From Managing Olivia Newton-John to a Career in Insurance, This Is Anita Zaccaro’s Story

Anita Zaccaro went from working for famous musicians to brokering commercial insurance.

By: Alex Wright | May 9, 2021

There are two types of insurance agent: Those who follow a pre-defined career path and those who fall into the trade.

The latter exactly sums up Anita Zaccaro. A latecomer to the insurance world, she joined the industry in 2015 and worked her way up to the role of commercial lines account executive at Panorama Risk and Insurance Solutions, where up until recently she handled the book for a range of distributors and property owners.

But it all started out so differently.

Falling into the Music Industry

Music has been central to Zaccaro’s life from an early age, growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area as part of a musical family. Following her passion for entertainment, she eventually ventured off to study mass media communications studies at the University of California.

After finding an advert in the school newspaper for an office assistant at a boutique entertainment management firm, Fitzgerald Hartley Company in Los Angeles, she applied and got the job.

“I fell into the music industry the way many people do in insurance — by accident,” said Zaccaro. “I can remember walking into the interview and seeing a bunch of gold and platinum records on the wall and becoming so excited, because at that time, music was my life.”

After completing her studies, Zaccaro was offered a full time job at the firm as an executive assistant to one of the partners. She started on the publishing side of the business and ran an independent record label for a well-known instrumentalist before progressing to managing artists and finding new talent.

“It was a case of having to learn on my feet,” Zaccaro said. “A lot of times I just rode into situations, having to deal with these famous artists, and I either had to sink or swim.”

Among her proudest achievements was one of her first: Helping country singer and songwriter Vince Gill make his breakthrough with the album When I Call Your Name. Zaccaro also went on tour with Olivia Newton-John, including a press junket with John Travolta to mark the 20th anniversary of the musical Grease.

“Those were some great times,” Zaccaro said. “Olivia was the nicest, most down-to-earth person you could wish to meet, and we soon became good friends.”

Her clientele ranged from rock to jazz to country artists, and everything in between. She’s worked with Toto, Brad Paisley, Carlene Carter, LeAnn Rimes, David Benoit, Dwight Yoakam and Clint Black, as well as producers Elliot Scheiner, Don Smith and Geoff Emerick to name but a few.

Among one of her most famous, yet understated, clients was Scheiner, the musical producer for Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Eric Clapton and the Eagles. During their time working together they became firm friends and Zaccaro even went to his home studio on the East Coast, where she was treated to a 5.1 remix of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

There were some excruciating moments, too. One time she flew out to the Caribbean for a corporate gig her client was performing at.

“It was an absolute disaster from the word ‘go,’ ” Zaccaro said. “Unbeknown to me, the artist had a substance abuse problem, and about 15 to 20 minutes into the show they lost their voice and did a cartwheel and fell off the stage.

“The promoter was furious and yelling at me,” Zaccaro continued. “But I managed to calm him down and talked my way out of the situation, agreeing to come back and do another performance the next year.”

Then there was the time she flew to Chicago with Newton-John for the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Getting to the hotel in the middle of the night, they realised her carry-on suitcase with her diary was missing. After a phone call to the airport, Zaccaro managed to get hold of a security official and convince him to search the whole premises to find it and return it to the hotel, 45 minutes away in downtown Chicago.

“Poor guy. I felt so bad for him,” Zaccaro said. “He turned up at 3 a.m. with the suitcase, and all I could offer him was an autographed picture of Olivia.”

Moving into Insurance

Then the recession hit. In 2013 and after 23 years in the industry, Zaccaro found herself out of a job in an industry that was contracting fast.

Hearing the news on her return from a tour in Japan, she looked around for a new role, but the only ones going were either entry or executive level.

Looking for an income, Zaccaro approached a friend, Donna Barrett, who along with her husband Steve, own and run S Barrett Insurance Agency, a small independent agency based in Simi Valley. Barrett offered Zaccaro an account management job.

She then added marketing and newsletter production to her work writing proposals, quotations and endorsements for insurance clients.

“Honestly, my first thought was that insurance is really boring and I’m going to hate this,” Zaccaro said. “But it turns out that nothing could be further from the truth.”

After working for almost a year at S Barrett, where she learned the ropes and obtained her license, Zaccaro moved to Insurance West, which had just been bought by National Financial Partners. There was an opening in the entertainment division as commercial lines account coordinator, and Zaccaro was a natural fit.

From there, she made the jump to Hoffman Brown Company in 2016, assisting two senior account managers. Having spent three years there, Zaccaro wanted a new challenge and joined PCF Insurance Services, where she took on more responsibility.

But she soon found herself just going through the motions and spending less time interacting with customers. That was when she learned of an opportunity at Panorama, a fast-growing start-up out of New York with a team of 40 nationwide.

“They wanted to do something a bit different,” said Zaccaro, who has a Certified Insurance Service Representative designation and is working on a Certified Insurance Counselor designation.

“Their philosophy is much more personal touch and customer-focused, while working in a modern environment.”

Fully Embracing the Industry

Zaccaro and Panorama recently parted company, but she is still intent on staying in the insurance business.

“The insurance business keeps you on your feet because there’s always so much to learn,” Zaccaro said. “It’s also a lot more formal than the music industry, which took some getting used to, particularly the dress code.”

And she’s keen to stay in a customer-facing role.

“I don’t want to be that insurance agent who only calls once a year at renewals,” Zaccaro said. “I like to develop a proper relationship with my client and keep them in the loop at all times, helping them to better mitigate their risks.”

As to what the future may hold, Zaccaro remains optimistic.

“In order to keep growing personally and professionally, sometimes you have to risk moving out of your comfort zone and maintain a strong, curious nature. Whether or not you achieve success or failure in the endeavor, you are going to learn something valuable,” she said.

“After a very challenging year for all, I’m setting my sights on a bright future. The insurance industry has weathered many storms with resilience and continues to evolve as circumstances change. I intend to do the same,” she said.

“Insurance has been really good to me and I’ve never once regretted making the move.” &

Alex Wright is a UK-based business journalist, who previously was deputy business editor at The Royal Gazette in Bermuda. You can reach him 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.