing.”

Added to the delayed pandemic litigation is a concern over newer claims that might be filed as the country inches toward an economic downturn. Though a recession was avoided in 2023, experts think a soft dip could occur in 2024, with 76% of economists saying there’s a 50% or less chance of an economic downturn this year — that almost always results in more management liability claims.

“During the Great Recession in 2008, we saw an almost immediate spike in claims because of the economic conditions and the pressure it placed on organizations. They were making personnel changes with significant belt tightening almost immediately.” Schalick said.

What’s in Store for M&PL Policy Rates in 2024?

Despite an uptick in claims and increased economic uncertainty, management liability rates haven’t increased, resulting in market-wide pricing levels that may not meet the increased pressure of rising settlements and jury verdicts.

“Rates are going the other direction and settlement values are not falling,” Schalick said.

The mismatch between rates, claim frequency and severity is, in part, because carriers experiencing the dramatic soft market in the public D&O market are seeking premium gain in the private and non-profit market.

“In the public company market, the rates have been decreasing significantly. The rates were increasing in the private, not-for-profit market, and rightfully so, but there’s a desire to supplement overall mid-size D&O for carriers who also write private not-for-profit, and they see that as an opportunity to aggregate premium,” Schalick said. “So the always competitive landscape in the private, not-for-profit market has dramatically increased in the last 18 to 24 months.”

Still, companies of all sizes and types should be concerned about management liability rates in the future. Legal system abuse is resulting in increases in both the amount of litigation and the size of verdicts plaintiffs are receiving.

Certain areas of the country are particularly vulnerable to this type of legal system abuse. As a result, insureds in these localities are likely to be vulnerable to rate increases.

“The environment is so positive for the plaintiff that forces premium increases so carriers are able to stay in that market long term,” Schalick said.

Why a Tenured Carrier Partner Can Help Insureds Navigate An Uncertain Market

It’s clear that insureds are facing an uncertain M&PL market over the next few years. Fortunately, carriers with a long history in the M&PL space will be there to offer stability.

Philadelphia Insurance Companies has been supporting this market for 35 years. PHLY is committed to offering long-term rate stability, even as economic and claims trends start to push premiums upwards. They have an appetite for all sorts of companies, large and small, for-profit and nonprofit alike.

“We’ve been at this game for a long time and are one of the most tenured underwriters in this space,” Schalick said. “We like to stay very consistent.”

PHLY has worked with both for-profit and non-profit on management liability policies. With dedicated M&PL teams throughout the company’s 13 regions, PHLY provides the support agents and brokers are looking for on behalf of their clients. The teams know their regions well and can respond to local trends. They’re also dedicated to making the renewal process as easy as possible for their partners and policyholders.

“We have real confidence in our results, so we focus a lot on making the renewal experience as painless as possible for all agents and insureds,” Schalick said.

The company is also investing in tools to help insureds avoid losses. Earlier this year, they launched a new online risk management platform, PHLYGateway, which offers resources for insureds on how to create an employee handbook and trainings on issues such as recognizing workplace sexual harassment and discrimination.

If insureds have questions, they can consult a Best Practices Help Line, provided via the platform. That way, they can get on the spot risk management guidance to help them prevent claims.

To learn more, visit: https://www.phly.com/mplDivision/managementLiability/default.aspx.

This article was produced by the R&I Brand Studio, a unit of the advertising department of Risk & Insurance, in collaboration with Philadelphia Insurance Companies. The editorial staff of Risk & Insurance had no role in its preparation.